Page 62 of Games We Play
“Cupcakes, right?” Enid always sounded her most pleasant when dealing with customers.Too bad she doesn’t share an iota of that with her employees.“I was told someone from your organization would be by to pick them up. I’ll be right back.” She was going to personally bring them out herself? How much money had the bakery been paid for this?
The man pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket and glanced at Leah’s nametag. “I was also told to give this to someone named Leah. That must be you.”
Leah snatched the piece of paper before anyone else could look at it. “Thanks. Do you know who placed the order? It wasn’t you guys, huh?”
“Not at all. We received a call from an anonymous donor this morning. She…”
“She?”
“Yeah, she… uh, she told us that we had a present waiting for us here around three. A treat for all the hard work we’ve been doing, or something.”
Leah stole a glance at the handwritten note. It wasn’t Sloan’s handwriting, but it looked like her words. “Thank you for this. I had no idea I was expecting it, but…”
“Here you are!” Enid arrived with a large box of carefully placed cupcakes. “Be sure to carry them like this to your car and keep them level. Otherwise, that’s it! I hope you enjoy. Leah here personally saw to decorating them.”
The man peeked into the box and shook his head. “I have no idea what this is about. None of this makes any sense.”
“Well… enjoy?”
The man left with his box of donated cupcakes. Leah also left the front of the bakery, intent on holing herself up in the employee bathroom to read the note Sloan sent.
“Hello, Kitten,”it began.“If you’re receiving this, then the denizens of your gloomy city aren’t as stupid as some of them look. Congrats! Because I have wonderful news for you.
I know you said that you wanted to spend a whole weekend with me, but unfortunately, my weekends are booked up with bullshit for much too long. Too long to go without seeing you, anyway. I’d much rather bring you to my beautiful city for Valentine’s Day two weeks from now. I know it’s a long time to make you wait, but I thought I’d make up for it by mixing up your work day for you.”
Leah read the rest of the letter with piquing interest. As soon as she found Enid again, she asked, “Can I have Valentine’s Day off?”
Her boss cocked her hand on her hip and looked at her as if she had asked for the whole month of February off. “One of the biggest baking days of the year… you want itoff?”
“I, uh… also…” Leah cleared her throat. “I also need the following day off.”
Yup. She had asked for the impossible. Good thing she had hung around Sloan long enough to pick up some negotiating skills. That, and the need to see her again, after she had gone out of her way to play that cute little game, was powerful enough to make Leah come farther out of her shell and get what she wanted.
***
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Ayla, who didn’t often butt into Sloan’s affairs like this, asked without hesitation. “Because this could really blow up in your face, and I’ll have to clean it up. As usual.”
Normally, Sloan enjoyed her personal assistant’s attitude, but she was not in the mood for it Friday morning. They sat in Sloan’s downtown Chicago office, where the views were gorgeous but the air was stale and smelled too much of frankincense spray. Whatever cleaning crew was responsible sorely needed to be replaced.
“I’m sure. It’s all a part of my plan.”
“Have you gone over this plan withanyone?Because you haven’t gone over it with me. Or your therapist, I’m betting.”
“My therapist thinks I’m best served writing letters to everyone I’ve believed has wronged me.” An excellent idea! Until the therapist then told Sloan toburnthe letters without sending them. Honestly, she preferred her idea of sending them in the mail – on fire. “I prefer a more direct approach.”
“Everyone who has wronged you, huh? Remind me not to get on that list.”
“There’s really only one person on it. By the way, have you been back to the jeweler’s?”
“I’m due there later this afternoon.” Ayla opened the scheduling app on her iPad. “You’re changing the subject, though. Unless me going to the jeweler’s is phase one in Margaret Sloan’s world domination.”
“Close. Have you finagled a way for Leah to get those days off yet?”
Ayla opened her mouth to heave a mighty sigh – and hopefully a few words – but the intercom came to life with the receptionist’s voice.
“Ms. Sloan, it’s Mr. Giles…”
The door to the office opened. In came Aaron, dressed in the same cocky outfit Sloan had seen at that morning’s 8am meeting with a Detroit client. Only now he had finally lost the winter coat.The only reason we didn’t lose that client due to a broken heater is because he’s from Michigan.Meanwhile, Sloan had not backed down in nothing but a thin jacket –though her fingers were frigid by the time she reached her office an hour ago.
