“ZOE, HAVE YOU gotten the after-action report for the OSHA inspection?”
Zoe froze in the middle of raising the turkey sandwich she’d brought for lunch to her mouth. Thirty minutes. That was all she’d hoped for. Just thirty minutes of quiet so she could eat her sandwich and get on with her day. Instead, John Bailey had come straight for her in the break room and ruined the few minutes she’d had to rest.
Even though a week had passed, she still couldn’t believe they’d hired John for the director position instead of her. Ten years between busting her ass at OSHA and climbing the Valtec corporate ladder only to be overlooked and the job given to John. They’d never say so, but Zoe knew she hadn’t been chosen because of the drama that had erupted in her personal life. Turns out the media was interested in a story about a potential senator from North Carolina having a kid show up out of nowhere.
She’d sat down with Miranda and asked for feedback on why the company had gone in the direction they’d chosen.
Although we were very impressed with your programs and the improvements you’ve introduced, he’s got more managerial experience than you.
Managerial experience. Code for less drama and the easier choice. She currently managed three inspectors and had managed a team of four before coming to Valtec.
Zoe lowered her turkey sandwich, ignored the rebellious grumble of her stomach and turned to John hovering at the end of the table where she sat in the break room.
“I’ve done the after-action report and emailed it to you right before I came in here for lunch.” Zoe kept her voice moderate. Tamped down the frustration bubbling up inside her.
John looked from her, to her sandwich, and back to her. “Did you?” he asked as if she was trying to trick him out of his family fortune.
He pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket. Zoe took a quick bite of her sandwich while he pulled up his email. She didn’t doubt he would find something else for her to work on since she’d already completed this task. Whatever managerial experience John had he must have learned from the Micro Managers School for the Insecure. The man questioned everything, oversaw every task and butted in on the simplest items. Zoe was pretty sure he’d install an intercom in the bathroom if it meant he could check in on employees throughout the day.
“Oh,” John said, sounding disappointed. “I guess you did send it.”
“I promised it to you before one o’clock.” Zoe took another bite of her sandwich. Maybe, just maybe, he’d let her eat her lunch in peace.
John stuck the phone back in his pocket. He crossed his arms and watched her with a frown. “What about the training programs that are supposed to start next week?”
“The presentations are ready,” Zoe replied and sipped from the can of sparkling water in front of her.
“Ready? Already? Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Very sure. I used the presentation from the previous year and updated it with all the new information I have.”
John immediately shook his head. “No. That won’t work.”
“Why not?” She bit her tongue instead of saying it had worked for the previous seven years.
“The employees get bored when it’s the same old stuff presented every day. I need a new presentation.”
“The regulations haven’t changed. The focus isn’t the presentation. I’ve worked out an interactive way to reinforce the intent of the regulations.” Something else she’d done for the past few years, which earned her favorable reviews from employees whenever she taught a class.
“Nope. Not going to work. That’s why they chose me in this position. They wanted new ideas. Something fresh. You play things too safe, Zoe. Send me the presentations then come to my office. We’ll go through the slides and see how we can update it with any new information.”
“That’s exactly what I said I would do.”
He waved off her words. “You’ll leave too much old stuff. Come on. Let’s get a start now.”
She pointed to her sandwich. “I’m at lunch.”
He shrugged and looked at her as if she was making a ridiculous point. “So bring it with you. It’ll be a working lunch. You’re an exempt employee anyway. You’re expected to work through lunch.” He turned and went to the door. “Chop chop.” He snapped his fingers with each word.
Zoe flinched and gritted her teeth. She glanced at the other people sitting around the conference room. Saw the looks of solidarity and sympathy. Years of giving one hundred and ten percent only to have to report to John? Was this what the next several years of her life would be like?
Pushing aside the depressing thought, Zoe got up from the table and put her half-eaten sandwich into her lunch bag. No need to bring it with her. Knowing John, he’ll have her constantly working on the presentation and she wouldn’t even get a chance to take a bite. As she went back to her office to send John the perfectly fine presentation, she questioned her life choices.
ZOE SCOOPED OUT a heaping spoonful of red beans and rice and dumped it onto her plate. She glanced at the mound of rice, then the pot and scooped out another spoonful. Her growling stomach approved.
“Zoe, seriously, leave some rice for the rest of us,” Victoria teased.
Zoe’s cheeks heated. She dropped the second spoonful and moved on to pierce a grilled chicken breast and added it to the mound of rice. “I missed lunch today.”
Victoria frowned. “John again?”
Zoe just sighed and added a roll to her plate. Lilah and Julie had made their plates and were already laughing and whispering over their food in the dining room. Zoe took her plate of food to the kitchen table then went to the fridge.
“You guessed it.” She opened the fridge and pulled out a can of sparkling water.
Victoria flipped her long faux locks over her shoulders. Her dark eyes sparked with a you’re-better-than-me look. “I don’t know how you can stay there after they passed you over.”
“I need the job, the money, the security,” Zoe said. All three things were true, and for the first time in her life she felt pinned in by the responsibilities of adulthood.
Hook up with a guy who will take care of you forever. You may have to put up with some shit, but it’s worth it.
Her mother’s advice rang through her head. She’d started the early years of her life like that. Had let Kendell handle her car payment, buy her books and take her on shopping trips while accepting his jealousy and occasional slaps as the shit she’d have to put up with. Now she was independent. She paid for everything herself. Answered to only herself. While she did not want to go back to a relationship like she had with Kendell, she wished she could snap her fingers and make all the reasons she had to stay at Valtec disappear.
“I’m vested,” Zoe said. The word everyone at Valtec used once they’d been there five years or more. If she stuck it out until retirement, she would get retirement benefits. If she left she’d have to start all over somewhere else.
Victoria came over and sat across from Zoe. “Vested in what? That guy’s bullshit? You deserved that position. Start looking and get the hell out of there.” She took a bite of her rice.
The idea of looking for a new job scared Zoe. What if they didn’t pay her what Valtec paid? What if she went there and worked for someone worse than John? What if she was fired because she was a newer employee and was in worse shape than she was in now?
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve got too much going on right now. I’ll think about it after the weekend.”
“What’s this weekend?”
Zoe shrugged but avoided Victoria’s see-all gaze by cutting her chicken. “Another campaign event.”
“Another one? Zoe, you’ve spent the past two weekends in North Carolina already. I thought after the announcement you’d be done. Do you really have to keep going up there?”
“I don’t, but I like to try and help out.” Even though Byron had approached her about going public she was the one who’d come up with the lie in the first place. If she would have handled her situation herself, he never would be in this position.
“Mmm hmm...” Victoria stabbed at the grilled vegetables on her plate.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Victoria held up a hand. “Nothing. I’m staying out of it. What’s the event this weekend?”
Zoe decided to let that go. “Campaign dinner. They want the entire family there.” Victoria raised a brow and Zoe continued quickly. “I’m not really family, but they want people to see that I’m getting along with Byron and his family. He’s getting some bad press after the reveal.”
Even though she hadn’t revealed the entire truth to Victoria, she had reiterated to her friend that she was not family. She didn’t want to consider herself as family. If she did, then she’d think too much about how it felt when Byron looked into her eyes for too long. How he still made her laugh. The way her body awakened whenever she got a whiff of his cologne. She had to be the outsider before she started having insider thoughts.
“Who wants you to get along with everyone? Byron or the fiancée?”
“The fiancée,” Zoe admitted. “She’s nice enough. She’s been super supportive during this entire thing and she’s great with Lilah.”
Victoria leaned in. “But...”
“But I don’t know. I think it’s weird because it’s a forced friendship. I’m sure I’d like her either way.”
Except Yolanda wasn’t the type of woman Zoe would have pictured Byron with. He dated all types of women when they were in college, so Zoe couldn’t say he had a specific type. But something about Yolanda didn’t seem like she was right with him. She was ambitious, smart and pleasant enough, but one thing was missing. All the women Byron typically went for were crazy about him. Yolanda wasn’t crazy about Byron. Yolanda didn’t look at Byron like she couldn’t wait to be alone with him. Byron didn’t look at Yolanda as if he knew most of her secrets and couldn’t wait to uncover more. They looked like a couple in some 50s sitcom: perfect with no passion.
“Well, go with your gut. Just because she’s nice doesn’t mean you two have to be friends.”
“Oh, I am well aware of that.” Zoe stabbed a piece of chicken and quickly cut it into smaller pieces.
“And while you’re up there politicking, maybe use your new connections to help you find a way out of Valtec.”
Zoe stopped cutting her chicken. “What do you mean?”
Victoria gave her a don’t-be-dumb look. “You know what I mean. You’ve been helping them. They can help you, too.”
Zoe waved a hand and shook her head. “I can’t ask them for a job.”
His parents had thought she only wanted Byron for his money. She didn’t doubt his dad still believed she was out to play Byron. Asking for more help would only fuel that suspicion.
“I’m not saying ask for a job. Just see if they can put in a good word for you somewhere else. You’re connected to a rich, influential family now. If they can help you get from under John’s obnoxious thumb, then go for it.”
“I don’t want to owe them anything.”
“Would Byron expect anything back if he helped you?”
He wouldn’t. Zoe had thought more than once of his suggestion that she move to Jackson Falls. He said he’d have an update on the emails when she came to town this week. She dreaded the answer. Either someone she knew was behind them and really wanted to make her pay, or she’d been the victim of a prank and had freaked out and scared Byron for nothing. Even if it was the latter, Byron would give her a reference if she looked for another job. He wouldn’t help with the expectation of being owed something.
“He’d be chill about it.”
“Then think it over while you’re there. Valtec told you with their decision exactly where they want you to stay in their company. Use the new changes in your life to level up.”
Zoe took a bite of the savory red beans and rice and nodded. The logic of Victoria’s words sank in. Not wanting to be considered as trying to use Byron wasn’t the same as asking for a reference. She’d try to see what she could find on her own first. It wasn’t as if any potential employer who bothered to look her up wouldn’t see she was connected to the Robidoux family. She just hoped the connection that was supposed to make her life safer didn’t further hinder her future.