Page 5 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
No one liked being yelled at.No one.It was an awful feeling, getting all pretzeled with guilt, having to stammer agreements that you were a dunce, and muttering apologies for a screw up you didn’t even commit.
“Stressful.Sure.” Jessa sniffed and peered over her cubicle at me, watching as my jittering hands wrestled to fit my laptop into the infuriatingly narrow slot in my messenger bag. “I betcha last week’s paycheck Andy turned his phone off, took the boys out for a drink, and ain’t feeling one iota ofstressabout what just happened. He ain’t gonna take any flack for it, is he?”
“He’s gotten an earful. I’m sure.” The laptop made a satisfying swish when it slid into place. I flipped the top of the bag over, not bothering to buckle it. Wasn’t worth the effort of steadying my hands.
“Oh, he got an earful alright.” Kai poked his nose over, beaming at us. “Y’all didn’t hear Frank this morning.”
“You mean our esteemed leader who was”—Jessa threw some air quotes up—“‘on calls’from 8:00 a.m. to when he ducked out after lunch?”
“Uh-huh. That’s the one. See, this is what happens when you ladies arelateon the daily.”
“We start at 8:00 a.m. and we clock in at 8:00 a.m.,” Jessa huffed, “that ain’tlate.”
“Listen, I’d rather handle the worst of the early morning freak outs from the comfort of my bed,” I said, “and then mosey in at my own speed.”
“You shouldnotbe answering emails at the ass crack of dawn.” Contempt rippled off Jessa as she rolled her eyes at me. Not contempt atme.But at my actions.
“It makes my day a whole heck of a lot easier.” I swiped my still-sweaty hands on my jeans.“Usually.”
“Eh-hem,” Kai cleared his throat. “As I was saying, if youhadbeen here at an appropriate time, you would’ve seen Frank explode. Happened at 7:45 a.m. Whenyouwere probably still sleeping.” Kai pointed at Jessa. Then he laughed and ducked when Jessa winged a pen at his head. “He got right in Andy’s face with it,” Kai continued. “I thought Andy was gonnapisshimself. That’s why he hasn’t been back to his desk all day.”
“Hmmmm…nnno.” Jessa dragged thenof the no between her teeth. “The dude gets yelled at a bit but dumps the rest of the blame off on Pips? Nope. He still got off too easy.”
Kai rolled his shoulders. “Not saying he didn’t. Just saying he got shit-sprayed too.”
“You’re being a little harsh, Jessa,” I said gently. “He rushed the job, sure, but it’s not like he shoved faulty work orders through. Everything on our end was right. A mistake happened on the floor, as it does on occasion. That’s all.”
“And honestly…” Kai drummed his fingers against the top of the cubicle wall, and a rush of warm, comforting feelings extruded from him as he flashed a sideways smile. “If SorcerSoft was still around, they could’ve bailed him out. Ineverhad a fourteen week lead with them.”
“Yeah, I was thinking that earlier. They were alwaysso goodin a pinch,” I said. “And, stars, do I miss those days.”
“No comment. I ain’t been in this prison as long as you two.” Jessa grinned playfully. “So I’ve never worked with them.”
“A shame.” Kai laughed. “They were thebest.”
“They really were. Quick to respond. Super friendly. Their stuff was always quality too.” I pursed my lips. “They weretoogood. Probably why they went belly up.”
“Probably. We can’t let the good guys roll in this wild world of ours. Anyway”—Kai hefted his laptop bag onto his shoulder—“shall I walk you ladies to your cars?”
“But of course.” Jessa fluttered her eyes and reached across the wall to brush his knuckles.
“Us ladies would never manage the five-minute walk without a big, strapping gentleman to protect us,” I teased.
Kai grinned and stepped away from his desk, rounding the wall to hook his arm around Jessa, and then hauling her to my cubicle, so he could scoop his other arm around me. “My motivations are hardlydecent,”he said with a fake posh accent. “I simply want to lookdistinguishedwith two of the finest ladies in the office on my arm.”
“I think you need to lay off theBridgertonbinges, Kai.” I giggled, hoping he couldn’t feel how clammy and damp my sweaty swamp arm was.
“Never!” Kai declared.
It was, truly, a five-minute walk: straight out the side door, down a set of chipped and stained concrete steps, and across the black asphalt parking lot to our cars.
“Oh look!” Jessa squealed once we’d stepped outside. “Sunlight.Halle-freaking-lujah.”
She’d said this every day this week.
And every day Kai and I hummed in agreement.
There was something magical about those first few days of spring, when we left work and found the parking lot bathed in warm, late afternoon sun, instead of the harsh, artificial illumination from the light poles.
