Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(35)

It wasn’t fair, it was not how Sean liked to work or manage, but it was how that company worked. The lines of man versus women were clearly drawn, and usually the women were on the bottom of the heap. It was pretty much the same in sales, with generally the same type of small minded individuals. Very two-dimensional.

Tory was counting on Krista to break the mold. He’d spent so much time with her because she always rose to his expectations, and then found a way to surpass them. He knew that if he gave her the right tools, then stepped aside, she’d work wonders. And she had so far.

Now Tory needed Sean to guide her to the next level. He wanted Sean to apply more pressure, to push her harder, to force her to hit higher and go farther, to be the pressure that created the diamond. He wanted an entire company’s worth of upper-management to change their opinions based on the actions of one woman.

It was anything but fair, but unfortunately, it was necessary. If anyone could do it, it was Krista. She had the right formula of determination, intelligence, and plain old fear of failure. But Sean had to give her a platform on which she could shine. Soon, too, because they were losing her.

~*~*~*~

Krista stepped in front of Bob and slowed down, forcing him to slam on the breaks.

“Move!” Bob sputtered, doing his best not to touch her.

She smiled and kept walking, pretending she didn’t hear Dean and Bob talking about her as she walked away. Like Krista always did after a meeting with the idiots she was supposed to be working with, she stepped into her old office and sat in front of a harassed Kate.

Kate, seeing her enter, immediately downshifted and leaned back, putting her skirted legs up on the desk. “Hey!”

Krista tried to get comfortable, but the chairs were crap.

“I hate my job sometimes,” Krista said. “Also, you are nearly showing me your knickers.”

Kate shrugged, unperturbed. “Another meeting with Boys ‘R Us? They aren’t relenting at all?”

“Nope. Sean just made an example of me, too. It’s been a long time since I was teacher’s pet.”

Kate’s feet came down with a thud. “Why’d he do that? Does he want to make your life harder?”

“He’s trying to get work out of them. I think he is trying to shame them.”

“Yeah right, those guys?”

“I know. But I don’t know—he’s the boss. He probably has an angle.”

Kate shook her head, jumped on her email for a second, then returned to looking at Krista. “Well, how are you going to endure the convention…thing?”

“Marcus is going.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s good, I guess.”

“Still.”

“Well, I talked to a woman at Doritos’s last week when I was analyzing their stuff. Apparently they miss you. They had everything the way you liked it, finally, and then you stopped showing. They think I am easy by comparison.”

Krista gave Kate a severe look. “I hope they don’t. That means you aren’t doing your job.”

“Oh shut up—I’m just nicer than you.”

Krista shrugged.

“Anyway, they’re hiring. Paying top dollar, too.” Kate looked at Krista intently. “They’d bring you on in less than a second.”

Krista sighed and closed her eyes. Then felt a hard spray of room temperature water blast her in the face.

“Damn it!” Krista screeched and jumped up. “What the hell?”

Kate was laughing. “I see you more than Jasmine. I got loan of the squirt bottle.”

“Jerk,” Krista said with a smile, walking out. She thought she was safe from the squirt bottle.

The week flew by as Krista tried to do a week-and-a-half’s worth of work in three days. She was excited to go to the conference because she had never been to one before. She generally liked team building exercises, and sincerely hoped their team would eventually accept her enough to work cohesively. She didn’t have high hopes. With Sean putting her up on a pedestal, the only person that would even look at her was Donald, and that was just to walk around her. But then, Donald might as well have been a robot, so it wasn’t all that reassuring.

Krista decided to fight dirty. She wanted to hit those guys where it hurt. It wasn’t just business anymore—not the way they were carrying on. If she hoped to last another couple months, let alone a year, she had to cut them down to size. To do that, she did what she had not yet done to date: She sought out Marcus with an assignment.

Krista walked in to his department with an easy and friendly demeanor. She was still drawing eyes. Since her promotion happened about the same time as everyone finding out she and Sean had history, the rumors were vicious and unstoppable. That was helped, of course, by her fellow managers!

Marcus was in the back, where he liked to be. A light was out, like he liked it. He was the crowned prince of this region, and if Sean had his way, soon the whole company. Very little happened that Marcus didn’t find out about. He took being a busy body to a new extreme.

As usual, Marcus was on the phone. He had a hands free device, so he was working on his computer as he was talking about his wardrobe for the weekend. He saw Krista and his face lit up.

“Gotta go, babe. A celebrity is in my midst. Ciao.” He hung up with a flourish, which was actually just pushing a button on his headset, and smiled big at Krista. “Geegee baby, how is life in the fast lane?”