The Key To Eternity

Chapter 1-3

Lia felt a pang of angst as she entered the meeting room. She found eyes focused on her, and none of them looked friendly.

“I see you finally decided to join us, Ms. MacArthur,” one stranger greeted her sarcastically. Short with a bald head and a round belly to match, the man’s jaw had clenched in irritation.

“I´m sorry,” Lia answered, sitting in the only empty chair, close to a tall, thin man with tan skin, dark hair and threatening dark eyes. Yuck! I would hate to have him behind me on a deserted street. “I was told that the meeting was 9:30. It’s 9:20. Am I missing something?”

“Yes, you are, Miss MacArthur. It’s 10:20. You are one hour late.”

“What? How?”

“The time zone…” Lia’s head shot up and she took in Jerry, her supervisor. He looked at her, an apology lingering in the crinkled corners of his eyes.

She looked at her watch again. 9:20. “I set my clock last night. I used the…” She remembered that she had never checked the clock at the townhouse for accuracy. She just assumed it had the right hour and synchronized her phone with it. “I used the clock in the apartment to set mine.”

The tan guy raised one eyebrow. “Excuses?” His lips curled into a smug grin.

Lia swallowed. This jerk. Oh, my God.

He leaned forward, waiting.

Arguing won’t help me… and why would the clock in the apartment be one hour wrong? Not twenty minutes. Not three hours and seventeen minutes, but exactly one hour wrong… She drew in a deep breath. This was intentional. She firmed her jaw. They won’t get rid of me this easily, even if I have to pretend to be humble just to get through this meeting. “Right, I apologize. It will not happen again.”

“We certainly hope not, Ms. MacArthur, because we take punctuality very seriously. It shows what a person is made of. You will not have a second chance,” the tall man said. He grinned, showing white teeth with unaccountably sharp canines.

Lia received the comment as a punch in her stomach. Heat, pain and anger climbed all the way to her mouth. She bit down on her lips. Nice girls don´t tell tall, tanned, disgusting and dangerous what he deserves to hear. Nice girls eat it with fries and start looking for another job the same day. Unlike his colleague, this man was tall, even seated. His medium-brown skin gave her no particular indication of his racial background. Middle Eastern? Latino? Italian? Or just a WASP with a tan? At any rate, his faint hint of a smirk is disgusting.

“Don’t worry,” she answered through gritted teeth. “If at any future meeting I don’t arrive on time, it’s because I got a better offer and decided to move on.”

Jerry Walker, her boss, opened his eyes wide and looked at her apologetically.

He should have stood up for me, saying that at Burton and Burton, they’re proud to have me, yet he’s letting these people push me around.

“Lia, this is Earl Lancaster, CFO of Van Zandt enterprises,” he indicated the thin rude man, “and general manager and CEO of the Los Angeles branch, Mark Moravian.”

“Charmed,” she lied, gritting her teeth.

Moravian sulked, but Lancaster grinned back, and she shuddered.

* * * *

Lia´s favorite latte materialized in front of her eyes.

“Forgive me, please?” Jerry´s voice trailed from behind her.

“Only for my latte, Judas,” she scolded and took a deep gulp of her d**g of choice. Only then did she look at her supervisor. Fiftyish, though not unattractive, with a cap of silvering light brown hair, a medium build, and cheekbones that would stand the test of time, his face had twisted into lines of supreme contrition.

He broke eye contact, lifted his cell, and swiped nervously a couple of times. “I emailed the bosses saying that this job is not a good idea. These guys scare the s**t out of me.”

Lia read the words on Jerry´s phone, which he’d shoved right under her nose, while he spoke, and sure enough, he’d requested the owners of Burton and Burton consider ending their association with Van Zandt enterprises, due to the extreme hostility of the CFO and CEO.

The owners had kindly and professionally responded that Jerry should suck it up and get back to work.

Wonderful way to show trust in your employees, she thought bitterly. Are we people or just a paycheck to them?

Grumpy at Jerry, the job and the office manager, Lia snapped at the only person within reach. “I don´t know what to say about that. Choosing assignments is not my job. Mr. Short and Angry Moravian and Mr. Tan and Nasty Lancaster have told me I’m on thin ice. This place may suck a*s, but I like my job in general, so I’m going to sketch and ignore you now. Go do something useful with your life. I have work to do.”

Jerry snorted at her tough-girl persona and she went back to her plans.