“Don’t bother showing Danny anymore of that.” He juts his head toward the notebook in my hands. And rolls his eyes dismissing my idea. “I’ve already picked out a campaign that I know Digita is going to love. All you need to do is back me up in the meeting with Danny on Friday. Better yet, all you need to do is sit there and smile. It’s probably what Danny hired you for anyway,” he mumbles the last part before turning around.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask before I can think better of it.
“Nothing.”
“No, it’s not nothing,” I insist placing my hand on my hip, glaring at him. “Something’s been up your butt about me since I walked into this office on my first day, so let’s just get it out in the open.”
“Okay, fine. Everyone in this office knows why Danny hired you.”
“Because I’m a hard worker and—”
“Right,” he says mockingly. “It’s this wholediversitynonsense being pushed down everyone’s throats these days. I was on the committee that checked resumes to interview for your position. You don’t even have experience working in advertising.”
“I have a degree in—”
“Marketing and business admin. Right. You and everyone else who applied. What they also had was experience in this type of work. Regardless, the politically correct agenda of the day dictates hiring practices. Everyone wantsdiversity and inclusivity,forcing good managers to hire less than adequate employees.” He makes sure to hammer his point home about who he’s referring to when he slowly looks me up and down. No more is said as he turns back to his computer and continues typing out the email he’d been working on.
I stumble backward, bumping into someone behind me. “I’m sorry,” I say just above a whisper to a blonde-haired woman named Jennifer. She’s been polite to me since I began working at Lux Advertising, but in this moment, her perfect Barbie-esque appearance is a little too much to handle.
I move away and glance around the office, taking in my coworkers, none of whom are paying any attention to me. It slowly seeps in that Zeke is correct. Aside from Shelah, who is our receptionist, I am the only person of color in the office. Not only that, but we’re all around the same age, and there isn’t, from what I can see, anyone facing a disability of some sort.
Was I hired as a token?
After placing my notebook on top of my desk, I make a beeline for the bathroom. My day went from sunshine to downpour in less than an hour.
****
Emanuel
“Allende, you’re driving tonight,” Sean states, pointing at me from across the kitchen.
I glance up from the pasta primavera with shrimp that I’m cooking. “Not a problem.”
“That smells good. What’s in it?” Sean reaches in to swipe a shrimp. “Shit! What the fuck?” he growls as I slap his hand with the wooden spoon.
“Learn some fucking manners. You don’t stick your dirty ass hands into my food!”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell him since we were kids.”
We both turn at the sound of the feminine voice to see Angela standing there grinning as she gives her older brother athat’s what you getexpression.
“What are you doing here?”
I look at Sean, lifting my eyebrow. He’s not simply asking out of curiosity. His tone is clipped, angered almost.
“Well, hello, too, big brother. I’m here to see my husband, of course,” Angela replies with her hand on her hip.
“Eric’s upstairs,” I say.
“Thanks, Emanuel.” Angela nods and moves in, giving Sean a quick hug before exiting the kitchen to head up the stairs, I assume.
I turn to my lieutenant. “What was that about?” I get the feeling it isn’t strictly family business that has him so anxious. I’ve been feeling it for weeks, here at the station. As if there’s some hidden danger that everyone knows about but no one is actually saying. Not the typical danger, either. We’re firefighters, our job puts us in some very precarious situations routinely. It’s a part of the job and we all know it. And more than that, we allembraceit. But the type of unspoken danger I’m talking about seems like something else.
“Nothing.” Sean shakes his head. He turns, but is stopped when I grab him by the arm. His expression turns serious when he glances from my hand to my face.
He can be pissed all he wants. “What the hell is going on?”
He snatches his arm from me. “Don’t put—”
