Chapter Two
Jessie
And there it was.
Mark was quick to reassure me that I had the supervisor position. A few questions got to the heart of it. I was a supervisor, for now. If I didn’t play nice with pretty boy and prove I was the better woman for the job, I’d be out on my ass.
Could I outwork the man? Hell, yes. I’d been working my ass off since I was in diapers. That was assuming it was a fair fight. My guess was things were skewed in Clint’s direction.
I walked out the door, slamming it behind me. I had already worked my way up from the bottom. I wasn’t about to start over because of some boys club bullshit.
“Jessie, wait up.”
Reluctantly, I stopped and turned to face Clint, who was approaching at a slow jog. His face was still flushed from the heat of the day and he seemed to limp as he moved.
The rumor mill had preceded Clint’s arrival. The story was that he had run his company into the ground or gotten fired or something, and Mark had bailed his ass out by giving him a job.
Life wasn’t fair. I’d learned that lesson ten times over. Surely hard work should get you something eventually, right?
A smart person would play nice with Business Barbie, but I wasn’t sure I had it in me.
I wasn’t known for my tact. I didn’t really have a filter.
Normally, working construction, that didn’t matter.
Unfortunately, if Mark was thinking of picking a supervisor he could picture moving up into management, he was going to want someone who could command a boardroom over someone who could drive an excavator.
I couldn’t let them pass me over just because a friend needed a favor. I would have to show everyone just how valuable I could be, even if I didn’t have a fancy-ass degree. Logically, that meant showing I could diplomatically get along with the man who was threatening to ruin what I had worked for.
“What is it, Dimples? It’s been a long day.”
“You’re telling me,” he said, still catching his breath. “Look, we got off on the wrong foot here. I know this whole thing looks bad. I don’t have the worksite experience and Mark and I are old friends, but–”
“Are you trying to say that isn’t what’s going on? I might not look like much, but I can see the writing on the wall.”
He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Shit, no, you’re right. He is helping me out with this job. I was in a tight spot, still am actually, and he did me a favor. I didn’t know the job was already taken.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “So are you going to step back then? Now that you know your favor could cost me my job?”
He gave me a look so miserable that it almost knocked me back a step.
I’d seen that look before. I’d lived that look.
I guess we had one thing in common. “I wish I could. If the circumstances were different, I would do the moral thing here and walk away. I just … it’s a long story, but I need this job. ”
“Are you willing to admit what you don’t know, or is your ego going to get in the way?
First thing tomorrow, shit is going to get real.
This is a construction site. There is going to be a steep learning curve.
If you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, you can die.
If you don’t do your job right, someone else could die.
Big equipment, big rocks, big injuries. Got it? ”
He nodded, his face somber.
I could begrudgingly respect that he recognized what he didn’t know.
Still, I needed to drive the point home.
“You have no business being on a site like this with no experience. For safety reasons, and because you didn’t earn it.
Only one of us can get the job, and it will be me.
I’ll do what Mark says, because I have to. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“I’m just trying to get by like everybody else.”
“Well, you’re just trying to get by could get someone killed. Remember that.”
Way past done with the conversation, I headed to the parking lot.
Even this late in the day, the sun was hot.
The inside of my truck was an oven as I jumped in and cranked the engine.
It took a few tries to get her to turn over, but I wasn’t worried.
She was rusty, burned oil and stuck a little when shifting to third, but she never let me down.
Still, I was trying to squirrel away a little extra money each paycheck in case old faithful decided to mutiny.
A task that was much easier on a supervisor’s salary.
For however long that lasted.
I ran a hand over my face as I pulled out onto the highway.
It was a bit of a commute to get to the area of the highway where we were working.
But, the speed limit was a hundred and twenty kilometers an hour and man, that speed felt good blowing through my hair.
It had been uncharacteristically warm for being halfway up a mountain, and I was hot and tired.
I was also pissed off, although I couldn’t blame the heat for that.
How the hell was I supposed to learn from the new guy but also compete against him?