Chapter 17
Off To A Bumpy Start
Elena
My heart was in my throat the day I started work at Harrington Enterprises. My breaths were shallow and my hands clutched at the employment letter that'd been faxed to me just the previous day.
It all still felt so unreal. I'd gotten employed!
I'd moved to San Francisco six months ago, leaving behind the embers of my past. It'd been a rough few months, but I'd managed to settle in nicely.
I'd just lost my job at a small office I worked where I'd been in charge of balancing their books and I was confused and at wit's end.
That's when I'd received the employment mail.
The mail stated I was to report for duty on Monday next week but I wasn't taking any chances.
So here I was, …fidgeting in the HR department while I waited for the supervisor to arrive.
I exhaled slowly, trying to calm my nerves as I waited, this job was really important to me. I couldn't screw things up. Lily's fees would soon be due and I couldn't go another month while scraping off Jenna's plates.
"You're Elena?" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts at that moment.
"Yes," I looked up, meeting a woman's gaze, her neck was craned through the partially open door. She looked serious.
"Follow me," she said curtly, her face disappearing from view.
My heart leaped to my throat as I got to my feet and hurriedly followed behind her.
"You're supposed to resume on Monday?" The woman raised an eyebrow at me and her eyes filled with impatience.
"Why are you here today?" she asked, collecting the file from my hand.
"I…" I smiled sheepishly, struggling to keep up with her quick strides. "I wanted to begin immediately, so I would get up to speed quickly," I explained, secretly hoping my seriousness would impress her.
I was wrong.
"Hmph!" The woman's face twisted into a cold scowl, "I suggested you resume on Monday because I had a reason for that, yet you do what's on your mind…"
"I'm sorry, I just," I panicked, trying to explain myself but the woman wasn't hearing any of it.
"You're not winning any brownie points with me for choosing to resume at an earlier date." She wagged a finger at me and continued walking ahead.
'Had I done something wrong?' I wondered, swallowing the lump in my throat and I followed behind her meekly as we wormed through the busy office.
"You'll be working in the catalogue department," the woman's words startled me and I blinked in confusion.
"Catalogue?" I repeated, not sure I heard her well. What was I to do there? Wasn't I supposed to be on the finance team?
Her expression became worse and she stopped right in front of a door, "That's just to teach you to obey orders, you'll work here to sort and arrange files till I say otherwise," she snapped.
What! I opened my mouth to speak but she brushed past me before I could speak, leaving me gaping behind her.
What was going on? I was dumbfounded as I stood there, still clutching my employment letter that was in a file.
"The witch send you here?" A voice spoke out from behind me, startling me. I turned to see a lanky young man standing behind me, he was holding a stack of dusty files with both hands.
"Who?" I asked, staring at him. I was struck by how young he looked, he couldn't have been more than nineteen.
"Olivia," he chuckled, nodding in the direction the woman had left. "That's what we call her," she lowered his tone. "She brought you here right?"
"Yes," I nodded, and a feeling of discontent welled up in me. "Why did she bring me here? I only asked a few questions," I mumbled under my breath.
"Hahaha," the boy chuckled again, revealing his white teeth. "You're the fourth person she's sent down here, cheer up. She'll call you back after a few days," the boy's words made me calm down.
Perhaps Olivia was just a cranky old lady I thought, taking my mind off her.
The boy introduced himself as Jay, he was taking an internship course here. I was shocked when he said he'd been down in the catalogue for weeks.
"It can't be helped," Jay adjusted his glasses, which were perpetually slipping down his nose, and gave me a lopsided grin.
"All the good spots are already filled and I didn't want to go somewhere else," he explained.
I nodded, about to speak, when a man poked his head around the door.
"There's a meeting," he barked, shooting a confused gaze at me before he glanced up at Jay. "Everyone needs to be there, now." He didn't wait for a response before he disappeared.
"I wonder what it's about," I pushed the files aside and I moved toward the door, Jay coming behind me.
The meeting room was bustling by the time I and Jay got there, but despite the bustle, there was a silent tension that filled the air.
Two people stood at the front of the room, a man and Olivia.
"Who's he?" I asked Jay, nodding towards the man.
"Conor," Jay took a seat beside me, his eyes glancing to the front. "He's one of the star employees of the month."
I nodded slowly, although I didn't quite understand the meaning behind his words.
Olivia's arms were crossed and she had a scowl on her face. Her cold gaze scanned the group, I thought her gaze lingered on me for a split second but I couldn't be sure.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, my fingers gripping the edge of the table. Around me, the other employees murmured in low tones.
"We've gathered you all here because of an urgent matter," Conor began, his voice instantly silencing the room.
"Project Houston has just been signed and approved," he clicked a button and the words; 'Project Houston' appeared on the screen behind him.
I noticed a few looks of recognition from amongst the other employees, Jay on the other hand looked totally clueless.
My brows furrowed as I stared ahead. What kind of role was this? I noticed the atmosphere had become tense.
Olivia stepped forward, a clipboard in her hand. "The position requires someone with a very specific skill set—experience in financial modeling, data analytics, and risk assessment."
Huh? I felt her words slam into me like a punch. Those words felt awfully familiar, like I'd seen them somewhere.
But...my mind filled with thoughts and questions. That was my skill set.
I frowned and I opened the file I'd been holding ever since, flipping it open to the employment letter.
There it was, printed in bold black letters:
Position: Financial Analyst – Project Houston
What! My head shot up, my pulse pounding in my ears. They were describing my job—the one I had been hired for.
Was this some kind of mistake? My mind raced through possibilities. Had there been a mix-up in HR? Was Olivia deliberately keeping me out of the loop?
I wanted to speak up, but I quickly suppressed the urge at the memory of Olivia's earlier scolding.
"Do we have any immediate volunteers?" Connor's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and his eyes scanned through the room.
What was I going to do? My mind raced and I felt a weight settle on my shoulders.
I'd been hired for a job and here it was, being paraded publicly.
I needed to do something, and fast.
But what?