Cake Love: All Things Payne(71)

Trevor did a bad thing to me. He didn't hit me or mentally abuse me or anything terrible like that, he filmed me. Naked, having sex with him and then posted it on YouTube without telling me any of it. So you could say I hate him with the death stares of a thousand menstruating women.

Oh and here's the kicker, he used our names in the title! Yeah, he is that stupid! So everyone found out about it. EVERYONE! My parents, friends, ex-boyfriends, grade school teachers, etc. I had to change all my accounts and start going by my middle name, Morgana. Don't even think for a second I'm going to tell you my real first name. What, so you can look me up? No ... no ... no ... no!

As I stand at the HR door, my arms feeling like they are about to fall off from holding onto fifty pounds worth of paper, I stare at Evaleen. I pray for the second time today to the mighty god THE, ruler of all things THE, that I misheard her.

"What?"

"Did Mr. Payne talk to you about the incident?"

I can't seem to form words so I shake my head and she motions me to sit back down. This job is too good to be true. I knew something would happen to take it away. Not that working for a man like Mr. Payne is ideal, but it's necessary if I wish to enter the company's Executive Development Program. If I can tough it out with Mr. Payne for one year, prove to him I will make an excellent candidate for the program, I know he will recommend me. After that, I can practically pick my job at the company.

But now, it's all slipping through my fingers as they slowly lose feeling from the weight of the paperwork. I move and sit back in the chair while placing the papers on her desk giving me a chance to stretch my pained arms.

"Ms. Drake there was an incident in the company last year and Mr. Payne was involved."

Oh holy gods in heaven and random nymph kings, thank f*ck it's not about the video! I exhale and slump in the chair with relief. Evaleen mistakes it for concern and continues.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. A former intern filed a sexual harassment suit against Mr. Payne. It never made it to court, but I did want to make you aware of it. In his fourteen year history at Mimir he has never had a complaint of that nature before, I want to reassure you. With that said, at no time are you to discuss Mr. Payne's personal matters to anyone inside or outside the company. Every few months we find a journalist poking their nose around looking for more information, but we know not to say anything. One even tried to get a job here, but we run background checks on everyone, thorough checks. So, we figured out who he was rather quickly."

My mouth is hanging open at this point. Oooh, my nosy side is scratching at me to get more. Down girl! Down! Must make a mental note to ask around to see if anyone will say anything. It must be juicy if she is warning me about it.

"Of course I won't discuss Mr. Payne's personal life. He doesn't seem to like talking to me anyway. I think I get on his nerves a little."

She laughs and shakes her head.

"Oh that's a good one! He likes you, hon, trust me."

I furrow my brow completely confused. She gives me another sympathetic glance before sighing. Am I that pathetic? Wait, don't answer that.

"Did Mr. Payne do any of these things to you? Shout at you to leave? Slam the door in your face as you left? Tell you to shut up and, this is my personal favorite of his, 'I've heard farts that had more to say on the subject than you'?"

"Uh ... noooo."

She smirks at me and gets up, grabs my stack of paperwork holding it out for me.

"Then he likes you. Why else would he have hired you? I probably shouldn't tell you this, but you survived this far, so what the hell. You are the tenth person we interviewed. He hated all of them. One of the guys ran out of his office in tears. He must see something in you. You're obviously made of some sort of Teflon material that you can put up with his crap. I just want you to know, he's great at his job. If it wasn't for him I don't think Mimir would be as successful as it is today. As much as he is a Payne in everyone's ass, he's great for the company. Stay on his good side and I think you will easily make it into the Executive Development Program."

She winks at me as I grab the paperwork from her and make my way to the door.

"How did you know I wanted to get into the program?"

"Ms. Drake I'm in HR, we know everything."

She chuckles in a way that sounds like it's coming from an evil villain in a movie and not a gorgeous tall blonde in HR. As the door closes I look at her and she winks again. I think she knows. Oh God, she knows.

If she is aware of the video, then does Mr. Payne know? Is that why he wouldn't look at me during the interview?

I make my way to the elevators and step on when one arrives. Upon my descent it occurs to me, perhaps that is why he likes me and wants me to work for him. The color has officially drained from my face.





Chapter 6 - THE Cake ...

I have been working for Mimir for three days and haven't seen Mr. Payne once. Of course, I have been stuck down in the basement the entire time. It hasn't been terrible, Mr. Shapiro is great. He's a talker. Loves to tell stories and get people to laugh. Sorting mail can get tedious and I think it's wonderful that Mr. Shapiro makes people want to come into work and do a good job. Perhaps Mr. Payne could take a lesson from him.

"I hear there is cake in the conference room up on the twenty-eighth floor."