Page 1 of Hotline
Chapter One
Opal
"You're going to need this."
My new boss drops a box of tissues on my desk as I plop into my seat.
"And this."
A bottle of hand sanitizer follows.
I grab both as she turns and starts to walk away.
"Can you tell me what I'm supposed to be doing?"
She snorts over her shoulder.
"Just answer the phone when it rings. Simple."
"Answer the phone and say what, exactly?" I shift in my seat.
"Just sell the product," she says as she keeps walking, swinging her hips in her ridiculously slim pencil skirt. Her black bob swishes against her shoulders with each step.
"How can I do that if I don't even know what the product is?" I say after her.
She turns around.
"You'll figure it out."
She crosses her arms over her chest, looking at me with a smirk. She points at me with a fluid up-and-down motion.
"And something tells me you're going to catch on quickly."
She delicately adjusts her glasses and walks away.
I turn back to my computer.
"Okay, okay, new job," I say, cracking my knuckles. I shake my hands out. "Let's get to work."
"You shouldn't do that," the person in the cubicle next to me says, popping over the divider. Her thick, platinum-blonde hair is pulled into a high ponytail that cascades over one shoulder, with thick curtain bangs framing her face and a little black choker with a heart in the middle.
"Do what?" I say.
"Crack your knuckles. You should never crack your knuckles."
"My mom always told me that, too," I say. "She also told me to not stick out my tongue because my face would stay that way. That never happened, so I think I'm good."
"Suit yourself," the girl says as she sticks her hand out. "I'm Marilyn."
"That's a lovely name," I say, shaking her hand. "I'm Opal."
"So you're new," Marilyn says, eyeing me with a raised eyebrow.
I nod sheepishly and let out a nervous laugh.
"Brand spanking new."
"Hm. Something tells me that you're going to need my help," she says, disappearing behind the divider. She rolls over to me in her chair.
