Chapter 19

"You don't have to sit down." He shut the door and stared at her.

She tried to think if she'd done something wrong. When Tim was angry, his body seemed to take up the entire room and he reminded her of a bull as if you didn't want to turn your back on him because he was one moment from charging.

"Jane, I have one question for you. Has Jen been making it tough for you here?"

Jane's mouth parted in surprise. It was a yes or no question, but she felt that there was more to the answer than only yes. She closed her mouth while she thought about her response. "Yes," she said.

Tim seemed even unhappier. "Well, I'm sorry for that. But why didn't you come to me?"

"I … didn't know that I could."

His eyes dropped to the carpet. "You can go. Tell Jen to come in."

She sighed shakily.

As he cracked his knuckles, a serene look crossed his face, but there was something icy in his eyes. "It's okay."

She left his office and sat in her seat, the one without the typewriter because Jen had hogged it up all day even though there were plenty of things that she needed to type. It meant that Jen hadn't done any of the other work—leaving it for Jane.

She looked at Jen sideways. "Tim would like to see you in his office."

Jen narrowed her eyes. "About?"

"Could you log off of the computer, please, so that I can use it?"

Jen sighed, stood, and rapped on the office door.

Jane sat at the computer and noticed that her account was locked. She frowned. The last time she'd signed on she hadn't had any problems. She read the message closely:

THERE HAVE BEEN TOO MANY FAILED ATTEMPTS TO LOG IN. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ADMINISTRATOR.

The muscles in Jane's jaw tightened. Jen had been trying to log onto her account. Thank God she'd changed all of her passwords after Jen had been acting so ugly. She picked up the phone to call the administrator and was verifying information when two security guards came up.

Jane looked at her computer. What did she do with my accounts? She looked warily at the two guards, but they weren't there for her. After a brief nod they knocked on Tim's door and entered without waiting.

Everyone on the floor was craning to see what was happening. What Jane didn't realize is that when temps were let go, they were contacted directly by the temp agency who gave them instructions not to return. It was uncommon for an executive to handle something like that.

Jane hadn't done anything wrong, but she wished that she wasn't here right now. She especially didn't want to see Jen being escorted out. Still, she was curious about what was going on in the office.

Tim was sitting at his desk when Jen had walked in.

"Sit down, please," he said.

She took a seat, holding a notepad and pen.

"Jen, the closing argument was typed perfectly. Not a word out of place."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"You typed that?"

"Well … yes."

"I see." Tim made a steeple with his hands. "That's the kind of work that I'm looking for here. As you probably know I really can't use two assistants. I need to let one of you go." He placed his hands flat on his desk. "But I wanted to give you an opportunity to tell me why I should select you over Jane."

Jen licked her lips and then leaned forward. "Tim, frankly, I didn't want to say anything. Jane is a nice lady, but she's kind of lazy. I end up doing a lot of the work in the office, or I have to correct her work."

"Give me an example."

Jen looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "I've had to do the typing. She scanned several documents that turned out blank. Tim, I really think she scanned the wrong side. She's also not very careful with the files. I've had to fix them."

Tim nodded. "I see. Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

"Well, I knew that she was still learning. But in some ways, I don't know if she's the right person for this job. You know she lives in that convent. I have no problem with it, but … she does carry a Bible."

Tim's brow went up. "She carries a Bible?"

"It's in her drawer. I know that only because I had to get ink pens and saw it." Knowing that she had Tim's full attention, Jen leaned back and crossed her legs.

"Well?" he said after a prolonged pause.

She seemed confused. "I'm sorry?"

He scowled. "You haven't told me anything about why I should keep you. Honestly, you're not the best typist."

"Well, that one report—"

He raised a halting hand. "That was the worst excuse for typing I've ever seen. But even the ones before that were filled with typos. I let them go because no one but me had to see them. Of course this last paper that you turned in was flawless. So, I suppose everyone deserves a learning curve."

Jen's defensive posture relaxed.

"But …" He gave her a cold stare. "You're a bit of a gossip."

The young woman's mouth flew open. "Jane is lying if she said I was the one that was …"

Tim waited. "Was?"

Jen leaned forward again. "She doesn't … dress very office professional. Some of the girls have said things about it and about the way her shoes squeak. But I did not say any of that. It's petty and I take pity on her. If her … feet weren't so big I'd give her some of my shoes."

Tim pressed a button on the phone. "Security, I'll need a terminated employee escorted out."

"Right away, Mr. Singleton."

Jen sat up straight. "Tim, I can assure you that Jane has been lying! I've not done anything to her."

"Jane hasn't told me anything about you."

Jen's mouth parted.