Miss Pen

Chapter Three

Oh hey, Tiff. Tiff? Yeah, the interviews went well today. I had everything under control and no, I didn't make you look bad. There's nothing you need to worry about here.

I wondered if that sounded too suspicious. Even through the phone, Tiffany would've been able to smell my bullshit, and boy did it stink.

"Jesus, Pen. What is it with you zoning out on me?"

My boss studying her perfectly filed nails, came to mind when she spoke. The monotony in her voice told me that she was already uninterested in this conversation even though it just began. Getting straight to the point was what the woman lived by.

"Sorry," I blurted out. "Uh, yeah, today was great. I didn't have any problems at all."

None that I want to tell you about.

"You sound nervous, Pen. What're you hiding?"

Was I really such an obvious person?

"I may or may not have done something a little reckless." I trailed off the last word, unsure of how to describe the situation.

"Elaborate, and do it quickly. I don't have time to waste right now."

"We have a new intern who will be starting this week."

My right fist balled and banged against my forehead. I squeezed my eyes shut to the point of seeing light spots while I anticipated Tiffany's explosion.

"How do you work as a writer, yet you don't know what elaborate means?"

"I'm very aware of the meaning of the word." My tongue was taken between both rows of teeth to stop me from saying something that would dig me into an even bigger hole.

"Ah, I see. You just don't know how to follow directions."

Yeah, something like that.

"That's, um, kind of the problem I'm having now."

"I'm going to hang up this phone in two minutes. If you don't tell me what's going on by then, I'd hate to be you by the time I got back to the office."

Tiffany's tone was low and menacing. A complete change from when I last saw her, before the situation even happened. I would've taken morning Tiffany over this one who basically told me she'd have my ass the next time I saw her. Maybe she was just hungry and hadn't eaten lunch yet, I didn't know. She tended to get cranky when that happened.

The woman knew how to alter her voice to make someone's last meal churn in their stomach. I huffed out a shaky breath of air which ruffled my blouse before I dove into it.

"Alright," I rolled my shoulders out. "I told one of the interns that he was hired. Even in the short time I spoke to him, I gathered that he was a very driven and determined individual. I'm not going to undo what's already been done either."

There was nothing but silence on the other end of the line. I couldn't imagine what was going on inside of Tiffany's head and wouldn't have been surprised if she made me call Rhode Harper to confess to him how much of an idiot I was.

A sheen of sweat coated my forehead and threatened to trickle down my face. The more silence stretched between us, the more my body perspired. It really was a nasty tendency that I couldn't control.

"Is that it?"

She finally spoke and all she had to say was, 'Is that it?' If she wasn't my boss, I would've for sure hung up the phone.

"Yes," I cleared my throat. "That's it."

"Okay, so what's the problem?"

She didn't sound upset, so maybe there really wasn't a problem and I over-exaggerated.