I read the email again, slowly, top to bottom, picturing him writing it out with icy determination. He really wanted me to explain to him what I did here? And what everyone else did here?
He was trying to intimidate me, right?Tell me what you do here—and prove to me that there’s a point in you continuing to do it.
It was a condescending, offensive load of bull that amounted to a thinly veiled threat.
I mean, if you wanted to look at it that way.
Yup. I sure did.
So maybe I’d take any excuse to get into it with him.
But fuck it. He struck first.
I stretched out my typing fingers and forged into battle.
Chapter Seven
Dane
Istood over the desk, leaning on my fists, reading and re-reading the email from Devi Sereda on my laptop.
Dane,
I am aware of your last name. You don’t need to sign off on emails with your first and last, just so you know.
You may also address me as Devi. I’m the same age as you. “Ms.” should be reserved for strangers and spinsters.
My job: Agent.
My duties: Anything and everything that needs doing.
Surely, you can find the information you seek in Janelle’s employee files. You’re in her office.
Devi
No matter how many times I read it, it was still puzzling.
Also, annoying.
I sat down and composed my reply.
Devi,
I wasn’t aware that we were on a first name basis. I stand corrected.
This is no longer Ms. Gorman’s office.
It’s been my finding that public-facing job titles don’t always match up with an employee’s actual day-to-day job tasks. I will require the information I requested from you by the end of the day.
Dane Davenport
I sent the email and pushed back from the desk, irritated. I wasn’t totally sure where all the attitude was coming from. Because I’d fired her incompetent boss? Because she still hated me from high school?
But if I didn’t let her bait me into a confrontation over the wordnepotism, I wasn’t going to let a snarky email get under my skin. If she wanted to pick a fight with me, she’d have to dig a little deeper, get a little more creative with the insults.
Meanwhile, if she had any legit,currentissue with me, of a professional nature, she could say so like a grownup. I wasn’t about to let her suck me into an argument so she could invent one out of nowhere.
Clearly, we had enough actual issues between us already. But those issues were personal and had miles of dust on them. No need to dust them off.
