Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Seconds later, I heard: “This is Tracy.”
“Tracy, hi, this is Harper Willow,” I said.
“My goodness,” Tracy said. “I’d never forget that name,” she joked. “What can I do for you? Are you looking for a job? There’s a wide opening at a sports agency, and you would be—”
“Actually, no, I’m not,” I said. “But I was calling about someone who you must’ve placed within the last year or so. Her name is Portia Glass – she was hired to fill the same role I once worked at Ulrich Sports.”
There was a pause.
“Tracy?” I asked apprehensively. “Are you still there?”
She cleared her throat. “You understand I can’t give out personal information,” she said. “But as a matter of fact, I do know who you’re referring to.”
“Oh,” I said, unable to stop myself from feeling crestfallen. “That’s too bad, but I understand.”
“But ... you might try social media,” Tracy said, a flicker of the old fun between us in her voice. “She ... well, she wasn’t exactly discreet.”
I blinked. “I see,” I said.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, Harper?” Tracy asked. “I hate to rush you, but this is technically my lunch and I have two clients on hold.”
“Oh, gosh, no,” I said. “Thank you.”
We hung up and I stared down at my phone, shielding the screen from the mid-day sun as I hunted for Portia Glass and her ... indiscreet Facebook.
It didn’t take long. Between having an unusual name and a complete lack of privacy settings, I found her. Everything was visible – her phone number, her address, practically everything but the dates of her last period and what kind of toothpaste she preferred. I rolled my eyes as I sent her an instant message, asking her to meet me at a café a few blocks away from the office.
To my surprise, my phone buzzed almost immediately and I rolled my eyes. These younger generations, I thought to myself. Always fucking glued to their phones.
An even bigger surprise was that Portia had agreed to meet me with no questions asked. No wonder Nico hated her so much, I thought as I groaned and got to my feet. She’s a total feckless naïf.
Still, a feckless naïf who had agreed to meet with me ... and a feckless naïf who was going to help me get to the bottom of things.
An hour later, after texting Nell and telling her that I’d be back at the office as soon as possible, I was sitting down waiting for Portia at a sidewalk café. The days were turning chilly and I was the only one sitting outdoors – the better if Portia truly didn’t want anyone listening in on our conversation.
When she showed up and saw me, her jaw dropped.
I patted the chair next to mine.
“Come sit,” I said.
“When I saw the name Harper, I didn’t know it would be you,” Portia said. She narrowed her eyes and I thanked god for my own private Facebook settings.
“What do you want?”
“You’ll see,” I said coolly.
Portia swallowed nervously, then took a seat next to mine. She kept her trench coat wrapped defensively around her body and her purse perched right on her knees as if she was about to bolt on me at any second.
“Relax,” I told her. “I’m not going to bite you.”
“I want to know why you did it,” I said calmly.
“Did what?”
I gave her a rather pointed look. “For one, you tried to ruin your boss’s life,” I said.
Portia’s eyes went wide. “No,” she protested with a vigorous shake of her head. “I didn’t, I swear.”
“Well, those kinds of allegations have the power to ruin lives,” I said calmly. “So, I had to assume that’s what you wanted. To take Nico down, and to ruin your own career prospects.”
Portia did a double-take at my words.
“I swear to god, I didn’t mean to do that,” she babbled, and I held up my hand to silence her.
“You’re going to listen to me,” I said. “And what you did is inexcusable.”
Portia sniffled and I couldn’t help but feel a tremendous pang of sympathy for the younger woman. Even though she was more than old enough to realize that she’d made a mistake, I had to wonder if this was her first-ever experience at a professional job.
“Look, I just want to know why,” I said. “We don’t have to rehash everything – I don’t have all day. But I want to make this right.”
“I ...” Portia trailed off, flushing furiously and biting her lower lip. “I don’t know why you would want to help me,” she said softly. “I mean, you made it clear you don’t like me.”
“Portia, let me be the first one to tell you this,” I said, as gently as I could muster. “We were working together. You’re not required to like the people who you work with, you know? All you have to do is be professional.”