“Yeah, Danny?” a voice says from the speaker of the phone.
“Can you come in here? I want to introduce you to Janine.”
“Sure thing.”
Danny hangs up. “Do you have any questions for me?”
I circle the room with my eyes. “No, not at the moment.”
He nodes. “I run an open door policy. I try to make myself as available as possible, but I’m often in client meetings, on the phone, or out of the office for travel. When I’m occupied, anyone else in the office would be more than happy to answer anything for you. You’ve already met Shelah, our receptionist. She’s great and can answer any questions you have about where to locate files, forms, office supplies, and things like that.” Danny looks to his door at the same time I do when there’s a knock.
“Zeke, come in.” He waves the man in.
My stomach tightens to see the tall, slender man who sighed in the elevator.
“Zeke, this is Janine, she’s the new associate I was telling you about.”
I extend my hand. “Hi, nice to meet you.”
A brief look of hesitation passes over his face before a fake smile is plastered on and he gives my hand a limp handshake. “Pleasure.”
I’ve taken pizza out of the freezer that was warmer than that handshake.
“Zeke, I just remembered I have a call with our West Coast clients for their new soda line. This is going to be a long call. Can you take Janine over to HR and show her who to give her paperwork to? Oh, and have Rob create her a new login and password so she can log into our servers. Once that’s handled, you can start showing her how to access our servers and files, then show her what you’re working on.”
Danny immediately gives his attention to another task in front of him. From the interviews I had with him, I could tell he was the type to talk fast, give instructions once, and move on to the next thing. Not rudely, but he just expected his employees to be as efficient as he was.
“Let’s go.”
I look to the man who is now halfway out the door. My eyes narrow at the rudeness of his tone but I don’t say anything. Following behind him, I doing my best to keep up with his long strides. Unlike Danny who was walking fast just because he’s always on the go, I get the feeling that Zeke is walking fast to lose me, actually wanting me to fall behind. Or maybe I’m making that up in my head.
“Thank you for taking me over to HR,” I say when we reach the doors to try and break the ice. “Danny said he would but it seems he has a busy day.”
“Danny’s schedule is always packed, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” His dull hazel eyes narrow down at me.
My eyebrows lift in surprise. “Oh no, that’s not what I was implying at all. Of course he knows what he’s doing. He’s one of the best in the business, and Lux Advertising is very successful because of him, I’m sure. I was just saying—”
“This is HR,” Zeke interrupts in a bored tone, as he pushes through another set of glass doors on the other side of the elevator bank.
I follow him through the doors.
“This is Connie. She can take your paperwork. Once you’re done with her, go on over to Rob in the back. He’ll get you your login information. Come find me when you’re done.” Zeke doesn’t wait for any questions I might have as he skirts around me and exits the door we just entered.
“Don’t be perturbed, hun. He’s like that with almost everyone.”
I smile at the woman at the desk in front of me. “Hi, I’m Janine, the new associate at Lux.”
She nods, and I notice the black string that attaches to her red-framed glasses. I can’t tell which is brighter, the red of her glasses or her red hair, and from the looks of it, it’s natural, or just a really good dye job.
“I know, hun. I’ve got your file right here in front of me. Just give me a sec to finish settling in for the morning and I’ll be right with you. Have a seat.” She extends her hand to the empty chair in the corner of her enclosed desk space.
I move passed her and take a seat, glancing around the walls that she has lined with pictures of herself in different locations and with family. I smile to myself, my heart squeezing in my chest as the thought of a family comes to mind.
“Are those your children?” I question, pointing at one of the pictures of her posing with Mickey Mouse ears in front of a Disney castle, with two teenage children.
“You’re sweet, hun.” Smiling, she pats my knee. “Those are my grandkids. We all took a family vacation in Disney World last summer.”
“That must’ve been fun.”
