Page 2 of Love From the Ashes

I looked down at my lap, my fingers pulling at my skirt. This question was the one I feared most. Uncomfortable, I shifted in my seat as I prepared to recite another preprogrammed answer.

“Sofie. We need you to answer the question,” Ms. Morgan said, her voice softening. “I understand you’re at the women’s shelter because you’ve suffered some hardship. I designed our program to help those women who want to overcome those obstacles and get back on their feet. But to do that, I need a partnership of honesty and trust. We offer our temporary employees an opportunity to gain experience, responsibility, and growth. We expect them to give us their time and commitment and promise to be a valuable employee in return. To give you that opportunity, I need you to provide me with an explanation. The firing must have been longer than five years ago since that was all the history we asked for on the application. All the jobs you listed on the form and attached sheets show you quit those positions.”

I looked up from my lap, my eyes imploring Ms. Morgan to give me a break. I closed them for a moment and then said, “The company fired me for the theft of a digital camera.”

Ms. Morgan sat there staring at me. She had her fingers steepled together with her hands resting on the table, the quiet in the room becoming more suffocating with each passing second.

Finally, giving in, I offered more information. “I was working as a bagger at Conrad Mercantile, the small retail chain. Someone was stealing electronics, and the store manager suspected my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time. He was the warehouse manager. They searched our lockers and found a digital camera in mine.”

Mr. Kingsley straightened in his chair, a disappointed look on his face. “I’m sorry, Sofie, but…”

…we can’t overlook the fact the store fired you for theft, and your work history is unacceptable. You haven’t managed to stay at a job for more than six months. Mr. Kingsley was going to tell me what so many employers had said before him. My firing and unstable history made me a poor candidate for the job. I bent down to pick up my purse from the floor and realized Mr. Kingsley hadn’t finished speaking. Surprised, I studied them from across the table. Ms. Morgan had her hand in the air to stop him from talking, the two of them sharing some unspoken communication.

“Sofie.” Ms. Morgan turned to look at me with the same intensity as before. “Did you take the digital camera?”

Mr. Kingsley gasped, his eyes wide, an incredulous look on his face as he stared at Ms. Morgan. Based on his response, I assumed the question was taboo and Ms. Morgan shouldn’t have asked it. Either that, or he felt the question unnecessary since I’d already explained that the company had fired me for theft and, in his mind, they wouldn’t do that without cause.

Whatever Mr. Kingsley’s reason, the question surprised me. No one had cared enough to ask me that before. I raised my head and looked directly at Ms. Morgan, matching the intensity in her gaze. “No. I did not. My husband, who is no longer in the picture, put it there. Although the store was able to prove he was stealing the electronics, I couldn’t prove I wasn’t involved. There were no security cameras in the area, and the mere fact that the store’s head of security found the camera in my locker was cause enough to fire me.”

“Can you start on Monday morning?” Ms. Morgan said after a long pause. “I’d like to give you the opportunity to be a member of our team and prove you can be a valuable and trusted employee.”

“I…umm. I can. Of course.” I was nothing short of shocked. Ms. Morgan’s offer wasn’t what I’d expected to hear. It wasn’t what Mr. Kingsley had expected either, based on the way his mouth was gaping open.

“Good. I’d like you here at eight o’clock. Mr. Kingsley will have some paperwork for you to fill out. Now, let me walk you to the lobby.” Ms. Morgan got up from the table and walked to the door, holding it open.

“Thank you,” I said to Mr. Kingsley, still sitting with his mouth open. I followed Ms. Morgan to the exit.

“We’ll see you Monday morning, Sofie.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you Monday.” I stepped into the lobby, expelling a deep breath as soon as the door closed behind me. It was difficult to believe that something good had happened, especially since the score still felt like a thousand to one against me.

I checked my watch when I reached the elevator. It was a quarter to ten, and my bus would be here in fifteen minutes. I didn’t need to rush this time since my stop, which I had passed this morning while sitting on the wrong bus, was across the street. Reaching the ground floor, I walked across the lobby. A voice was suddenly behind me.

“Try looking at the stoplight this time. It might keep another car from almost hitting you. That is unless you truly do have a death wish.”

I swung around toward the condescending voice from earlier this morning. “Thanks for the advice. I wasn’t aware that’s what I was supposed to do.”

“I’m glad I could enlighten you.” The man smirked at me, his air of superiority obvious.

I stared at him, debating whether to make a snarky comment. Then I decided against it. The man wasn’t worth my time. Now that I took a good look at him, his striking physique, short sandy-blond hair, and gray-blue eyes were highly appealing. The mythical Norse god Thor quickly came to my mind. Amused, I realized I had missed that when I’d seen him this morning, and I was sure it must have pissed him off. A man who looked that good had to have a huge ego and be horribly annoying, which explained his attitude now and on the street corner earlier.

“You’re staring. You must see something you like.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t.” I straightened my shoulders, offended by the forwardness of his question. “Excuse me. I have a bus to catch.” I spun around, catching his look of confusion, before dashing out the door toward the bus stop. I would be back on Monday and hoped working here didn’t include a daily dose of his arrogance.

CHAPTER 2

The First Day

Mr. Kingsley escortedme from the elevator lobby to a set of double doors. “The sales and marketing divisions are in this office. Finance and our customer service team are further down the corridor, and our engineering, design, and IT departments are on the floor above us.” He opened the door and approached the counter built into the far wall of the reception area, smiling at the young woman sitting there. “Good morning, Connie. I’m here to see Krista.”

“She’s expecting you. You can go in,” the woman said.

Mr. Kingsley scanned his badge and opened the door to the left of the counter. He held it open for me. “I’ll introduce you to our marketing manager, Krista George, and leave you in her capable hands.”

Ready for my first day on the job, I nodded at him as I entered the office and looked around. It was modern looking and not much different from what I’d expected except for the layout. A reception desk occupied the corner to my right, framed on two sides by a tall counter. There was a conference room on my left, the glass-paneled front revealing a small oblong-shaped table. A larger conference room butted against it, the rectangular space running along the office’s side wall with a bank of windows on its far end, overlooking the street. The wall directly opposite us had a line of windows that allowed an abundance of light to flood the office. Their bottom half was obscured from where I stood by a row of cubicles that disappeared behind the wall backing the reception desk.

I’d spent my morning in human resources, filling out paperwork, getting my employee badge, and receiving a brief orientation. Now that I was here, my stomach was in knots. I had stopped at the public library yesterday to do online research on Morgan Systems, stumbling across a photo of the marketing manager in the process. The information the company made available on its web page was limited, covering the basics of what they did, their location, and a listing of available jobs. There were no blurbs about the owners, and I suspected the company had only posted the photo of the marketing manager online because she’d been a speaker at a recent conference. All I could do at this point was hope she’d be nice. Spotting a tall blonde woman in a crisp white pantsuit beelining it toward us, I could feel my hope crumbling. She had a snobbish air about her and seemed to look right past me as she smiled at Mr. Kingsley.