Flirting with the HR Girl

Chapter 14

 It was past lunch when Jennifer finally was able to sneak out with the excuse of going out into the mall for food. She stuffed her cell phone in her back pocket and started out of the executive office. Luckily, Blanche was on the phone, and she couldn't ask for Jennifer's help. Gary had a customer at the service desk and couldn't bug her either. She walked through the racks of clothing to the escalators and road down to the first floor. She smiled at some of the cosmetic girls who had been gossiping with her the day before but did not slow. She went out into the mall and took a right to go all the way down to California Pizza Kitchen where they had her favorite Canadian bacon and sauerkraut pizza for lunch. Ordering her usual with a diet Coke to go, she sat down to play on her phone as she waited. Working in retail and not having access to social media during the day, may have been a good thing. After she had lost Annie to engagement, it seemed like most of her friends weren't far behind. Some even had over-the-top fairytale weddings already. Watching her good friends along with people she barely knew from high school and college moving on with their lives while she felt like she was going nowhere was making lunchtime exhausting. Not much of a break. When her pizza was ready, she took it out into the mall and sat at an empty table. It was nice to sit with no one around to ask her questions about how to use the computer or when they would get paid for their time off. She had just finished the second to last slice when she saw a familiar figure strutting down the center of the promenade like she owned the place. She couldn't help but smile as Selena started waving at her and giving her the kissy face as she walked up.

"There you are!" Selena said plopping into the chair across for her. "I made the mistake of going into your office and ran smack into the Dragon Lady. Then I had to pretend to care about her and ask her how she was doing."

"I'm so sorry," Jennifer said between giggles almost blowing diet Coke out her nose. "I should have texted you to warn you that she was in there this afternoon while I was hiding out here." Sharing an office with her boss made things very interesting when people came looking for her. It was perfect when managers wanted Jennifer to do something they should be doing on their own, but it was terrible when Selena came running in with the juicy gossip and ran smack into her HR manager.

"Is she gonna be here all week?" Selena asked as she reached down and snapped up the last piece of pizza. She was the only person that Jennifer had ever met that would not make the most disgusted face ever at her Canadian bacon and sauerkraut pizza. Selena simply picked off the sauerkraut and then devoured the pizza. In a different life, they would have made perfect roommates. "Where am I gonna hide if I can't go up to your office?"

"There's always the office back in the shoe warehouse?" Jennifer said with another laugh. "You're just stuck talking to Ralph."

"I'd rather ralph," Selena said wrinkling up her nose. "I can't even go hang out in Todd's office because the Dragon Lady got him all pissed off this morning."

Now Jennifer knew why Selena had gone to the trouble of finding her. Her friend wanted to know why Todd was mad at Cynthia. Selena knew that if she kept asking enough questions that Jennifer would answer her in a roundabout way because, although she would never betray her boss's confidence, Jennifer had to tell someone. Selena had proven herself worthy of Jennifer's trust when she had unexpectedly gotten her period at the store. Selena had helped Jennifer get new pants and had never breathed a word of it even to her girls downstairs. Jennifer knew she could trust Selena, but she didn't want to seem like a gossip or unprofessional. So, she always made Selena work for the gossip from her.

"What has he got his panties in a bunch about now?" Jennifer asked hoping that Selena would have her own theory that she could just confirm or deny.

"He told me that it's about the sexual harassment training that we have to do on Monday," Selena said looking proud of herself. "He claims he's not mad that it's sexual harassment training and that he's just mad that it's when we should be setting up for Black Friday and the holidays."

"Do you think that's it?" Jennifer asked wondering what it really was, herself.

"I think Todd's still pissed that Mike got fired for sexual harassment and that's why he's pissed about it in general," Selena said finishing off the last bite of pizza. She grabbed Jennifer's diet Coke, taking a big swig. Then she batted her eyelashes at Jennifer as if to say, 'sorry not sorry'. "Sometimes I wonder if he's afraid that he's next."

Jennifer let that statement hang in the air. She wasn't going to touch it. She had wondered often if the rumors about Todd were true. He and his wife were the power couple of Peterson's. They were Todd and Margo: head of the two best stores in the Midwest let alone Saint Louis. But they all knew that Todd went out most nights. They didn't know where Margo went. He tended to also flirt with any of the district managers visiting from corporate. One night, Jennifer remembered seeing him with one of these district managers very late in his office behind a closed door. She'd often wondered what Margo knew about Todd's activities or if she even cared. But there was no way that Jennifer was going to comment on Todd's behavior to anyone, even Selena.

"Why do you think Todd would be next?" Jennifer asked this time genuinely curious.

"Just some things I've heard about him before he came to our store." It wasn't like Selena to hold back information; it made Jennifer wonder who she was protecting this time. Was it one of her cosmetic vendors? But Jennifer felt like she would have been privy to a write-up if only because it's hard for the HR manager to keep things from her when she needs her to type them up and submit them correctly to corporate. "I don't think I believe any of its true, but Todd certainly is very flirty. Even with me."

"Well, I don't know if flirting will be banned under the new policy, but I have a feeling if you don't want it, then he can't do it," Jennifer said trying to think of something else to talk about.

"Who said I didn't want it?" Selena said raising an eyebrow.

"Selena, he's married!" Jennifer said truly shocked by what her friend had just muttered.

"I didn't say that I would sleep with him," Selena said with a wicked grin on her face. "I'm just saying that a little flirting sometimes is all this girl needs to feel good about herself during the day."

"Oh, yeah, like that won't set us back fifty years," Jennifer said rolling her eyes.

"Hey, I think the world could all use a little more flirting, a lot less complaining, and it would be a better place," Selena said as she stood up and they wandered back towards the store. How slow their gait turned when it was time to return.

"Are you taking that cat to the vet tonight?" Selena asked showing that she did in fact care about Jennifer's boring life.

"No, I'm taking him this weekend. Cynthia needs me to stay late and work on this training with her," she said as they entered the store about to part ways at the cosmetic department.

"Okay, then let's grab dinner because I have to close and I don't want to eat the stale leftovers I brought from home," Selena said as she flounced off to a counter with one of her favorite customers.

Jennifer knew she didn't have to respond because Selena wouldn't take no for an answer. She caught a glimpse of Austin wearing a charcoal suit again with a gray tie that brought out his dark eyes. He looked up and gave Jennifer the nod as she climbed onto the escalator. She nodded back unsure if a wave or her trying to do the nod was less dorky. She turned her face before her blush could show.