“I’m not an associate, I’m an assistant. There’s a difference. Even I know that. Still, when you do decide to fire me for real at some point, can I put associate on my resume?”
I frowned at her. That, I could do while looking directly at her. Making my displeasure known through facial expression.
Frowns. Scowls. Sneers. Condescension was typically associated with tone of voice, but I was fairly sure I could arrange my face to convey that, too.
“Stop thinking about your next job while in your current one,” I told her. I checked the time on one of my monitors. It was nearly seven in the evening. “It’s late. Why are you still here?”
“You stay, I stay. That’s how this works. Except…”
I ignored the fact she let her sentence dangle and went about closing the various windows on my monitors. I preferred a tidy workspace, and closing applications before shutting down for the evening felt like part of that ritual. It was also a good security practice.
Pushing back my chair, I stood and unplugged the laptop from the main console. The universal sign for, I was done for the night. She nodded and popped out of the doorway to go fetch her own laptop.
After weeks of me mocking the grocery store tote she typically carried it in, I paid her a decent salary after all, she’d purchased a proper computer carrier. Navy polyester, but functional. In her business clothes with her across-the-shoulder laptop carrier, she looked like a proper young professional.
No one would know, I thought.
That she’d been hungry. That she’d been struggling to make rent at a dive motel. That she’d been at the mercy of some asshole manager who thought he had power over her.
Off handedly, she’d told me the name of the diner where she’d worked and I’d called local officials about the need for a sudden health inspection. I have no idea if they passed it or not. My guess, based on the generous donation I made to the local food pantry…they did not.
A few weeks ago, I’d agreed to the apartment she’d picked out. She was already moved in, as I’d pressured the manager to bump up the move-in date for her. Usually, there was a waiting period while the application was reviewed, along with a credit check. Given she’d only recently opened a bank account, I had to have all that waived for a nominal security deposit.
It was only a two mile walk from her apartment to the office building complex. There was also a convenient bus route that was easily accessible in case it rained. There was no need to get her a company car at this point. However, it did occur to me, as late as we worked, as the months ran by, it would soon be dark before the end of the working day.
I might have to re-evaluate the car at that point.
For now, I was satisfied she could get herself home safely. I would worry later about what happened in the fall months because I couldn’t drive her myself.
It hadn’t bothered me up until now. My fear of driving with another person in the car. It was only ever annoying when I needed Ricky anytime I had a thought I might need to offer someone a ride from point A to point B.
The anxiety I’d felt anytime a new passenger was in a car with me was nearly unmanageable. Thank God she hadn’t spoken or asked any questions that required a reply from me when we’d left the motel that day. I wouldn’t have been able to give it to her. For her part, she’d just assumed me having a driver was about my wealth and so I let her think it.
Didn’t all billionaires have drivers?
I walked out of my office and paused in the middle of the lobby as I watched her close her door behind her. We both took our laptops with us every day so there was no real concern about security where our individual doors needed to be locked.
She threw her bag across her shoulders and pulled her hair out from under the strap like a dance move I was starting to anticipate and met me at the front door. I held the door for her as she passed, then let it close and auto lock behind us.
Together we made our way to the elevator.
She would ride with me to the lobby and get off there. I would descend further to the parking garage where my car was waiting for me. No driver needed with just me driving to and from the office.
If I had to start dropping her off at her apartment though…
Was that something employers did for their employees? Was I overstepping by even thinking I needed to be responsible for her wellbeing?
Was I being a decent guy, or an overbearing control freak?
The elevator bell dinged, announcing its arrival as the doors slid open. Given how late I worked, it was typically just the two of us, alone in the compartment. And for whatever reason, this elevator ride, the one at the end of the day, always made me a little…uncomfortable. It was hard to put a finger on why.
A sense of something in the air between us.
Tension?
Which of course made no sense, as Anna and I had developed, in a very short amount of time, a harmonized professional relationship.
“Except,” I blurted out as the elevator started its descent.
