“Look,” Jason finally said, “just tell me that he lied. We can pretend that none of this ever happened and I won’t have to upset my wife with the news.”
She looked over her shoulder, hoping that someone would come give her a hand or at least, give him the medication that he obviously needed. When it didn’t look like any help was forthcoming, she reluctantly looked back at Jason.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zoe admitted, taking a nervous step back when he started mumbling to himself.
“Please tell me that my cousin lied to screw with me and that you’re really not a Red Sox fan,” Jason said, staring at her intently as he waited for an answer.
“I-I’m not a baseball fan,” Zoe mumbled nervously, hoping that was the right answer. “I really don’t know much about sports in general.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “Then why did he tell me that you were a Red Sox fan?”
“Because I have a Red Sox tee-shirt,” she explained, discreetly taking a step to the side so that she could walk past him only to be cut off as he stepped in front of her.
“Why do you-”
With an exasperated roll of her eyes, Zoe snapped, “Because the tee-shirt is cute! Now, can I please go to work?”
“Cute?” Jason repeated as if he couldn’t quite believe what he’d heard. “There’s nothing cute about those bastards.”
“Except their shirts,” Zoe pointed out, biting back a smile at his horrified expression.
He looked like he was about to say something else, but then threw his hands up and finally walked off in disgust.
So nice to make friends on the first day, Zoe thought dryly as she hurried inside the trailer. Just as she placed her purse on the desk, Jared stepped out of his office. Zoe’s eyes automatically sought out the clock. Her stomach churned when she realized that she was a minute late.
She’d always hated being yelled at by her boss, but she had a feeling that being yelled at by a Bradford was going to be ten times worse. This was not the best way to start her first day.
“Good morning, Zoe,” Jared said, smiling and making her even more anxious.
“Good morning, Mr. Bradford,” Zoe said, trying not to shift nervously.
“It’s Jared,” he reminded her, still smiling as he headed for the kitchen counter and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Would you like some?” he asked, holding up the coffee pot.
“No, thank you, sir,” Zoe mumbled.
He rolled his eyes, shaking his head good-naturedly as he walked back towards his office. “It’s Jared, not Mr. Bradford and certainly not ‘sir.’ Just relax, Zoe. You’ll do fine,” he promised with a wink.
“Okay, thank you,” Zoe mumbled, forcing a small smile.
“Yell if you have any questions,” he called out from his office.
Zoe slowly exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and walked towards the fridge to put her lunch away.
“You can’t put that in there.”
Great. Not even five minutes into her first day and she was already screwing up. She felt her cheeks burn as she turned around. “I’m sorry. I thought it was the employee refrigerator,” she explained to Haley, who was walking, well, more like wobbling, towards her.
“Oh, it is,” Haley said, smiling. “But if you put it in there, it will be gone within ten minutes.” Zoe watched as Haley pulled several icepacks from the freezer. “I have a system for this.”
Curious, Zoe followed her to the desk. She watched as Haley sat in the chair and unlocked one of the large bottom desk drawers, revealing a really large box of tampons. Zoe felt her lips twitch as Haley shot her a mischievous smile.
“I’ve tried other things, but in my experience, tampons are the best deterrent for the food thieves, although cleaning supplies have been known to work in a pinch,” Haley explained as she handed Zoe an icepack. In an unspoken agreement, they both hurried to place the icepacks in their bags and placed them in the large drawer, shutting and locking it seconds before Jason came storming into the office.
“What are you doing?” Jason demanded, eyeing them suspiciously as they huddled behind the desk.
“I was just about to show Zoe the computer system,” Haley said, smiling sweetly up at her husband as she turned the computer on.
“Look,” Jason said, running his fingers through his hair, “I didn’t want to do this, but she,” he pointed an accusing finger at Zoe, “has a Red Sox tee-shirt and thinks it’s cute.”
