“Not a firestorm,” Sheila interjected, pausing her game briefly to put in her two cents. “A snowstorm. Not a firestorm. A blizzard. Trask is cold. Trask freezes people when he’s unhappy. Not a firestorm.” The young woman livened up her screen again and went back to playing as if she hadn’t just put out a very astute observation.
Jett smothered a snicker.
Traskwasmore likeSnow MiserthanHeat Miser, except for the brief time he’d had his head between her legs. Then,the combination of both his personas had come together to be explosive like a…snowmageddon.
“Heat, cold, who cares.” Buck stopped her thoughts from spiraling into memories she shouldn’t be having.
“Are you still willing to work with us even after Trask was a dick?” he asked.
They all looked at Sheila, who didn’t deviate from her screentime, but raised a hand and made an air-checkmark to chalk up one more cuss.
The group chuckled.
“I…” Jett instantly made up her mind. “If you’re willing to take a chance on me, then yes. I’ll take the job.”
“Well, it’s settled, then,” Spencer replied with a huge smile. “Regardless of what Trask thinks, we have a new employee. Welcome to our humble start-up, Jett. I talked to Trask a little bit about what you’d discussed. Are you still willing to work on a per-job basis until we get some cash-flow going?” he asked. “Before Trask went off the deep end, I know that’s what you’d proposed.”
“Yes,” Jett responded without hesitation. “I’ve actually got a great pension and a few other sources of funds, so I’m not worried about being paid right away.”
She wasn’t a complete dolt in the business realm, however, and she put forth how she thought they might proceed in the future. “But on those jobs, you’d have to pay for avgas once I’ve tallied the bill.”
“That’s only fair,” Spence approved.
“And eventually,” she continued, “when I’ve proven my worth and brought some money into your coffers, I’d like Diver Downeast to pick up the insurance on my Cessna, and I wouldn’t mind if you also took care of the premiums for my TRICARE.”
Even though she had veterans’ benefits, she still had to pay a healthy amount out-of-pocket for her health insurance.
“Done,” Spencer easily agreed. “And we’ll talk about salary then, too. But in the meantime, how does a check for thirty-five percent of all jobs you complete, sound?”
Jett quickly figured that amount out in her head, and thought it was very generous. “That’s more than fair,” she told him. “I know you have to keep the office running with continuing costs for marketing and such, so if it ends up seeming like that’s too much, we can talk about scaling back.”
“You’re too good to be true,” Buck put in. “Trask must have his head up his ass…”
Again, with a wave from Sheila.
“…not to have played nice.”
Oh, he’d played nice.Verynice. Until he hadn’t.
“About that,” Jett pondered, knowing that a worry line had formed between her brows. “What if Trask is dead set against me working here?”
Spencer snorted. “Seriously? You think he would have driven all the way to Portsmouth to find you just to…?” He looked contemplative for a moment as he shrugged, so Jett spoke up again.
“Yeah. About that. What, exactly,didhe go to Portsmouth for?”
Trask’s behavior, which she already knew went against his grain, was perplexing. She speculated out loud. “Was he going to bust my chops? Was he putting aside his pride to ask me to come back? Or was he actually going to, heaven forbid, apologize?” Jett questioned.
She couldn’t quite kill the note of skepticism in her voice.
“Beats me,” Spencer answered, grinning again. “When I talked to him, he was confused as hell, which isn’t something I normally associate with him. So…I’m not sure if evenhewas aware of how things were going to play out. But I think this is a good look for him. He’s always large and in charge, and if you’resomebody who can keep him off kilter, it’ll be the best thing that’s ever happened to himandto us. Nobody likes a grumpy boss.”
Jett agreed with that, but she still wasn’t sure she had the chops to take on one very controlling Sothard for the long-term.
Time, however, would tell.
“Okay.” Jett sucked in a breath. “Barring murder, or at least a bloody conflict, I suppose you’ve got yourself a new employee.”
Sheila actually stood up and did a funny little happy dance.
