Flirting with the HR Girl

Chapter 60

Jennifer's phone buzzing in her face woke her in the morning. Her first thought was it was Austin, but she remembered that she had blocked him when he had continued to text her that he was sorry the night before. Cynthia's name flashed across the screen. The Dragon Lady strikes again. Tempted to just hit ignore and start the day searching job openings, she decided to take a gamble and swipe answer.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" Cynthia's voice cut over the line, chipper as always.

"I thought I was fired," Jennifer said rolling over to see the clock. It was already eight. She was surprised the cats had let her sleep so late. Maybe they did understand how upset she was. Now they jumped up and demanded their breakfast by yowling in her face. Then again, maybe not.

"If you were fired, I would have fired you," Cynthia said in her brisk tone as if she was ordering a morning bagel rather than talking about Jennifer's future. "You need to get in here because we still have an investigation to finish."

"All right," Jennifer said hanging up as she rolled out of bed. She wasn't sure what else she should have said. Fuck off? I don't care? But Cynthia was right. They still had an investigation to complete. That bastard Todd was going to pay for all the damage he'd caused. Jennifer quickly fed the cats. Throwing her hair into a ponytail and foregoing her makeup for the first time since the day after Austin had arrived at the store, she threw on her business attire and trudged into the HR manager's office.

She was startled to find both Selena and Austin sitting in the chairs across from Cynthia. She looked from one to the other; they looked not happy but satisfied. She turned to Cynthia for answers.

"Will you two please give my assistant and me some privacy," Cynthia said gesturing toward the door.

"Sure thing," Selena said, briefly hugging Jennifer before leaving. Austin gave Jennifer an apprehensive look, but she did not shoot him a glare. She decided it would be unprofessional in the HR office. She closed the door behind them and sank into a chair across from Cynthia waiting for another lecture.

"Selena told me what Todd did to her," Cynthia explained. "Let me rephrase that, Selena testified as to what Todd tried to do to her."

"That's awesome news," Jennifer said genuinely excited. She knew that Selena's testimony would be the final nail in Todd's Peterson coffin. There was no defense against what he had done, and a high-ranking sales manager would be hard to refute. She felt pride welling up in her chest at her friend's bravery in coming forward and risking everything.

"It most certainly is awesome news," Cynthia said with almost a smile. "With her testimony, we have enough evidence gathered to go to my director and his director and get the ball rolling."

"Please let me know whatever I can do to help," Jennifer said as she could feel the anticipation building in her chest. At least all was not lost. At least one sleazebag would be out on his ass and not able to harass innocent women at work.

"You've already been a big help, Jennifer," Cynthia said straightening the papers in front of her. "I couldn't have done this entire investigation without your help. You've been an excellent HR assistant and I know I don't tell you that often enough."

"Thank you, Cynthia," Jennifer said a little bit worried that this might still bleed into a 'you're fired' conversation.

"Austin was the one who convinced Selena to come forward. They told me you were the one that was strictly professional in keeping her story," Cynthia said folding her hands together. "It shows a lot of integrity that you didn't tell me anyway. Being an HR manager can be very tricky. Sometimes we feel we have to step in to do the right thing, whether or not an employee wants us to. In a legal matter, yes, we have to do this with no questions asked. But in a delicate matter, such as this, having Selena be hostile would have been a disaster. I'm impressed that you had the foresight to let her come to me on her own."