Chapter 5 Kimberly
Kimberly
Igaped in shock at the woman across from me. Gina Freaking Hamilton.
I had no idea she worked here but then again, I hadn’t had time to review the file.
The auditor assigned to do this site visit had an emergency appendectomy last night and my boss had pulled me off something else so we wouldn’t need to reschedule this visit.
Our schedule was too tight for delays especially right now when state offices were on a mandatory hiring freeze.
Gina was looking at me like she’d seen a ghost.
I took a second to study her. She was still stunningly beautiful in that ‘girl next door’ kind of way.
Her brown hair was still stick straight, but today it was pulled back into a low ponytail.
She was dressed professionally, which I knew she hated.
Other than that she looked exactly the same.
Trim frame. Small breasts that were just a handful.
Lean muscles from running and practicing yoga.
Her skin was pale, but then again, it was spring in Seattle. None of us had seen the sun in months.
We stared at each other for a long moment, both of us completely ignoring the other people in the room.
“You’re the auditor?” she finally asked, her voice husky, the same way it was when she woke up in the morning.
Not that I was thinking about that.
We’d been in love once. Lived together even.
I thought we’d be together for the long haul, but then she broke my heart.
Her insecurities had taken over one too many times and when she accused me of cheating on her, the relationship was done.
I’d left with my tail tucked between my legs and never seen her again. Until today.
“I thought you worked with homeless youth,” I said inanely.
Obviously, she didn’t anymore. I wasn’t sure why I was surprised that she got a new job at some point over the last three years. I’d done the same.
“I’m the program manager for the Sunrise program,” she said quietly. “I’ve been here since the program started.”
There was something different about her. Even though she was obviously as shocked as I was by this impromptu meeting, her energy was different. Calmer. More confident. Even her posture was different.
“I take it you two know each other?” Allison, their executive director, was looking between us with undisguised curiosity.
We both nodded.
“Allison, may I see you in the hallway for a minute?” Gina whispered.
She looked like she was about to puke. I felt the same.
“Let’s take five and reconvene,” my coworker Mary said. “I think Kim and I need to check in as well.”
The Sunrise team filed out, leaving us alone. Ignoring Mary’s curious look, I picked up my cell, dialing my boss and putting him on speaker.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you at the audit?” David asked in lieu of saying hello.
“Yes. I’ve got you on speaker with me and Mary,” I told him. “I need to report something to you.”
“What?” he asked impatiently.
He was a good boss, just overworked and the kind of person who had zero tolerance for things like small talk.
“The program director of Sunrise is, uh, my ex-girlfriend.”
I’d never come out at work, but we didn’t have the kind of office where people talked about their private lives either. It was all very professional. Mary’s eyebrows rose as she started to understand what was going on.
“When did you break up?” my boss asked.
I did a quick calculation in my head. “A little over three years ago.”
He made a scoffing noise. “That’s a long time ago. You can be professional, right Hernandez?”
“Of course,” I said quickly. “But it was a pretty serious relationship. We lived together for a while and it was, uh, a hard breakup.”
“Have you ever had an easy breakup?” he asked sardonically.
Mary rolled her eyes at our boss’s question.
“Well, no.”
“Are you telling me you’re too compromised by a break-up that happened three damned years ago to do your job and be professional?”
I winced at his harsh tone.
“Well no, I can do what I need to do,” I assured him. “I can be professional. But their ED might request someone else if they’re worried about a conflict of interest, that’s why I wanted to let you know what was happening.”
“Tell them we don’t have any other auditors available right now, so they’ll have to suck it up,” he said impatiently.
“Explain how there’s always two people auditing, and your findings are reviewed by the director to make sure there’s no bias.
Plus if they want to dispute the findings, they’ll have a right to do so after they receive your report.
If they contact me, that’s exactly what I’ll tell them. ”
I suppressed a sigh. This was going to be a difficult few days, there was no way around it.
“Okay, I’ll do that. Thank you, David.”
He hung up without saying goodbye.
“Just let me know what you need,” Mary said. “I’m here to support you.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said. “I just didn’t want it to come up later and for him to ask me why I didn’t say anything.”
I could tell she wanted to ask more, but just then the Sunrise team returned.
Gina still looked a little nauseous, and I had to remind myself that I hated her and was not going to be concerned.
I raised an eyebrow, silently asking if she’d told her boss.
She nodded. Back when we were dating, before everything had gone to hell, we’d driven our other friends crazy with our ability to have a conversation without talking.
“Okay, we’re all aware that Ms. Hamilton and I have a previous relationship.
Given that it ended more than three years ago and there’s been no contact since then, the state’s position is that it does not constitute a conflict of interest. This audit is being completed by myself and my colleague Mary,” I said, pointing to my coworker.
“Our reports and findings, if any, are carefully reviewed by our supervisor before becoming official. You also have the right to file an appeal if you disagree with anything.”
I paused to take a breath, then directed my words at Gina. “I want to assure you that I can remain impartial in this review, regardless of anything that happened in the past.”
Like you falsely accusing me of cheating and tossing all my shit out of a window, I added silently.
When no one said anything, Mary spoke up. “Can we get started now? We have a lot to do over the next three days.”
“Yes, let’s proceed,” Allison agreed.
She had the no-nonsense manner of a nonprofit executive who’d seen it all and wasn’t frazzled by anything. I liked her immediately.
We spent the next hour completing our interview with Allison and Erin, the agency’s Chief Financial Officer.
For a CFO, Erin was surprisingly vague, almost unprepared, making me wonder what was going on with her.
Then again, a lot of people got nervous when the auditors came in.
There was no reason for it though. We were just here to make sure our funds were being used as contracted, not to look for ways to ruin their lives.
Erin and Allison left and we then moved on to interview Gina and her QA person, Rochelle. I had to admit I was surprised by how professional my ex-girlfriend was. The Gina I knew tended to be anxious and unsure, which often came out as being defensive. This Gina was poised. Self-confident. Calm.
She really knew her stuff. Despite my best intentions, I was impressed.
***
Four years ago…
I walked into the bar to catch up with my friend Susan, but to my surprise, she wasn’t alone.
“Hey.”
“Gina, this is my friend Kim. Kimberly Hernandez, this is my new neighbor, Gina Hamilton. I hope you don’t mind that I invited Gina, she’s new to town and I promised to introduce her to some of my friends.”
I wanted to be irked that my friend had invited someone without giving me a heads up, but then I got a good look at Gina and my heart stuttered. She was adorable, dressed in workout clothes like she’d just come from a run, which I later learned was true.
“Nice to meet you Gina,” I said, giving her my hand.
She wrapped her fingers around mine and I felt a little jolt. I knew she felt it too, because her eyes flew to mine for a split second before she pulled away. Her cheeks turned a little pink.
“You too.”
Two hours later Susan was gone and Gina and I were ordering our third beers as we discussed some of the lowlights of our previous relationships.
“How would you feel about some onion rings?” she asked, glancing at the menu on the table.
“I’d feel good about that,” I replied.
She gave me a sweet smile, and I felt a weird tingling in my belly. Something that felt like more than lust.
“Did you move here alone?” I asked, trying to suss out if she was single. I was new to this lesbian thing, and it made me awkward trying to figure out the social rules of this new world.
Gina told me that she’d moved to Seattle after breaking up with a long-time partner who’d really done a number on her.
“I’m going to focus on myself for a while,” she’d confided. “No dating for at least a year.”
“That’s a good plan. I’m not looking for anything serious either.”
Six weeks later we were living together.