“To replace my underwear?”
“That, as well as getting you an outfit that will look great when I have you strapped to the Punishment Pole.”
Kelsey glanced across the vehicle’s interior at Nathan.Since it was still before sunrise, his face was in shadows, making it difficult to read his expression.
“For the outfit you’ll wear on Saturday,” he reminded her.“We discussed it earlier in the week.”
She remembered scribbling notes as he’d been talking, and she recalled circling the word Thursday.
“If we don’t find anything tonight, we’ll have tomorrow as a backup.Unless you have something in mind already?”
“I have some shoes that might work, and I was thinking of wearing a skirt and a long-sleeved shirt.”
“We can swing by your house before we go, have a look at your closet.”He glanced across at her.“I have an idea of what I’d like to see you in.”
“And I’m thinking it’s not something I might wear to the office.”
The background music cut out and the screen in front of them showed an incoming call from Lawrence.
“That’s your call,” he told her.
She’d forgotten Nathan had added her number into the Bluetooth system when she’d borrowed his car.
It was well before the time she would have expected to hear from the HR department.
“Push the green phone icon,” Nathan told her.“Unless you want to take it in private.”
She answered the call, and Lawrence got straight to the point.“Seward’s boss called in sick.”
Understanding dawned.“It’s Seward’s first duty day,” she said.The day they’d been intending to terminate his employment.“Where are you?”
“Home.”
And since he lived in Kingwood, which was north of the city, Lawrence wouldn’t be able to drive to the docks in time to be there before Seward climbed aboard his tug.“Let me figure it out.”Since she didn’t want anyone knowing she was with Nathan at this time of the morning, she added, “I’ll call you back in five minutes.”
She ended the call.
“What do you recommend?”Nathan asked.
“We have a couple of options.”She tapped her fingers on the armrest.“We can ask another field supervisor to send him home for the day.”She raced through pros and cons.“That’s not my preference.He’d suspect something was up, and we don’t know how he’ll react.”
“Or?”
“Let him work today as normal.But I think you’d find that unconscionable.”
“I would.”After signaling, he changed lanes to pass a slow-moving vehicle.
“We’ve customarily had a specific way of handling terminations.We want to give the employee time to process the whole thing, ask questions, come to terms with it and let them keep their dignity.And we want to ensure no damage is done to company property, not that I’m particularly concerned about Seward.But…” The man had a family to support.“Since he’s receiving no severance, the situation is potentially more volatile.And we have the question of what to do with the rest of the crew, calling someone in, moving people around, figuring out how to deal with the work that won’t get done.”
He nodded.
“You should fire him,” she said.
“Oh?”Eyebrows raised, he glanced at her.
Kelsey glanced at the clock.“We have enough time to get to the docks if traffic flows well and we turn around immediately.”
His jaw was set and he was silent.
