Kali got the coffee machine going, the only thing in the office Mack had invested more than fifty bucks on, and took a seat at her cluttered desk. She busied herself sorting through paperwork while waiting for the computer to start up. There was a week’s worth of voicemail also needing her attention. Sensing the presence of someone else in the room, she spun her chair around. Mack was looming over her desk as usual.
He was relatively young, three decades and a little change. Straight out of college, Mack had turned his thirst for adventure into a paying gig. And it wasn’t long before he’d amassed a small fortune. Of average height and build, superior intelligence was the quality that put Mack above the rest. Kali speculated that it was the same characteristic making him unsatisfied with everyone else.
Today, his someone-pissed-in-my-cereal scowl was a lot more pronounced. He glared pointedly at Kali and then at the clock. “Good afternoon.”
She followed the look and tried not to cringe. “I know. I got a flat tire right before the exit. The spare was crap. I’m sorry, Mr. Richards.”
His frown deepened. “I asked you here at five. I expected you to be here ten minutes before that. I didn’t get to where I am today by pressing snooze.”
She bit her tongue and waited for the rest of the lecture. It never came. Instead, Mack surprised her by saying, “I’m glad you made it in okay. I didn’t know behind your cute face was a brain that knew how to use a lug wrench.”
Kali stared at him blankly, only having a faint idea of what a lug wrench looked like. “Actually, someone came along and—” she stopped as he tossed a thick manila envelope on her desk.
The package landed with a heavy thud. “I want those recorded and logged by seven.”
“No problem.” She forced a pleasant smile.
“That’s my girl,” he said gruffly, and then went to his own desk.
When it became obvious that Mack was too busy to bother her again, Kali went to the coffee pot. She poured herself a cup and downed the steaming liquid quickly. Filling the mug again, Kali went back to her desk. The manila envelope was waiting. She picked it up and dumped the contents. Every site specific was there: pictures, data logs, numbers. A few things needed translating to English. But legal petitions that should have been filled out and submitted to the proper authorities prior to the dig were incomplete. A crucial agreement had the big red letters of denial stamped across it. Several entries seemed irrelevant, but that wasn’t unusual. There was a new grad on the team.
Kali tapped a pen thoughtfully against the desk.
Not my problem
, she decided. All the snow could melt in Alaska before she would confront her boss about the contents of the folder. Arriving late had put her on a thin ledge. She wasn’t going to do anything to make Mack shove her off.
For the next hour, she plugged away at the computer, compiling everything into the database as best as she could. But it was more difficult than usual to navigate the data and locate necessary details to complete her reports. Even Mack’s log entries, typically almost ritualistic in their neatness, seemed jumbled and hurried.
Kali glanced over at Mack’s desk a few times. He remained absorbed in his own project. Then he must have noticed the extended silence from her keyboard because he swiveled his chair around. Kali went back to work. But his chair squeaked impatiently, and she lifted her head. His frown was more severe than earlier.
“What are you doing?”
His tone made her hesitant. “I’m sorting.”
Mack rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner. “I don’t want you to sort. I want you to record what’s there in an organized manner.”
Kali took a deep breath and mentally counted to ten. Then she calmly replied, “There’s a lot of information here. More than the usual, so it needs careful attention.”
“That’s why I asked you to come in early.”
She considered her next words. Alaska could use a warmer climate. The wildlife might even enjoy it. “Maybe it would help if we went over the documents together. There might have been a few legal oversights.”
His reaction gave away nothing. “Figure it out. That’s why I keep paying you.”
Mack turned away. Taking it as a sign of dismissal, Kali returned to the paperwork on her desk. In ten minutes or so, the rest of the office would start to arrive. Then Mack would have other targets to micromanage.
Keys jingled as he left his chair and came to stand over her desk yet again. Kali looked at him expectantly and wondered what else she was doing wrong.
“I’m going into my office for the rest of the morning and I am not to be disturbed. Let everyone know when they decide to get here. And send Wes in.”
“I will.”
“Thank you.” He nodded curtly and retreated to his main office in the more isolated section of the second level. Kali sagged in her chair, relieved that he was gone.
The room soon filled with coworkers. A dozen pitiful souls, committed to working seven days a week until the busy season was over, filed in looking tired, hung over, or both. Instead of a clatter of chains and fetters, the whizzing time clock announced their arrival as they punched in. Kali returned each of their zombie-like greetings without stopping her work, until she heard the unmistakable cheeriness of a familiar voice.
“Good morning all!”
The greeting came from Wesley, a fairly short guy with sparkling blue eyes that could charm anything out of anyone. He was lovable and friendly. Everyone liked him, even Kali. He had been a friend of her late father, remaining close after the death of her parents. In fact, Wes had played an integral role in the adoption. He was also the office manager of Mack Ventures Inc., and had recommended Kali for the job she currently held.
Making his way over to her desk, Wes leaned over and planted a brotherly kiss on her cheek. “Good morning, Kali.”
“That’s sexual harassment,” she said with an easy smile.
He chuckled. “That’s only Monday through Friday. On the weekends it’s perfectly acceptable.” He lowered his voice, “Where’s the dragon?”
“He lumbered in his office less than ten minutes ago. He said to send you in.”
“Great.” Wes pulled a large bag of donuts from behind his back. “I brought breakfast.” He added in a loud stage whisper, “There’s enough for the whole office so we don’t have to worry about favoritism.”
Several other employees looked up with smiles. A few laughed. Shannon, a pretty blonde with legs that went on forever, gave Wes the finger. Then everyone laughed. It was all good-natured though. Shannon was in a perpetual love/hate, on again/off again relationship with the boss. When the two were on, Mack was in a noticeably less grating mood. It made all their lives easier.
Wes glanced toward Mack’s office and pressed a finger to his lips. The laughter died down. “Everyone help yourselves to some breakfast, but please get to work. Or at least pretend you’re working.” He set the bag down and moved away as everyone swarmed in. It took a few seconds for the donuts to disappear. Only the greasy bag remained, forlorn and empty on Kali’s desk.
Wes shook his head. “So much for breakfast. I’ll have to buy you lunch.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s the thought that counts.”
“That’s something people say when they’re disappointed. Lunch is on me and we’re not discussing it further.”
She really laughed then. “Yes, sir!”
Wes grinned back. Then his expression grew serious. Leaning away slightly, he slipped both hands into his pockets. “Did Mr. Richards call you in early this morning?” His voiced had dropped again.
“Yeah, he wanted me to compile this report.”
He looked around the room, giving the impression he didn’t want anyone to overhear what was to be said next. Kali looked too. Everyone was busy.
“Wes, what’s going on with you?”
“Kali, put it away for now.”
“What? I have to get this done or Mr. Richards will be pissed.”
“He’s always pissed. Just leave it. And we can’t talk about it here.”
She had no clue what was happening, but Wes was really anxious about that particular report. So she agreed to put it aside until he had a chance to explain.
Wes relaxed then. “Great. I’ll find you at lunch.”
He left, and Kali shifted her attention to other things. Her desk was an organized mess, the drop zone for everyone else’s slack. During the middle of the busy season, it wasn’t uncommon for edits from the office’s two historians to fall through the cracks. Due to her efficiency and low error rate, Kali’s desk had become a sort of unofficial safety net situated directly beneath those fissures. In front of her were stacks of files needing typed updates and addendums. She threw herself into the work and kept her mind off Wes’s odd request. Lunch would come soon enough.
At about twenty minutes before twelve, Shannon came by. In grad school and proud of it, Shannon’s position was a part of an internship from an out of state college. She was smart. But snooty, self-entitled slut described her better.
Today, the intern was dressed to resemble a prep school pinup. She gave her blonde hair a toss and sat right on the edge of Kali’s workspace. Kali glanced at her briefly.
For blonde hair to be a recessive gene, the office sure is crawling with it.
Shannon wasn’t very attractive from the neck up. But her body was killer. She knew it and dressed to keep the guys looking. Standing up, her skirt had been too short. Seated, it was criminal. Kali glued her eyes to the monitor and kept typing. It never took Shannon long to get to the point. The girl wouldn’’t have known subtlety even if someone had tied the adjective to a brick and hit her in the face with it.
“You were called in early this morning.”
From that statement, Kali already knew what direction the conversation would take. Last summer when she’d started, Shannon got the mistaken idea that she and Kali were rivals. A one-sided competition for Mack’s praise and attention had been ongoing ever since. But Kali was determined to be mature and respectful. Interns were important to the office.
“What do you want, Shannon?” she asked politely.
Flipping her hair again, Shannon shifted. The material of the skirt slid further up her long legs. Bobby from accounting was on his way to the copy machine and stepped into the trashcan because he was gawking so hard. Kali suppressed a laugh as papers flew everywhere and the man sprawled onto the floor.
The intern leaned in closer. “Are you and Mack working on some special project?”
“Um…” Kali edged away from the boobs that strained against Shannon’s too small cotton blouse and vest combo. “No. Nothing I know of.”
“People are saying he’s planning to take you to meet with a private collector.”
Kali had no idea what her coworker was talking about, and made her face as blank as possible to express that fact. Shannon missed the hint or ignored it. So Kali stated it plainly, “I really don’t know what you are talking about.”
“You don’t have to be cagey. You’re a glorified secretary. Why would he need you on this project? The deal has already been made.”
“Maybe he needs my help to take notes.” Kali cast a meaningful look at Shannon’s outfit and smirked. “Strippers don’t usually spell too great.” The phone at her desk rang, picking up overflow from the department for inquiries. Kali reached out to grab it. “Excuse me. I have to get back to work now.
Shannon slid off the desk and pulled her skirt down. The material rebounded as soon as her hands left. Raising her chin, Shannon sauntered off with an exaggerated sway. Kali gazed after the intern in wonder, and then glanced around on the floor for the rest of the marbles that must have fallen out of the blonde’s head.
Wes appeared at her desk a few minutes later to collect her for lunch. There was a sandwich deli situated a few blocks down from the office. They walked to it and didn’t say much. From the silence, Kali knew something was weighing heavily on Wes’s mind. His mood only watered the worry already seeded during their last chat.
He abruptly broke the silence. “What happened to your face?”
Surprised by the question, Kali automatically angled her chin away from him and felt her cheeks blush. Thinking of her fight with Cal again, her jaw clenched…so tightly the bruise began to throb.
“Are you still seeing that guy?”
Unlike Greg and Lisa, Wes had never been a fan of her relationship with Cal. It was as if Wes saw past the charm and didn’t like what was beneath. And he didn’t try to hide his distaste.
“No. We’re done. And this is the last time.”
“Because of the bruise or is it why you got the bruise?”
“Wes, I know you don’t like Cal. But don’t judge him because of his abusive past. He overcame that. He’s not a monster.”
“Maybe not now, but he’s capable of it. One look at your face proves that.”
She sighed. “Last night was the first and last time he ever laid a hand on me.”
They walked a bit further. “Okay,” he said.
They reached the restaurant and seated themselves after placing an order. The meal arrived and was halfway eaten before Kali gave in and asked for the second time, “What’s going on?”
The sandwich was almost to Wes’s mouth, but he placed it back in the basket. He ran both hands through his pale blond hair before speaking. “I’m not sure.”