so, do we like each other or not? // JENLISA

Chapter 5

For someone who was so anally retentive about every other aspect of her life, Cherin was surprisingly slobby when it came to her office.

“When is my meeting with accounts?” she asked as Lisa collected up all the empty salad boxes and Starbucks cups.

“Three o’clock,” Lisa said. The pile of books on Cherin’s desk seemed to get taller every day, and if Lisa didn’t step in to straighten it out once every eight hours then she was certain they would need to call an ambulance. Children’s books might not be especially heavy, but Cherin's frame had the flintiness of a woman who hadn’t eaten saturated fat since 2002. Lisa didn’t like her chances.

“Push it back to 3:30,” Cherin said, her eyes on her computer. “And get me a caesar salad. No dressing.”

“Sure,” Lisa said, re-stacking a pile of manuscripts. She knew that was her cue to head for the door, but she felt herself pause. “Cherin?”

“What?”

“Did you have a chance to look at those press releases I wrote yet?”

Cherin didn’t look up. Lisa wasn’t even sure she was listening until she muttered distractedly, “Why did you write a press release?”

“We spoke about it last week – I said I still wanted more writing experience, and you said it wasn’t fair to take the work away from the others who have good degrees from colleges that weren’t built from construction paper and plastic straws,” Lisa said flatly, quoting her boss’s words verbatim. Cherin had seemed very proud of her own wit at the time.

Even now, she managed to crack a smile. “Oh yes, I remember. So how did you end up writing one?”

“I wrote three,” Lisa said as patiently as she could. This was the second time they’d had this conversation. “I spoke to Jessica in comms and asked if she wanted me to take any of her work off her hands so I could get some practice. She said yes.”

Finally, Cherin's gaze snapped up to look at her. “That girl’s laziness has always been a blight on this company.”

“Well, maybe so,” Lisa said, standing firm. “But anyway, I did the press releases without taking the opportunity away from anyone else. I emailed them to you on Friday. Have you had a look at them yet?”

“When would I have had time to do that?” Cherin asked, gesturing at the chaos around her. “I have better things to do than to check your homework, Lisa. Now, go and get my lunch like I asked you to, and if you leave me alone this afternoon then maybe I will find 10 minutes to look through them.”

That was a better response than Lisa had been hoping for, and so she nodded enthusiastically. “Sure. Can do. Thank you, Cherin.”

Cherin dismissed her with a wave of her hand, and Lisa headed for the door. She shot a thumbs up at Cherin as she walked past.

When she returned with the caesar salad, no dressing, and another soy latte because she knew from experience that her boss would need her caffeine fix any minute now, Cherin was in exactly the same position as before. Lisa put her lunch down on the desk.

“Anything else?”

“Could you go out and get me a latte?”