Samiah’s eyes fell shut at the nauseating sound. She dialed up another fake smile before turning her chair around.
“Good morning, Keighleigh. Can I help you?”
Her coworker moved from where she’d stood just outside the door, sauntering up to Samiah’s desk. “I just wanted to know how you were doing. Sounds as if you had yourself an…um…interesting weekend.”
Samiah fought the urge to roll her eyes.
There was one in every company. For Samiah, Keighleigh Miller wastheone. The one who clawed at her nerves on a daily basis, the way Denise’s pesky cat Boomer used to claw at Samiah’s bedroom door whenever her sister wasn’t home. The one who constantly kissed up to management. The one who, on more than one occasion, had tried to take credit for Samiah’s work.
She was willing to play along with therah-rah, we’re all in this together, there’s no “I” in “team”bullshit Trendsetters pushed onto their employees, but only to a certain point. If the side-eye she’d caught several members of their team throwing Keighleigh’s way at last week’s meeting was any indication, Samiah wasn’t the only one who’d grown tired of her coworker’s shenanigans.
“Yes, it was an eventful weekend,” Samiah said, dropping her smile. She was tired and overwrought and unwilling to engage in any further pretense. She sat back in her chair and asked again, “Can I help you with something?”
“No.” The purple tips of Keighleigh’s white-blond hair swished along her leather jacket’s upturned collar. “Like I said, just checking on you.”
Keighleigh tried way too hard to be the rebel who thumbed her nose at society’s rules, but Samiah knew better. She’d happened upon her Facebook page while killing time one lazy Friday evening and encountered several pictures her coworker had been tagged in from high school. Keighleigh had been your average, run-of-the-mill cheerleader type. This edgy persona was all an act. Samiah wouldn’t be surprised if her nose ring was a fake.
Stop it.
She despised cattiness among women in the workplace. Things were rough enough for their gender, especially in the male-dominated tech world.
But Keighleigh Miller had started this shit. From the moment she’d joined the Implementation team, she’d shown her willingness to double-cross whomever she deemed a threat or impediment to her rise to the top. Another of their coworkers, Amy Dodd, had learned that the hard way after Keighleigh innocently let it slip that Amy had confided in her that she was struggling with a project she’d been assigned. Their supervisor, Justin Vail, had placed Keighleigh on the project and she’d taken over—after Amy had already completed most of it.
Samiah refused to fall victim to Keighleigh’s backstabbing.
“Thanks for checking on me, but honestly, I’m fine,” Samiah continued. “Now, I really need to get back to work.”
“Oh!” Keighleigh’s green eyes—probably contacts—lit up. “Are you working on the proposal for Swiss Burger?”
“I am,” Samiah answered, her Spidey senses on red alert.
“I wondered what you were thinking when it came to that conundrum their CTO mentioned. I mean, I can understand them wanting to reduce connection speed after someone has been online for more than thirty minutes, but I don’t know how they do that without coming off as, well, cheapskates.”
“Well, that conundrum is what today’s meeting is about.”
Keighleigh leaned in closer, her lips turning up in a wily smile, as if she and Samiah were in a partnership and she had a secret to share. In a conspiratorial whisper, she asked, “So what are you planning to present to Grant?”
Was she serious? Samiah wanted to tell her that she was born on a Tuesday, nottoday. Instead, she said, “A few ideas I’ve come up with.”
She matched Keighleigh’s smile with one of her own as she picked up her coffee mug and pushed back from the desk. “You know what? I just realized I haven’t had any coffee yet. No wonder I’m feeling all ragey.” She started for the door, but turned when she sensed Keighleigh wasn’t following her. Samiah arched a brow at her coworker.
“Oh, I guess that’s my cue to get back to work,” Keighleigh said.
Samiah nodded. As if she would leave her to snoop around in her office. “I know you want to wow Grant with all those awesome ideas you’ve come up with.” Samiah sent her another saccharine smile. “Meet you in the conference room.”
Chapter Four
We call this a semi–open concept work environment. Studies show that team members work better when they’re able to bounce ideas off one another without the obstruction of walls, but too much of an open environment impedes productivity. I think we’ve found a healthy balance here at Trendsetters,” the HR director said, his bald head gleaming under the panel of LED lights high above.
Daniel Collins nodded and smiled. A response wasn’t expected. Having experienced more than a dozen episodes such as this one over these past two years, he’d learned the subtle nuances of navigating the first day on the job. He knew based on the inflection in Owen Caldwell’s voice when a polite, interested nod would work and when the man expected him to make an actual comment. So far, he’d gotten by with a few hums of approval.
As they continued the tour, Daniel compared the layout of the software company’s vast office space to the mental map in his head. He’d meticulously studied the floor plan weeks ago, but things changed. Desks were moved, partitions were erected. Being cognizant of the space around him was imperative to the success of his new job.
“And here we are at your home away from home.” Owen’s cheerful voice was a bit grating, but the man was trying to make a good first impression. Interesting how that went. It should have been the other way around, but Daniel’s résumé had spoken for itself. Trendsetters was lucky to have him and they knew it. He’d made sure of it.
They approached a polished, six-by-three-foot desk made of thick light oak. It was identical to the two dozen that were arrayed in neat rows in this section of the office, each with two large monitors that angled toward each other. There were a few people milling about, but for the most part, everyone seemed focused on their computers, earbuds and earphones shutting them out from the rest of the world. They could all be in cubicles for this.
“Jamie set you up with the basics, but if you need additional supplies, they can be found in the supply closet I pointed out earlier. Except for external hard drives,” Owen added. “If you need an extra one, you’ll need to see Laurie in Operations and sign for it.” The HR director clapped his hands together. “Did I miss anything?”
