Page 63 of A Light in the Dark
“It won’t be a problem for me to go to the store with you?”
“It’s not a problem at all. I recently acquired some silk I want to work with, so I need to get some basic sewing supplies, and I think it’s time to upgrade my sewing machine, so I’ll need to take a cab to my place anyway. The cab can swing by the hotel on the way to drop you off.” The sewing machine would be an impulse buy, but with the amount of silk I owned, I would need a good machine.
Mine was closer to the bottom of the barrel, and I would not dare risk silk on such a dastardly device.
With a better quality sewing machine, I’d indulge in some other craft projects, including a quilt made from rabbit wool to decorate my reading nook and torment my luna mothneighbor. I’d make it book and luna moth themed, and I’d display it in the window.
“Silk is such a fun fabric to work with. I’ve been afraid to check into the silk prices here.”
“They sell tolerably affordable silk at the store we’re going to,” I replied, offering the woman a smile. “By tolerable, I mean it’s wretchedly expensive per yard, but if you have a sewing machine and little respect for money, it’s affordable.”
She grinned at me. “I’ll have to see how much sewing machines cost here. If they’re reasonable, I can afford one, and my hotel room has a little desk I could use for sewing.”
“Then it’s a plan. We’ll glare at these papers, and as soon as we can escape, we will run away to the store of fabrics, sewing machines, and other goodies. Then we will retreat to our domiciles and make friends with the things we have purchased.”
“I see you are also an introvert.”
“I am extroverted with specific people. I don’t know how offices haven’t been registered as cruel and unusual punishment for introverts,” I complained, reaching across my desk to pick up the latest stack of documents destined to irritate me. Sure enough, Madeline’s former employer had decided to send over a bunch of things from the previous quarter. “Your old companylovespaying Stonecreek penalties.” I waved the stack of papers in the air. “This is yet another stupid penalty!” As it wasn’t my problem if the accountants or my boss failed to close their office doors, I indulged in a frustrated scream.
Madeline’s eyes widened. “Are you okay?”
My boss kept his door open more frequently than Iappreciated, and he strolled into our area. “What has you going this time, Valerie?”
“The idiots up the hill decided they didn’t get enough penalties last quarter, so they’re fishing for more this quarter.” I thought about throwing the papers on the floor and scattering them, but I behaved, set the pile on my lap, and began the process of sorting it. Every last sheet should have been calculated in last quarter’s earnings reports. Heaving a sigh, I handed the stack to Madeline. “Make a pile and label it as a way to make the accountants cry. Tomorrow, we’re going to go through the pile, and you’re going to learn why the accountants are going to cry before we go together and break their hearts. One day, I might send you alone to destroy their happiness, but I’ll ease you into it. Depending on how bad it is, I might leave you here and spare you from the trauma.”
“How much did they fail to report in just that pile?” my boss asked.
“Half a million minimum. And that was from one earnings slip.” I sifted through the papers, found the appropriate page, and held it out to him. “I don’t have enough time to properly dedicate to that today, so I’m going to just make piles until it’s time to go home, and tomorrow, I’ll figure out how much they should have paid Stonecreek but opted against doing.”
Mr. Accor glared at the sheet. “Or they’re trying to evade the tax payment until next quarter. All right. Teach Madeline how to identify all the files from this company. Tomorrow, I want you doing a full audit on them for the past five years.”
I allowed my shoulders to slump, and I regarded my bosswith the saddest expression I could manage without actually crying. “Five years?”
“Five. Also, I have several university applications you need to review. Extortion, Valerie? Really?”
I gave up my act and burst into laughter. “Joel actually called?”
“He did, and he did so after talking to several prestigious universities in Mirage, all of which sent education proposals for you. He made some recommendations on the business side, and he asked the universities to pitch degrees you might like for your second. I’ve already gotten approval from my boss about it, and I’ve been asked to tell you to check your bank account. They’ve done the performance review for your first three years this morning, and the performance bonus was transferred this afternoon for delivery today, so it should already be in your account. They’ll be doing the rest of your years tomorrow, with your next payment coming in a few hours later. You bank at our bank, so it’s easy to get the payment to you. That is post taxes, and we’ll adjust the taxes if needed. If we miscalculated the taxes, let us know, and we’ll handle it. Your bonus isaftertaxes, and you are not to send a cent of it to Stonecreek. Madeline, there was an additional deposit added to your account as well to better reflect the importance of your role in the company and how you’ll inevitably help Valerie accomplish even more.”
“Oh.” Madeline swallowed. “Thank you, sir.”
“You should be moved into your home in two weeks. The shoring company is going to do some additional reinforcements and make certain there’s nothing amiss. We opted to enhance the contract per Joel’s recommendation.”
I bet he’d give them the same work as my place at a discount. “Do you want me to try to rein Joel in?”
“You can try, but I doubt you’ll succeed. He had everything ready before he called me, and he’s dangling a potential contract with us to take some of the workload off his employees so he can expand his operations.”
Well, if Joel offloaded his accounting with us, he wouldn’t have anything to worry about; his work would be routed through me, and I’d be able to match him with our best accountants for the job. “If we’re onboarding Sampson Sigils, please let me directly handle the paperwork acquisitions. That will cut out two phases, a great deal of whining from the accountants, and control my general frustration levels.”
“If we end up acquiring the Sampson Sigils contract, we’re going to have to hire three new accountants just to handle their operations, especially with their expansion aspirations. And he didn’t even try to talk us down on the initial pitch.”
I raised a brow at that. “Well, that’s a good way to get our best work.”
“It really is. If we end up onboarding his company, he’s asked that we begin our full contract at the start of the next tax year but to let him borrow you to make sure his poor accountants don’t drown for the next few quarters. But seriously, extortion?”
“For the most part, I was joking around with him, but he decided to cooperate just in case I was serious.” I shook my head over the insanity of it all, giggling up a storm. “I’ll make sure he understands only consenting playful extortion is done on our street.”
“That’s very similar to what he said when I asked him. Just try to keep your extortion of the man legal.”
