Mere Mortal by Katie Roman

  ~*~*~

  Chris let Sean in when he came knocking on the door. “Hey, you must be Samantha's boss.”

  I peeled myself off the couch and closed my laptop. Sean was dressed in a suit. He had the same idea as me of looking as professional as possible.

  “You're the roommate then?” Sean asked. He looked over at Chris's laptop. “Solid choice.”

  I grabbed my lunch out of the refrigerator. The guys talked about video games and the best ways to disembowel goblins. This was a side of Sean I had never seen. I almost didn't want to break him and Chris up.

  I didn't have to. When I came to stand beside the table Sean looked up at me and smiled. I almost melted from the warmth in his eyes and smile. I suddenly felt weird standing in my kitchen, having such a handsome man smile so at me, with my roommate playing video games.

  “Ready?” he said.

  “Yeah. Let's go get this day over.”

  I bid Chris and Sasha good-bye and followed Sean to his car. I buckled myself in as Sean climbed into the driver's seat.

  “You look tired,” he observed. “Are you sure you want to go into work today? We can write the report up and you can shuffle home before the sun sets.”

  I thought about Rachel and that disgusting dirt taste. I brushed my teeth for half an hour to get the taste out. No. Not again. “It won't get any better if I cower and hide. I'll do my reports and I'll just keep on trucking.”

  “Good attitude.”

  We drove along, not saying much. He pulled us into the parking lot. The Rav was right where I left it. I blew out a sigh. Sean cut the engine, but didn't get out of the car. He turned to me.

  “It'll all be fine.” He took my face in his hands. My heart stopped, not from the remembrance of Jessica's touch, but something else. He turned my face to the side. “Those scratches healed pretty fast. Just a little red today.” He dropped his hand away. “Let's go.”

  We got out of the Range Rover. We headed into the building. I dug around my lunch bag for a little baggy full of cookies. “I baked these last night. Obviously it's not much of a thanks, but, well, you know.”

  He opened the bag and popped one into his mouth. He looked like the cat that ate the canary as he chewed happily. We got into the elevator. He pressed the button and shook his head.

  “What if she's back tonight?”

  “Leave with Brent and Jose tonight. I have to stay late to finish some work. If I catch you here after they've gone you'll be sleeping in my office with the door locked.”

  The ding announced our arrival on the third floor. He went left, giving my shoulder a pat as we went to his office. I hung a right. Sitting behind my desk was a gray haired, wrinkled, fat Hispanic man in a tweed jacket and new khakis. My boss Carl Garcia waited for me. Must be that witch's sixth sense I hear so much about. He knew I planned to go to him, so he came to me.

  “Carl?” I didn't have to see Carl very often, but when I did it was to be yelled at.

  “I got a call from a Jessica and Melvin Klein. I couldn't find them in the database though. They're just two names with no information.” He was tapping his foot under the desk. “Did you forget to enter their information by chance?”

  “I've been a bit busy.” I opened my filing cabinet and dropped my purse in.

  “I see. Anyway, the sister, Jessica or whatever, she filed a complaint against you. She said you were unprofessional and rude.”

  “What?”

  “I had a message waiting for me from the downtown office. She apparently called the regional manager and was livid that you were so prejudice. The BSB does not discriminate against anyone! Because of your behavior we're facing an audit. I don't know what this woman said, but it must have gone beyond being rude.”

  My brain froze. Me? Rude? Dear God. The woman wanted to rip my throat out and I was the problem here? I was the reason for the audit. I get hit in the chest and I'm the problem. She holds my face so hard she leaves scratches and I’m the problem. Bullshit. “Carl, that girl-”

  “Not another word, Dunmore. You're young and inexperienced in this field and it's showing now more than ever.” He must know I spent at least an hour a day swiveling in my chair, doing little else.

  “Carl, please listen. That woman came after me last night.” I thought about flashing him the bruise, but I didn't need sexual harassment on my list of offenses. I used my words instead. “She's been harassing me to get to another client's file. She hit me and would have done worse if Sean didn't step in.”

  Carl scrunched up his face. “Really?” I'm sure he wanted to get me out of his hair. It was nothing personal. With such stellar interpersonal skills I could see why he was a manager.

  “Really. Sean and I were going to talk to you about it. I wanted to file my own complaint.”

  “That's a pretty serious accusation.” Carl softened a little. He had daughters. He had to understand. “Let me talk to Sean. Then I'll call the general manager back. I can't stop this audit you realize. We're all under scrutiny since the mauling. We don't need another attack on a BSB worker and we don't need any Others thinking we're discriminating against them. Did you call the police?” I shook my head. “Probably not a bad choice, you know how Others feel about the police. But you should at least have called the BSB help line and had some field agents come take your statement.” He rose and left.

  I let my mouth drop open. As soon as my computer was up and running I'd have to email Sean. He'd fix this. He'd back me up. Carl tolerated Sean. His word meant more than mine.

  I sat down, heaving a frustrated sigh. The red light on my phone blinked. While my computer started up I picked up the phone to hear my messages. At first there wasn't anything, and then Jessica's voice came through. I shouldn't have been surprised.

  “That doggy won't protect you forever. He isn't always going to be able to walk around your house to check for bogey men.” She'd seen my house. My heart stopped. “I told you I wanted the blood of the weak. That means you.”