Flirting with the HR Girl

Chapter 32

Jennifer spent the rest of the morning getting ready for orientation. She was almost happy to see Cynthia show up and give her a chance to take a break. Until she remembered why her boss was there. Her trepidation came back as Cynthia rolled in her HR bag and Jennifer rolled right out of the chair.

"How was this morning?" Cynthia asked, logging into the computer. She already had the phone in her hand and looked as if she needed Jennifer to answer quickly.

"Great. No one needed a thing." Jennifer thought to add, "Todd did come in to ask about openings and I told him we were doing well."

"Wonderful," Cynthia said poised to dial a number but then pausing and setting the receiver down. "Actually, would you go down and tell Ralph that I'm ready to see him now."

Jennifer's stomach somersaulted again. Ralph must have been the manager that wanted to talk about the new policy. She didn't have any issues with him other than his sloppy paperwork and poor work ethic. As far as she was concerned, he didn't know that she felt that way though. But Ralph was in shoes, which happened to have a clear view of menswear. What if Ralph had seen something or knew something? She had also bought the boots for her date in Ralph's section. What if Ralph had been back in the shoe office wasting time and overheard her with Selena talking about the date?

"Okay," Jennifer said thinking enough to grab a stack of applications and her new hire packet in case she couldn't get back in the office. She wandered out past Blanche's desk, who was on the phone and rolling her eyes at her, which meant that she was with a disgruntled customer. Jennifer did not envy the store admin's job at all. She had done it for almost two years before moving to HR and that had been enough. Blanche got every angry customer that Todd didn't want to deal with.

Jennifer nodded sympathetically to Blanche and kept moving and worrying. What would Ralph have to talk to Cynthia about concerning sexual harassment? He was quite possibly the most asexual person in the store. Him or Gary. And, unfortunately, Gary made it clear to anyone that he still found his wife very attractive. Her heartbeat picked up as she rode down the escalator and decided that she needed to talk to Austin. She went into shoes first and, of course, Ralph wasn't on the floor. One of his associates was helping a customer while another was dusting. The young woman pointed towards the office.

Jennifer always hesitated when she went into the backrooms of a retail store. At first, she thought it was cool to see behind the scenes but then after doing inventory it gave her the creeps. Most of them were not well-lit, had old mannequins or parts laying around, and always felt like there could be someone ready to jump out at her when she walked around the corner. The shoe office was no different with racks and racks of boxes of shoes but also had a creepy low-lying couch in the very back under a whiteboard that never had anything useful written on it. This was where she found Ralph sitting and at least looking at some form of Peterson's paperwork. Although, he may have been asleep before he heard her footsteps.

"Cynthia would like you to come to her office," Jennifer said ready to get out of the room as soon as possible.

"Good," was all Ralph said as he walked right by her and out into the store.

Jennifer rolled her eyes behind his back and started out of the backroom but saw a box of shoes that had the lid slightly ajar. She lifted the lid and saw a pair of glittering pumps that she might actually wear. If she ever got to go on a fancy date. Then she looked at the price tag. Her cat would be dead before she could afford the shoes.

As she went out of the stockroom, she pulled applications to the top of her stack. She would look very professional when she had this next conversation.

She found Austin in the back of menswear organizing socks and underwear. It was a corner of the store where no one but the LP cameras could see them. And, fortunately, the cameras did not have sound, even though loss prevention had been pushing for them for years. Even Peterson's knew it shouldn't be recording their customers' conversations.

"Hey," Jennifer said standing next to Austin, suddenly shy. He looked good in his navy suit and powder blue tie as he leaned over to straighten rows of men's boxers. She glanced at the table and briefly wondered if he was a boxer guy. She could already feel the flush in her face. She decided she better start talking before her mind wandered to what was under that underwear. "Todd came to see me this morning."

"And it wasn't about HR stuff?" Austin said with a knowing look.

"He started out that way," Jennifer said taking a step back from him. She didn't want to talk too loudly but she couldn't stand close enough to smell his cologne. It was all she could do not to lean in and beg him to kiss her. "He kept asking me about us."

"And what did you say about us?" Austin said, dead serious.

"I said that we are just friends." Even as she said it, she could feel a flutter in the back of her knees. Her heart. Even her brain was screaming the opposite. "I told him there was nothing to tell and that we were just friends."

"Then that's what I'll tell him, too," Austin said but he took a step closer to her.

"Great," Jennifer said suddenly hot and very flustered. She didn't think that she would ever have this feeling again. When she had felt this way about Eric, it had felt so one-sided. Like he could take her or leave her. And in the end, he'd obviously left her. But here was Austin, standing in front of her, willing to keep things a secret. Willing to do what he could to help her achieve her goals. It made him even hotter.

"Great," Austin repeated her response and licked his lips. They stood that way for a moment staring at each other, fighting the magnetism drawing their bodies together. Jennifer knew that if someone happened to be looking at the loss prevention camera, they would probably see the sparks flying between them. "And I won't let him ruin tomorrow night."

"Great," Jennifer said, this time she giggled. Austin smiled at her, and her heart soared. She loved that she could almost make fun of him, and he still thought she was hilarious. Eric hadn't had much of a sense of humor about himself. He loved to laugh at other people, which at the time Jennifer was so young, she didn't realize how mean-spirited he really was. "And we can't go anywhere near the mall."

"I have reservations somewhere no one will find us."

The sentence sent a shiver up her spine. As if they were running away together. Selena had asked her if she could give up love for a department store management position. No, she couldn't.

She found herself leaning towards him again. The lapel of his suit brushed against the front of her blazer. She was about to reach out when footsteps sounded behind her. It was only a customer, but it made them jump about a yard apart.

"Yes, well, here are some applications for your interview. In addition to the ones I sent you last week," Jennifer said trying to sound professional even if she didn't look professional.

"Cool." Austin took the papers, brushing her hand. He gave her a wicked grin, obviously undeterred by a customer. "I have that interview this afternoon."

"I can't wait to hear about it," she said pulling her hand away quickly and taking a step back. She knew she had to get out of there fast. She turned to go and accidentally swiped an entire row of men's boxers on the floor. "Oh no, I ruined your underwear!"

"Yeah, you have," he said as he knelt to help her gather up the piles of paisley and striped fabric.

This time Jennifer knew her face was bright red. She wished she could take a pair of boxers, cover her face, and flee the scene. Instead, she handed them to Austin without another word and all but ran from the menswear department.

***

Hello lovely readers!

I'm working on another project for NaNoWriMo so Jennifer and Austin won't be back until December! Just in time for the holiday retail rush!

Please feel free to check out my other book, Reality Bits: Nyx & Lura, where ex-BFFs and now stepsisters are caught up in a mind-altering virtual reality game that may be giving them very real magical powers. I promise that Nikki and Lainey are just as fun as Jennifer and Selena and there are TWO cute boys in that one :)

Happy Reading! See you soon!!! - Kate