Page 4 of Lahaina Noon (Modern Legends of Dragons & Shadows #1)

Chapter 4

“ W ell, that was certainly entertaining, to say the least,” started Payne, “Do you really feel this was the best use of your time? Is this what we pay you for?”

Bridget stood rooted to the spot. Confusion washed over her body like a cold wave as she furrowed her brow, trying to understand what had happened. What was going on here? Surely even Major Payne could see the benefit of the partnership.

Payne narrowed her eyes, “I’m so sorry, Mr. Drake, for wasting your time and if you were led to believe this was going to be a finalized deal but collaborating with your company is not what is best for us. In fact, I propose we adjourn. I have a full proposal from Jensen Controls that fully underbids this one here, which I think will be a much better fit for us.” Payne sat back in her chair with a smug smile on her face.

Jack looked on in shock, his jaw hanging open.

Bridget dared a quick glance at Vaughn. How could this have gone so wrong so quickly? How had Payne put together a counterproposal at such short notice? What was going on here ?

Vaughn was still leaning back in his chair, seemingly as relaxed as before, but she could see the strain in his body, like he was holding himself rigid. His eyes were smoldering, and his jaw was clenched tightly. If not for the small muscle ticking in his jaw and the smoke from his nostrils, she would have thought he was a statue.

Wait. Smoke? She shook her head and looked again. Nothing; it must have been her overactive imagination again, still reeling from this blow she had been dealt.

She spoke up, “Now Melissa, I’m sure Jensen Controls would love an opportunity to counter, but we evaluated them a few months ago and found their offering… somewhat, lacking. Besides, they couldn’t possibly undercut Chesapeake; they don’t know the details of our proposal. Mr. Drake and I have kept this information extremely confidential, so there was no possibility of a leak to investors!” She struggled to keep her tone light so as not to seem accusatory, but somehow, that villain of a woman must have snooped the files and shared them with someone at Jensen.

Bridget was beginning to panic, her palms sweating, and her heart pounding. This is not happening.

Payne smiled and stood. “Thank you, everyone, for your time, let’s go ahead and adjourn. Bridget, I’d like to see you in your office, please.” She started to walk out.

Vaughn stood suddenly. “Ms. Payne,” he began, “I’m not sure how you managed to get a copy of our proposal in advance of this meeting, but rest assured I will find out.” His voice was stern .

Bridget tried to reason with her, “Please Melissa, let us at least do a side-by-side comparison of the integration specs, I’m sure we can all agree that would be in our best-”

“Quiet!” shouted Payne, interrupting Bridget’s plea. She turned her steely glare towards Vaughn. “And you sir, I resent your implications. As my co-worker,” she sneered, “Has so kindly pointed out, we’ve evaluated Jensen Controls’ offerings before. They were given an opportunity to make updates, and they are by far the better option for us, irregardless of your opinion.” She stated it triumphantly; as if she’d won the battle.

“Irregardless isn’t a word,” Bridget said. Her eyes widened, and she slapped her hand over her mouth, instant regret setting in that she apparently lost her filter. She heard a quiet snort of laughter and glanced at Vaughn to see him grinning at her again.

“What. Did. You. Say?” Payne gritted through her teeth.

“I, um.” Bridget stammered. “Well, it’s just that you said irregardless, and that’s not actually a word. You see regardless means the same thing no matter which way you are trying to use it, positive or negative or anything in between. Regardless of how you mean it.” She laughed nervously, trying to lighten the mood.

She could see Jack and Vaughn’s shoulders shaking with quiet laughter. Well good. At least someone is getting some enjoyment out of this. If she didn’t hate me before, she REALLY hates me now . Bridget watched as Payne’s narrowed eyes got even more squinty, which she didn’t think was possible.

“Well,” Payne drawled, “I was going to give you the courtesy of doing this in private but since you seem to enjoy spectacles, I think we can just dispense with that and go forward with our chat now. You,” she drew out the last vowel, “are fired. You’ve wasted enough of this company’s time and resources. You are disrespectful, unreliable, and, quite frankly, a blot on our reputation. Your attitude needs some serious adjustments. Badge, keys, laptop.” She finished triumphantly, holding out her hand.

Bridget stood rooted to the spot. Fired? What did that even mean? She just had a second to think, oh crap , before it all came spewing out like a bad case of verbal diarrhea.

“Fired? Really Melissa? You’re firing me? Fine. You know what? Fan-freaking-tastic. I can’t stand working for you for another second, you witch. You are, quite frankly, the most emotionally unavailable and unstable person I’ve ever met. You have zero business acumen, no one can stand you, and it really amazes me that you don’t realize it. You know we all call you Major Payne, Payne in the Ass. Do you ever stop to wonder why? Doesn’t matter. You are just a dried-up, bitter old hag, and you aren’t worth another minute of my time. You want to run this company into the ground? Fine.”

Jack walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, whispering in her ear, “Come on, babe, you are better than this. Don’t let her drag you down with her. Let’s go.”

She snatched her badge off her collar, slammed the cover of the laptop, only wincing a little at the sharp crack she heard but hoping no one else noticed, and whipped out her keys to the building, slapping them on the table.

“Here!” she snapped. “I hope you get everything you deserve. I’m going to get my personal belongings; Jorrie will watch me to make sure I don’t steal anything. Then I’ll leave, but I’m going out the back door, so I don’t cause any more disruption than I already have. I know you want a scene, so you can call security, but not today, Satan.” She seethed the last words and spun on her heel, marching out of the conference room to her office.

Correction, her former office.

She walked in and slowly shut the door quietly behind her, leaning against the cool wood surface before letting out a shaky breath. What had just happened? Fired? She’d never been fired in her life! She’d worked here for fourteen years as a loyal employee. Starting as a secretary, and when she’d shown some aptitude for project management, she was given a shot at moving up to the development team. From there she progressed until she became regional manager over the entire southern US. What was she going to do now? Oh God, what was she going to tell her son?

A light tap at the door interrupted her thoughts, and she turned. It was Jack with Jorrie in tow. She opened the door and gave them a weak smile. “Hey, so I guess you heard the news?” she laughed lightly in response to Jorrie’s shocked face.

“Did you really call her Satan?” whispered Jorrie.

“Uh, yeah, I guess I did.”

Jorrie looked at her with devotion in her eyes, “I love you. You are my hero. I want to be just like you when I grow up!”

Bridget laughed, wiping her suddenly damp eyes. She would not cry here in the office. “Well, I’m glad someone appreciates me. It’s so weird. I can’t believe no one tried to stop her. She just railroaded the whole thing. Jack, you saw it too, didn’t you?” She turned towards him with a silent plea in her eyes. She needed him to reassure her she wasn’t crazy, wasn’t imagining things, because after the incidents with the shadows, she felt off balance.

Jack looked at her, pausing in packing up her pictures of Gabriel and the cats. “Honey, I’m not sure what that was. It was certifiably weird, though.” He looked at Jorrie, “You had to be there, but Bridget’s right; it’s like they weren’t even paying attention.” He shook his head.

Bridget was relieved although still perplexed. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen this coming. She would have updated her resume and left on her own terms. She squeezed her palms together tightly, worrying about how this would look to future employers.

Jack interrupted her thoughts by asking “Hey, anything else that’s yours we need to grab?”

She looked around and saw that, sadly, all of her belongings fit in the one box, and there was nothing left of her in the office. “Just this.” She picked up the mousepad her son had given her for her birthday last year. She smiled, putting it in the box. “I guess that’s it. Amazing how little of me there was to pack up, considering how much of my life I’ve lived here.” She looked around at the bare walls and the clean shelves with their neatly organized binders and reference books. What was the point of it all? Just words and numbers that really didn’t mean that much in the grand scheme of things. “Time to sneak out the back like a coward now.”

She tried to take the box from Jack, but he held on tightly, saying, “No babe, I’ve got this. You walk out with your head high and know you did a damn good job. Nothing that old bitch said changes that! Let’s go to lunch. I’ll buy! ”

“Sorry, I believe I have already claimed that honor.” Came a rumbly voice from her doorway.

They all turned to see Vaughn leaning against her door. Oh no, how had she forgotten Vaughn? Mr. Sex on Legs himself was there to see the most embarrassing moment of her life, and now here he was, looking ready to commit all the sins.

Jorrie cleared her throat, “Mr. Drake, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Bridget has had a rough day, and she really needs to be with her friends now.” She moved between Vaughn and Bridget, tilting her head up at him, her curls bouncing and eyes flashing.

Jorrie was a tough lady. Many people mistook her petiteness for weakness but Jorrie disabused people of that notion quickly. She was a spitfire and fiercely loyal. She knew Vaughn had been in the conference room during the ‘Event’, so obviously, he was complicit in the scheme. Bless sweet Jorrie and her friendship. Bridget wasn’t sure what she had done to deserve it, but she appreciated it all that much more.

“It’s okay, Jorrie, no,” she said, holding up a hand when she could see Jorrie was going to interrupt. “Mr. Drake was just as blindsided by this as me.” Bridget turned towards him and squared her shoulders, meeting his eyes. “I’m sorry you were dragged into this and witnessed that scene. I must apologize for my unprofessionalism. I assure you it is not my normal nature to speak like that to a superior.”

“Superior Payne in the ass,” muttered Jack while Jorrie snorted a quiet laugh.

“Yes, no matter how nasty she was, I shouldn’t have sunk to her level. I’m so sorry that the deal fell through. I was really looking forward to working with you. With your company, I mean. I know it would have been beneficial for all of us. I don’t know how she got ahead of us like that, but again, my sincerest apologies for how that played out. I wish I could make it right somehow, but I’m no longer employed.”

Turning to her friends, she continued, “I need to go home and sort out what’s next in my life if you all don’t mind.” she sighed, looking around the office one more time. She heard a little grumble that seemed to have come from Vaughn. Did he just growl, she thought as she turned, studying him closely.

His eyes flashed, and his mouth turned up in a sinful smile. “Okay, Ms. Ridgeway, if you truly want to make it up to me, I must insist you join me this evening. You want to skip lunch? That’s fine; I understand this has come as a shock to you. I’ll pick you up for dinner at 7:00 p.m. and we can go from there. See where the evening takes us? I think I can help you out, and I know you can help me.” He reached over her shoulder and ran his hand slowly down her ponytail as she nodded, without fully understanding what she was agreeing to. “Yes,” he continued, “You have just the amount of fire I need; see you tonight?” He winked and turned around, walking down the hall.

Bridget let out her breath in a whoosh. What. The. Actual. Hell? She turned towards Jack and Jorrie, a dumbfounded expression contorting her features.

“Did he just, did I just, did he just ask me out? Like, out, out? On a date out?” she sputtered. The disbelief in her tone made her voice rise a full octave.

Jorrie’s wide eyes told her she wasn’t wrong. “Holy shit Bridge! Hotness finally asked you out! And he one hundred million percent wants you, the way he touched your hair?” Jorrie squealed, jumping up and down, her curls flying everywhere.

“Slow down there, Jumping Jack Flash!” said Jack, putting his hand on top of Jorrie’s head to calm her before she head-butted him in her excitement. Confusion briefly clouded his eyes before they cleared and lit up.

“ Girl! He so totally asked you out, hot damn, it’s about time! What are you going to wear? Please tell me you still have those killer red do-me pumps.” He mimicked, showing off a little leg. “Those things scream sex appeal. They would be perfect with that red and black dress you have in the back of the rack. You’re so getting laid!”

Jorrie looked at Jack, “How do you know about that?” she laughed.

“Brother privileges,” he said airily.

Bridget laughed, “Okay, y’all are crazy, and I love you, but I need to get out of here now before the Major calls security.” She glanced down the hall and saw the witch staring at her, tapping the toe of her leather pumps in irritation.

“Yeah, she’s out there. I’m going home; I have to figure out what to do with my life. Maybe I’ll just wallow in self-pity and become a bog witch. It’s always been my heart’s desire. Anyway, I love you both; get out of here before she comes after you, too.” She kissed them on the cheeks, smiling.

“She’s got nothing on me.” Jorrie sniffed. “Let her try. I’ll show her what’s up.”

Jack laughed. “Okay, fine, but I’m coming over after work. We are going to go through that closet and find something amazing for you to wear. ”

A look of confusion suddenly moved across Bridget’s face. “Wait, he said he would pick me up at seven? He didn’t ask me where I live!”