Flirting with the HR Girl

Chapter 4

"Oh, don't you look nice today, Jenny!" Blanche greeted Jennifer with a broad smile the next morning. "I don't think I've ever seen you wear that color. It looks lovely on you!"

And I'm never wearing this again. It was only a gauzy pink shirt under Jennifer's usual black blazer. She thought it was a subtle enough change that no one would really notice. Zack Morris had survived the night without an asthma attack and was up bright and early as she tried on the entire contents of her closet. He finally helped her choose by yowling for food and making her aware of the time. She threw on some light makeup, fed him along with Kelly Kapowski, and was out the door before she was late. She hated to be late.

"And the shoes!" Gary piped up, all but hanging over the customer service desk in front of the room with his office and the store safe, where he was getting the register drawers ready. "Ooo-la-la! Fancy!"

Jennifer all but ran away from them and down the hall to her office. Her black patent heels clicked louder than her flats ever did. She had hoped since they were black, they wouldn't be seen as a big deal. Wrong again. She could hear Blanche and Gary's laughter change into conversation as she saw that her office door was ajar. The human resources office was supposed to always be locked. Her brain buzzed back to the night before, trying to remember if, in her annoyance with Todd, she had forgotten to lock it. But the light was on inside and she wouldn't have forgotten to turn that off. Blanche must have let someone in. Jennifer hated when she did that. She liked a chance to get in and get settled before she dealt with the store's latest HR emergency. She took a breath and pushed open the door.

"Good morning," Austin said sitting in a chair across from the desk, holding his phone and looking fine in another perfectly tailored suit. This one was charcoal with pinstripes. His shirt was grey and his tie a platinum diamond pattern. His dark hair was combed back, and his eyes were alert. He looked like he actually went home last night and not out to the strip club that Todd was known to frequent. "I hope it's all right that Blanche let me in."

"It's okay," Jennifer lied hoping her face didn't color. There was a strong probability that he had heard Blanche and Gary's comments floating down the hallway to the open door. She wanted to die. She wanted to turn around, walk out of the store, and never come back. Instead, she hid her face by hanging up her coat and putting her lunch in the tiny fridge.

"You got your own fridge in here?" Austin sounded envious.

"Technically, it's my boss's but she lets me use it when she's not here," Jennifer explained with nothing else to do but sit down at the desk across from him.

"That's awesome!" he said stretching back in his chair. "I hate the communal fridge. Other people's food grosses me out."

"Me, too!" She involuntarily smiled and was immediately rewarded with one of Austin's striking ones. "I don't even like to smell it let alone have it commingling with mine."

And then he laughed. A deep chuckle as he nodded his head in agreement. He had laughed last night at Todd's jokes and Selena's stories but not a sound like that. Not a sound that was solely for Jennifer and her humor. She wanted him to do it again. She wanted to hear that appreciative laugh over and over again. It was a perk of being a funny girl. Pretty girls got the looks, but Jennifer got the laughs.

"If you play your cards right, you can store your lunch in here when Cynthia's not here." Was she flirting about food storage?

"Who's Cynthia?" He raised an eyebrow. "Food police?"

This time Jennifer burst out laughing. Hot and funny. She was in real trouble.

"Yes, she carries a badge and writes tickets for expired food and everything," Jennifer said between giggles. He chuckled again and she relaxed. She was no longer so nervous. "No, she's my boss, the HR manager."