Page 35 of His Flash Mate
“She?”
“Ms.Stonestock.She wants to see you.”
“Okay.Thanks.”
I set my coffee down and went to her office, knocking on the open door before stepping in.
Ms.Stonestock was sitting behind her desk in a posture that screamed both impatience and arrogance.When she saw me, she crossed her arms, which I read as a warning of an impending confrontation.
“Whitney said you wanted to see me,” I said politely.
“Why weren’t you at your desk?”
“Because it wasn’t yet eight.”
“Are you only here to do the bare minimum?”
“I was warned that doing extra would be seen as bribery due to the illicit actions of my predecessors in their attempts to gain information about and favor from the CEO.”
She narrowed her gaze at me and uncrossed her arms to grab a stack of files.
“I expect these expenses to be submitted within the hour.It’s a simple task you should be able to manage on your own if you have any level of competence.”
She tossed the pile toward the edge of her desk, forcing me to “fetch” them.
I left her office, not caring about the work as much as her attitude.
Why had she assigned me something directly rather than going through Whitney, who was training me?Was this a test to see if I was ready to be independent after only four days?I wasn’t.I barely had the basics down and only knew how to enter an expense because I happened to see Whitney enter one when shadowing her on the first day.
If it wasn’t a test, which I didn’t think it was since no one officially trained me on entering expenses, then she was setting me up for failure.But why?Had I done something to offend her?
I sat at my desk, opened the expenses portal, and started an email.As I keyed in expenses, I referenced the company’s expense policy and noted the problematic expenses in the email.I submitted the expenses and immediately emailed the finance person in charge.Then I sent a separate one to Lianna.
Ms.Stonestock,
I’ve finished submitting the expenses.Finance will likely need more information regarding the Zellon jewelry purchase, though, as it doesn’t fall under any of the allowed company reimbursement categories.
Please let me know if you require anything further from me.
Ms.Elmantas
I smirked at the timestamp on the email—one minute to the hour.
A new email from finance appeared in my inbox, thanking me for my question about categorizing the jewelry purchase and stating that they would follow up with Ms.Stonestock directly.
I didn’t know what Lianna was trying to pull or whether I’d passed or failed, but hopefully bringing the expenses to finance’s attention would clear my name if there was any fallout.
Whitney’s phone rang just before lunch, and I listened to her side of the conversation, which consisted mostly of “yes” and “I understand” responses.When she hung up, she wheeled her chair over to mine.
“One of our reps is across town in a meeting and needs a hi-gloss sample.Reception has the sample.This is the address.”She handed me a slip of paper.“He needs it in the next thirty minutes.”
I looked down at the address, which would take at least forty minutes to reach, then back up at Whitney, who was watching me closely.
“I’ll need his name and number, too, to verify it’s getting to the right person.And is the hi-gloss sample confidential?”
“No, it’s not confidential.”She took back the paper and added the information I requested.
I grabbed my purse and left while sending a quick text.The folder with the sample was waiting for me at the reception desk, and Miranda and her sleek sports car were waiting at the curb.
