“Then that’s his problem,” she informs me firmly. “Not yours. You’re only paid to try making a difference in his public perception. It’s up to him to actually change for the world to believe it.”
I blow out a breath when I realize she’s right.
“If you have to do events together,” she adds casually, sipping her drink. “Make them something important to Fairbanks. You know what this community is made of. If you’re stuck babysitting this guy, you might as well find ways to give back and use him to do it. He probably has money and a fanbase regardless of whatever scandal he’s in. It sounds like giving back to Fairbanks is the least he can do.”
This communityhasdone a lot for us. And if Thomas Moskins is worth what his Google page says he is, then he can afford to give back to the city that is now home to his new hockey team.
Luca comes running back with a long line of paper tickets trailing behind him. “Look! I can finally get that giant dragon.”
My sister hides her wince when Luca points to the stuffed animal that I’m not sure will fit into her car. “Great,” she murmurs.
She doesn’t enlighten me about her relationship, work, or anything personal, the rest of the day. That’s Kourtney for you. Closed off and far too focused on everybody but herself.
But when I get back home after our dinner out, I compile a list of ideas for Janel’s approval that could make a big difference to both Thomas Moskinsandthe people of Fairbanks.
*
I can smellmy coworker Cody before he actually appears at my cubicle, thanks to the rancid cologne he bathes in. When I turn from my computer to see why the twenty-something-year-old is leaning against the wall of my cubby, I’m met with an arrogant smirk that I want to smack off his face.
Ever since I was hired, he’s been the bane of my existence. We went out on one measly date not long after I started, which I left early with a made-up excuse about a family emergency. I’ve never entertained him again, and I’d like to thank my frontal lobe fully forming for that wise decision.
My decision to let him take me to dinner has been one of my biggest regrets in the past year. But as someone who was broke and just starting out, the thought of getting a free meal from him sounded too alluring to pass up. It’s why I went on a lot of first dates and not a lot of seconds.
To me, the man currently poisoning my space with off-brand Axe body spray was a meal ticket and nothing more. But I learned my lesson, which was cemented by a scoldingconversation with my sister after realizing Cody wasn’t getting the hint about my lack of interest.
“You don’t shit where you eat, Win,” Kourtney says over the phone. “Never date a coworker. Not even for a good steak.”
I’d gotten chicken that night, but I understood enough to promise I’d never do it again.
“Can I help you with something?” I ask the office pest, waving my hand at my computer screen. “I’m a little busy right now.”
His eyes move from me to the screen. “Is that the Moskins case?” he asks with way too much interest as he pushes off the wall and steps into my personal space.
I quickly turn the screen away from him and power it off. “It is, but we both know I can’t say anything about it.”
I don’t like the mischievous spark in his eyes. He’s up to no good, and I don’t trust him. Especially when he sits on the corner of my desk like he owns it.
Prick.
“How did you manage that anyway?” he asks, stretching his legs out in front of him. “You go from fetching coffee and doing meeting minutes to being part of a high-profile case for someone you probably didn’t know existed five days ago.”
My eyes narrow. He’s right, I had no clue who Moskins was, but what does that matter? It clearly gave me the advantage. “Your point?”
He huffs out a laugh. “I’m clearly better suited to be on his case. I know him, his stats, and everybody signed to his new team. It’s strange that you got assigned to it, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.”
All I can do is blink. Is he implying that I somehow bribed my way onto this case? Withwhat? I literally agreed to go on a date with him for food, which means I have no money to my name. If I did, I’d have a stocked fridge at the apartment and no reason toagree to the amount of overtime I do. There isn’t anything else I could offer to convince Janel to assign me to this specific case.
“Have you ever thought that if you were a decent person, you might have gotten picked for this?” I question with a bite to my tone. He deserves it for trying to accuse me of shady shit. “I know for a fact that you were pulled from the Shiba Humphrey case because you flirted with her and tried to get season tickets out of the deal.”
Defense instantly squares his shoulders. “I wasjoking. Nobody can take a joke these days.”
Oh, please. “The only thing I did to get assigned to this case is earn Janel’s trust. If she trusted you, you and your vast knowledge of all things Thomas Moskins would have been on it.”
His glare would turn me to stone if it could, but I don’t care. Nobody is going to come into my space and tell me I haven’t earned something that I work hard for every single day.
“I come in early,” I tell him, lifting my thumb. “I stay late,” I add, lifting my index finger. With each point, I add a finger to emphasize the list of reasons why I deserve this more than he does. All while locking eyes with him. “I don’t gossip. I don’t flirt. I have the decency to say hello to everybody here rather than giving them the cold shoulder. You can be mad all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m on Moskins’s case and you’re not. That’s not going to change.”
Just as he’s about to say something that would probably border on harassment, a new gravelly voice cuts into our conversation. “She’s right. So get the fuck out of her space.”
