I’d arrived before Sam. I went stra

I’d arrived before Sam. I went straight into Calvin’s office. My office. The cleaners had been, everything was sterilized and ready for a new inhabitant. They’d boxed any paperwork, I’d have to go through them later to decide what, if anything, I needed to keep. Lord knows I wasn’t keeping anything that even hinted at the prior existence of the Weeksend report.
After I’d finished my inspection of my new workspace, I headed back to my old desk to pack. Sam still wasn’t in. I checked the time, she wouldn’t be here for at least another ten minutes.
I hoped she felt comfortable with me being her new boss. After all, she had been with the company a lot longer than I had. And we’d become such close friends, I hope it didn’t feel too awkward for her. Or worse, that she resented me for getting the position instead of her. Perhaps I should talk to her about it? I don’t know.
Someone had left an empty box on my old desk. I dropped it on the floor, sat in my old chair and opened my old desk drawers. I put the recycling bin beside the empty box. Might as well clear out the files I don’t need now.
I started in the bottom drawer and was about halfway through it when I heard Sam’s telltale heavy feet.
“Good morning boss.” I stood up at the sound of her voice.
“Morning!” I hugged her.
We chatted for a few minutes. I was confident Sam was happy, and it relaxed me. I guess she figured never having to see Calvin again made up for not getting the promotion.
I sat back in my chair and returned to my task of sorting through the files. Weird, the files at the back are all jumbled up. Like a good accountant, I’m always careful to keep things organized.
After sorting through a few more papers I realized the file of damning emails I kept on Calvin was missing. I riffled through the entire drawer and box again looking for it. Strange. I know it was there. I had it in my hands ready to hand in so many times in the past few weeks.
Where was it? Had someone been through my papers? No one knew about it, other than Jay. It must have been Calvin. I bet he went through my stuff when I wasn’t at work and found it. He must have known he was on the verge of being fired and got rid of any damning evidence.
The idea that he had been through my stuff, riffled through my tampons and Snicker bar stash, made me uneasy.
I sorted through the rest of my stuff and picked up the box.
“I’m outta here,” I said to Sam and laughed.
“Enjoy your ivory tower.”
“I’ll try to remember you.”
“Try not to forget who you really are.”
I blew a raspberry at her and walked the three paces to my office. Was spending the morning organizing my stuff a good use of my time? What would Richard make of it? Already we were a body down. Although that body was Calvin, and I’d never been convinced he actually did any work anyway.

I shut my office door and sat at my desk, enjoying my new digs. My cell phone rang, startling me from my thoughts.
“Hey executive lady,” Jenny said.
“Hey. Guess what?”
“You’re the boss?”
I rolled my eyes. “Aside from that.”
“I hate guessing games, just tell me.”
I told her how Jay had been waiting at my condo. And about the lingerie gift. And most important of all, how Jay had spent the night in my bed. I left out the mirror bit though.
“Did you guys have breakfast together?”
“Couldn’t. He was gone when I woke up.”
“That’s really weird.”
I hesitated, unsure if I should tell her. “I looked up that lingerie online. It cost nearly three grand.”
I had to hold the phone away from my ear while Jenny screamed.
“Are you done yelling?”
“Yes. But…” I held the phone out again. I knew I shouldn’t have told her.
“Sorry, I have to go, talk to you later.”
“Whatever, I am so calling Sam right now.”
“Uh huh.” I hung up.
I tried to concentrate on work. For almost two hours, I jotted down every idea I’d ever had, what I considered was missing from the current reporting process, and outlined how I envisioned the reports should look. It would be difficult to transition over, but I’m certain management could make better business decisions with my ideas.
I pinged Richard an email, requesting some time to sit down with him to discuss everything. With any luck I’d get the green light to hire another analyst to replace me as well.
I was about to grab Sam and go for lunch when my phone beeped.
Am going to have to lie low for a bit. Hope you’re enjoying being the boss. J
I didn’t understand what he meant. Lie low?
What do you mean?
I mean we can’t meet up for awhile. Sorry. J
???
I kept the phone in my hand, but no response came. Was he a criminal? That might explain the combination of unemployment and money to blow. But. I don’t know. I feel like whenever I’m with him I can see right into his soul. And I don’t see anything criminal in it. A bit naughty maybe, but not sinister.
I needed to get this thought straight in my head before I saw Jenny.