Monday morning arrived. Becky was already up, dressed, and perched on the sofa, watching for Cookie and Scotch’s car—even though they wouldn’t arrive for another hour and a half.
“If anything comes up at work, call me. I’m sure Cookie and Scotch will let you use their phone. You remember my cell number, don’t you?” I felt like Mrs. Green. How many times had she asked Tanisha and me that same thing when we were teenagers? I’m becoming my foster mother!
“Yes, don’t worry, Chloe, everything will be fine. I’m going to do a good job.”
“I’m not worried about that.” I moved toward the door. “As soon as I get a new car, we will buy you a cell phone. I don’t like you not being able to call.”
Becky’s eyes sparkled. “Like yours?”
I laughed before heading out the door to work. “Not that fancy.”
On the walk to Harshberger, I decided to put the accident and Becky out of my mind. I needed my wits about me to survive another day with Joel.
Even though I arrived early, Miller was already there. It was the first time I would be alone with the fidgety programmer.
I strode in. “Morning, Miller.”
He jumped up from his seat, and in the same movement turned off his monitor. I pretended not to notice, but stood beside his desk, waiting for a return greeting. None came. “How are you today?”
He blinked at me from behind thick glasses. “Fine,” he muttered.
I swallowed a sigh and walked to my office.
Thirty minutes later, I was engrossed in a report for Dean Klink when Clark and Joel arrived in the office. I could hear them greet Miller, and he in turn returned their hellos. I tried not to take it personally.
Laughter floated into my office.
I e-mailed the report to the dean and emerged from my office. Clark, Miller, and Joel sat around the conference table working on their respective laptops.
“Good morning,” I said and stepped over to the coffee machine. When my mug was full, I turned. “I’ll be sending you all an e-mail later to reschedule our Friday meeting.”
Joel grinned. “Why was last Friday’s meeting canceled? Car trouble?”
Clark shook his head. “Man . . .” He shared a glance with Miller, whose eyes looked the size of silver dollars behind those glasses.
I closed my eyes briefly. When I opened them, the assistant director smirked at me. “Gone on a buggy ride lately?”
I stepped up to him and put on my best Tanisha impersonation. I wouldn’t tell a man Joel’s size off, but my best friend would. “Do you have something to say to me, Joel?”
“No, boss, just making conversation.” He winked at Miller.
Miller licked his lips, his eyes darting around.
“Come on, man,” Clark said.
Joel snapped his fingers as if he just remembered something. “Know anything about Friday’s auto-buggy accident?”
My cheeks heated, but I held my ground.
“The car they mentioned sounded an awful lot like yours.” He wore an unnerving grin. “I didn’t see your vehicle in the parking lot today.”
I squinted up at him. Is he for real?
“Oh, so your car is safely in your driveway at home. No doubt.”
“Seriously,” Clark said.
I folded my arms across my chest. “I’ve lived here long enough to realize just how fast news travels through this town. Yes, it was my car.”
Joel pushed his laptop forward and placed his elbows on the table. “This is the accident that killed the Amish bishop, right?”
Miller gasped.
A smile spread across Joel’s face. “Miller, you didn’t know.”
Clark dropped his pen. “Were you driving, Chloe? Are you okay?”
I could have hugged him. “No, I wasn’t driving. I wasn’t in the car.”
“Well, then, who was driving?” Joel asked.
I suspected Joel already knew the answer to that. In fact, I was beginning to learn he didn’t ask any questions that he didn’t already know the answer to. Every question was a mini-test set so I would fail. I refused to bring Becky into this argument.
I shook my head. “This conversation is over.”
Joel smirked. “If you say so, boss.”
I turned and walked back to my office.
An hour later, Dean Klink’s voice rang through the office. “Hello, hello, hello! I see you are all hard at work. I hope Chloe isn’t too hard of a taskmaster.” He laughed.
A low murmur carried throughout the room, but I couldn’t make out the computer services team’s response.
I stepped out of my office.
Dean Klink smiled from ear to ear. “Chloe, there you are.”
As if I would be anywhere else.
“Let’s go for a stroll. I want to talk to you about your proposal.”
“Great.” I was surprised he read it so quickly. “Let me grab my files.”
He waved that idea away. “No need, no need. It’s all up here.” He tapped the side of his temple with his index finger.
“Gentlemen, keep up the good work,” he said as we exited the office.
Outside, I followed the dean across campus. He didn’t speak for several minutes.
“Do you want me to go over the proposal? I should be able to do it without my notes.”
He stuck his hands in his pockets. “I haven’t read it yet, but I’m sure it’s on point. Everything you’ve done so far has been. I’m impressed.”
I stopped dead still. Dean Klink didn’t seem to notice and kept on going. I caught up to him in three strides. “Thank you, sir, but if you didn’t read the proposal, what’s this about?”
“Let’s walk over to the softball field. It’s a great place to think.”
To think? This doesn’t sound good.
He sat on the lowest bleacher. It squeaked under his weight. “I played baseball when I was a kid. Catcher. I wasn’t any good, but I remember how much fun it was.”
“Dean Klink, what does softball have to do with my department?”
“Have a seat.”
I sat on the same bleacher two feet away from him.
“I need you to cut your budget by twenty percent,” he said.
My stomach dropped. “What? Why?”
His bottom lip stuck out slightly. “Times are tough for the college. We all have to tighten our belts.”
“But Dean, the proposal I sent you was to request more money—a lot more money.”
“I thought as much. That’s why I didn’t bother to read it. No point wishing for resources we can’t afford.” He gave me a weak smile.
“The resources we need are expensive.”
He nodded. “You can blame it on the economy if it makes you feel better. It’s not just your department. All departments will make cuts. Students can’t afford to go to a small liberal arts college out in the country like ours when they can go to the state school down the street and live at home for free.”
“The servers are outdated, and what about the wireless network?”
“I don’t want you to make cuts there. Those improvements are vital so we can compete with other colleges and universities in the state.”
A maintenance worker rode by on a golf cart, and Dean Klink waved at him.
“Where do you want me to make the cuts?” I asked the question even though I suspected I knew the answer. There was only one place cuts that size could be made.
“Personnel.”
I inhaled a deep breath and let it out. “If that’s the area you want to cut, why did you hire me?”
A security guard strolled by on the field and tipped his hat at us.
The dean perked up. “Hey, Norm!”
I gritted my teeth.
He grinned at me now. “Because we needed a qualified director of computer services, and no one here could fill that role.”
“What about Joel? He’s been the assistant director for more than ten years.”
“I think you know by now why we didn’t hire Joel.” He smiled and bobbed his chin. “I want you to be the one to show us who is essential—and who is not.”
I swallowed, pausing. “Does the department know I’m doing this?”
“They might not know for sure, but they may suspect something.”
Terrific. That explained the department’s cold reception and Joel’s outright hostility.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
“You need to tell me where to make cuts, what to outsource, who on your staff is a keeper, and who is not.”
“You want me to fire someone.”
He slapped his knees with both hands. “Let’s call it restructuring.”
My stomach churned, and I felt as if I would be sick. “Why would the staff suspect anything?”
“Recently, we’ve done this to other departments, and it’s worked out well for the college.”
What about the people working in those departments who lost their jobs?
Dean Klink stood. “I know you’re up to the task and will do what’s best for the college. We’re so excited to have you here at Harshberger.”
He left me sitting on the bleachers.