Jenny shook her head. “He always says I’m doing fine, so I don’t worry about it.” The last time she’d had a review, Emilio had said she was getting a raise. That was all she really paid attention to.
While she made a point of doing her job as correctly as possible—coming in on time, completing work in a timely fashion, cleaning her area when work finished—she didn’t really care about the scorecard.
If she watched it regularly, she would only obsess about it not being perfect. It happened in her previous job—she spent so much time obsessing over her company scorecard that she was making mistakes in her job, and it wound up getting her fired.
Here, she didn’t touch it, only asked that her boss let her know if there were any issues. As long as she was where she needed to be, then she was fine with it.
Maybe she should. The idea that she could get aboard The Bridge because of it? That would be worth obsessing over.
It would be better than obsessing over whether Phil was outside, stalking her again.
No matter how much she did, it seemed like he was around. She’d block his number, and he’d find a different way to reach her. She even found a note on her front door the other day.
She’d climb the damn Bridge herself, offer herself in tribute or something, just to get away from him.
Regardless of the police reports, nothing seemed to stick. He was always on the edge of being legal, which was maddening.
“Maybe I need to, see if I’m even on the level to ask to be put on that program.”
“Good luck. You should be.”
“Jenny, come in here,”Emilio Lopez called to Jenny as she walked by his office.
She paused and clenched her coffee cup—her lifeline since Phil had started his relentless stalking.
It didn’t matter what she did, or how she reached out to the police. If he was around, he was gone before they showed up.
Almost like he’d bugged her phone or something. Yet she didn’t want to get rid of it, because all her evidence was on the phone.
She took another sip of her coffee, forcing a smile on her face, and stepped into the office. “Hi, did you need something?”
He gestured for her to sit down, and walked over to the door, closing it behind her. “Just wanted to have a few words with you.”
Her shoulders slumped.
She’d probably screwed something up recently.
That’ll screw up her chances to get on The Bridge team.
Between Phil’s stalking texts that were still technically legal since he’d not actually threatened her, and Mister Fluffikins yowling all night because she won’t let him out anymore, sleep was very lacking.
Mister Fluffikins never liked this time of year, because she kept him in as it got colder, anyway. But now, she worried Phil would try to ambush her on the balcony, or worse, hurt Mister Fluffikins. Which she couldn’t really explain to Mr. F. He just thought he was being horribly mistreated.
And took it out by screaming the song of his people every night.
“Sure, boss. What can I do for you?” Jenny asked, smiling. Though she knew it probably didn’t reach her tired eyes.
He sat down behind his desk. “Truly, I was more curious about what I can do for you.”
“In what way?” Jenny asked.
Crap, what had she done wrong? Did she mess something up, and not even know it?
“You’re tired,” he said. It wasn’t a question. “I can see it on your face. The way you do things. I was curious if you’re okay.”
She forced a smile onto her face. “I’m sorry, I’ll do better.”
“This isn’t a reprimand, Jenny. I mean it when I ask, is there anything I can do for you? You haven’t been yourself for the last couple of weeks.”
