Page 86 of His Flash Mate
“Mrs.Elmantas?”he asked politely.
“I am,” she said.“You must be Mr.Steele.Please, come in.”
He smiled and entered, keeping his gaze on her until she shut the door and faced him.
“These are for you,” he said.“I heard that you were in a car accident and hope you’re recovering well.”
Oh.
Why was I disappointed that the flowers weren’t for me?
“That’s very kind of you, Mr.Steele.”
“Call me Konni.Please.”
She smiled, took the flowers from him with her good hand, and led him to the kitchen.I followed, my skepticism unmasked behind his back.
“Have a seat,” she said when we reached the table.“Sophia, come help me put these in water.”
She sat with him while I found a vase.
“I hope you like Italian,” he said.“I thought a little comfort food might be nice tonight.”
“Italian sounds perfect,” Mom said.
The bag crinkled, and I listened to him unpack the food as I put the flowers in the vase with water.
When I brought it to the table, I saw three wrapped takeout tins.Konni opened Mom’s for her—Lasagna, a side of garlic bread, and a tossed salad.
“Sophia mentioned why you wanted to talk to me,” Mom said as I went for silverware.“Do you really think someone was behind my job losses?”
“Your daughter was targeted at Steele Corp in less than three weeks of employment.The similarity between recent events and your job losses makes me uncomfortable.Can you tell me about your previous employers and what happened?”
I hated that he was asking her to rip open one of her biggest sore spots and poke at it.
“Is that really?—”
Mom set her hand on mine and patted it firmly to silence me.
“Let’s eat while this is hot,” she said.
Once my mouth was full, she started talking.
I’d been too young to pay attention to why she switched the first few jobs.It wasn’t until my senior year that I began to notice and ask questions.Hearing the definitive pattern of position cuts, staffing cuts, downsizing, along with the occasional supposed performance issues, now made me hurt for her all over again.
“The duration of my employment has decreased with each job,” Mom admitted.“This last one was less than a month.How can we prove whether or not I was being targeted?”
“I’d like you to talk to your old coworkers.But discreetly, just in case we’re right.Ask a coworker out to lunch to catch up, or maybe bump into one by chance if you know where to find them.”
He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a credit card.
“Please use this for expenses.Steele Corp lost millions on this last deal.Whatever you need to dig into this as quickly as possible will help me find the person responsible.”
Mom looked at the card but didn't take it.
“I’ll also pay your wages while you’re investigating since you’re doing so on my behalf.The card is private.It doesn’t go through the company.We can settle expenses later, but I’d like you to spend in front of the people you talk to.Be happy.Relaxed.As if you don’t have a financial care in the world.”
Mom’s gaze lifted from the card, and a slow smile grew.
