Something More

Chapter Two

"You're fired."

"Excuse me?" The man's face drained of color and he sat with hunched shoulders, staring with glassy eyes. "But why?"

"Why do you think, Mr. Andrews?"

"I-I have no idea. I've worked my ass off for this company for eight years. And this is what I get?"

"And how many times in those eight years have you missed a deadline? Or taken sick days to go golfing with your buddies?" She didn't think his face could get even paler, but she was wrong. "Be careful what you put on social media, Mr. Andrews. Someone is always watching. Now, you have ten minutes to go back to your desk and pack your things. Security will escort you out."

He stormed out of the office muttering, "Bitch," loud enough for her to hear.

"How original," she said as she rubbed her face. Despite what people said, Jennie Kim hated firing people. Her boss passed this task on to her time and time again, which seemed to have given her a reputation around the company as a heartless bitch.

Jennie shook her mouse, banging it on the desk to make it wake faster. As she scanned through the list of sixty new emails and flagged the most important ones, her assistant walked into her office. Jen held back a groan when she noticed them carrying several thick folders in their hands. "What is it, Kate?"

"Mr. Harrison asked for you to meet him at eleven to talk about a new client. He wants you to look over the portfolio and business plan beforehand." Kate placed the folders on the desk in front of Jennie.

"Eleven? That's in five minutes! Couldn't you have given these to me a little earlier?" Jennie grabbed the first folder as she paced behind her desk, skimming the information.

Kate raised their hands. "His assistant dropped them off as soon as your meeting with Kevin started. I swear."

Jennie stopped and looked at Kate. "Kevin?"

"Kevin Andrews? The guy you just let go?"

"Oh. Him. Fucking Lewis," Jen growled. "I need a cup of coffee." Jen watched as Kate adjusted her tie and flicked lint off the front of her pants. "Well? You're not moving."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that a request? Sounded more like a demand."

"Will you get me a cup of coffee?"

"You didn't say please."

"Please," Jennie said through gritted teeth.

"Now, was that so hard?" Kate turned and walked out.

The amount of snark she tolerated from her assistant in private would surprise most people. But after five years of working together, Jennie supposed Kate had earned a little latitude. She accepted it from them as long as it came with perfection in their work.

Jennie opened a small closet and inspected herself in the mirror hanging on the inside of the door. She fixed a few stray hairs that had escaped her tight bun before hurrying out of the office. She reached for the cup of
coffee in Kate's hands, but they pulled her hand away and raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you, Kate," Jennie mumbled, ignoring the smirk on her face.

Jennie needed all the coffee she could handle to deal with her boss, Lewis Harrison, the vice president of marketing. After working as the director for five years, she longed for the day he would step down. Though his prowess had helped make their company the top advertising agency in Indianapolis, he came across as a person who hadn't worked very hard to get to his position. Most of his days were spent at the country club or taking long client lunches. She didn't envy that; it annoyed her. If working hard meant doing the dirty work that her boss didn't want to do, such as firing people, she would do whatever she could to advance her career.