Chapter 1
Chapter
One
“Come on in, Craig.” I smiled at the handsome young man and gestured to the seat across the table from me in the meeting room. “Thanks for coming in on such short notice.” I offered him my hand.
He shook it firmly. “No problem, Susan.”
Fabulous, he got my name right. A little over-familiar for a first meeting, but that was okay. He looked impressive—an expensive, well-tailored suit, crisp ironed shirt, white teeth, and pleasant smile. His light blond hair was freshly cut, too, which told me he took this interview seriously.
I let my eyes unfocus for a second, looking for a hint of that telltale shimmer of magic around his body which might indicate he was an assassin, here to try to kill me rather than interview for the job of Base Budget Insurance Contact Center Team Leader.
It had only happened once so far this morning—a brief but unsettling incident where a banwyn wearing the glamor of a very old man managed to sneak past Cheryl from Human Resources and get into the interview room with me.
The little bastard came at me with a jeweled dagger and bared teeth.
Luckily, I was already on guard and suspicious the second I laid eyes on him, since I knew Cheryl would never let anyone past retirement age in for a job interview.
The hardest part about that little incident was having to apologize to the custodians for the mess. Luckily, though, my would-be assassin was tiny, and banwyn blood looked a lot like sludgy printer ink. The best part was now I had a cool jeweled dagger to open my mail with.
I watched Craig, my interviewee, carefully, with a tight smile on my face, looking for traces of magic. My muscles tensed, ready to spring into action.
Nope, no magic. He was just a human man. Mentally, I took off my Chosen One hat, put on my Department Manager hat, and breathed a silent sigh of relief. The Department Manager hat was still a far more comfortable fit.
Craig was the fifth person I’d interviewed today.
Normally I loved job interviews—people were my jam—but so far, I’d been unimpressed with the range of applicants that our Human Resources department had gathered up for me to interview.
Craig’s resume was impressive, though, and according to the reports that Cheryl from HR had given me, he scored highly on suitability for the role.
I sat back down in my seat as Craig got settled opposite me.
Normally, I’d take my time with this process.
There was nothing worse than hiring someone who later turned out to be horribly unsuitable for the job.
Unfortunately, due to several factors, I was going to be forced to rush.
The quicker I could get two new team leaders for the Base Budget Insurance Customer Experience and Support Contact Team, the more I could focus on slightly more important matters.
Slightly more important. Like saving the whole universe from a megalomaniac fae prince who wanted to devour all the magic of every realm and put every supernatural creature—as well as the mundane ones—firmly underneath his boot.
I had a lot on my plate. Luckily, I was a fabulous multi-tasker.
“Now, tell me about yourself, Susan,” Craig ordered, getting comfortable in his seat. He crossed his legs and leveled a confident smile at me.
My own smile wobbled. Wow, that was quick.
Come on, Susan. He could just be nervous. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, here.
“I’ll tell you a little about the position you’re interviewing for,” I said, keeping my voice even.
“Oh, I understand what being a team leader entails. I’ve been managing contact center teams at Orico Auto Insurance for more than three years.
” Craig let out a confident chuckle. “You don’t have to run through the basics with me; I know what I’m doing.
Now”—he leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, fixing me with a commanding stare—“tell me about the team I’ll be managing, Susan. ”
I resisted the urge to put my face in my hands and groan out loud.
So many men were approaching job interviews like this nowadays, some women, too, although it was mostly the men that felt comfortable attempting to take control.
The podcast bros gave terrible advice when it came to climbing the corporate ladder.
You are interviewing the company more than the company is interviewing you.
They need you, that’s why you’re here. Take the reins; show them that you’re a boss. Act like you already have the job.
I took a deep breath and returned Craig’s commanding stare with one of my own. “Why are you leaving Orico Auto?”
“Oh, I’m looking for a new challenge,” he replied smoothly.
My skin buzzed. Craig was lying. That was interesting. My lie-detector power was coming in handy for these job interviews.
I arched an eyebrow. “What was the turnover like on your team?”
“Oh, it was the same as all the other teams. You know how hard it is to keep staff in these entry-level positions. But we do okay,” he nodded, looking smug.
I bet it was mediocre at best. “And do you hit all your KPIs?”
“I don’t place too much importance on the numbers, Susan. Listen… Can I be frank with you?”
Please don’t. Whatever you say, I already know I’m going to hate it. “Oh, of course. Go ahead.”
He leaned forward. “Management isn’t about stats and figures, you know. It’s about people. It’s about relationships.” He paused for effect and nodded patronizingly. “I don’t think a lot of people understand that.”
This time, I couldn’t help sighing. “Thanks for your time today, Craig.”
His eyebrows hit his hairline. “I’m sorry?”
“We’re done here.” I slammed his folder closed, just to underscore the finality of the moment, and stood up, putting the final nail in the coffin.
He gaped up at me. “But?—”
Oh, okay, maybe he needed a few more nails.
I had a little tension I needed to release, anyway.
“You wanted to be frank, so I’ll be frank.
You’re right, Craig. Management is about relationships.
But the stats and figures are what let you know if you’ve got good relationships or bad relationships.
If your numbers are bad, you’ve got bad relationships. ”
“I– I know that. I’ve got good relationships at my office.”
“So, why won’t you share your stats with me?”
He opened his mouth and shut it again. “I was hoping to share a little about my management style, and not focus too much on arbitrary figures.”
“Okay.” I reopened his folder and glanced down at his resume.
“You have a glowing recommendation from your department manager, so she obviously knows you’re looking for another job.
But you’re applying for team leader roles that aren’t any better than what you’ve got now.
” I narrowed my eyes. “What did you do?”
He reared back a little. “Excuse me?”
“What did you do, Craig? Why is your department manager trying to get rid of you?”
He blustered for a second. “She— My— Moira— She’s not.” He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “Moira values me immensely; you can see that on the recommendation she gave.”
“If Moira valued you immensely, she would be offering you a promotion or a pay raise, Craig,” I said dryly.
“She wouldn’t be writing a personalized glowing recommendation for another job at another company.
” I peered at him again. “Did you pursue a ‘bad relationship’ with someone in your team?” I carefully put air quotes around the words, just to cover my ass.
“No!”
Buzz.
“Ha.” I pointed at him. “You did. You had an affair with someone from your office.”
“I did not!”
I waited. There was no buzz. He wasn’t lying.
Damn. I’d gotten cocky. The clock ticked loudly, a trickle of unease running through me. Had I pushed it too far? I’d get into trouble if he complained about my line of questioning.
Uh oh, he’d clocked the doubt in my expression. “This is offensive,” he said coldly. “Please, let’s return to the interview and keep the questions more appropriate, Susan.”
I stared down at his smug, faux-outraged face for another few seconds, thinking furiously. If I’d learned anything in the past few weeks, it was that it was okay to be wrong about things.
And I’d been wrong about so many things. But I was Susan Moore. The One of Every Blood, the Chosen One, the subject of a prophecy that still made me deeply uncomfortable, but hell, I was working on being okay with that, too.
But more importantly, I was an intelligent woman, and I was damn good at figuring people out. I could do this.
I looked at his smug handsome face for another minute, replaying the words in my head. He’d pursued a ‘bad relationship’ with someone at his office, but he hadn’t had an affair with one of them?
Aha. That was it. “Not someone.” A smile pulled at my lips. “More than one.”
“What?”
“You had an affair with more than one of your staff members.”
He blustered again. “Of course not!”
Buzz.
“Hoo boy.” I leaned forward. “That’s why Moira is trying to get rid of you. You’ve been sleeping with your colleagues. How many, Craig? Two?”
“No!”
Buzz.
“Three?”
He opened his mouth and closed it again.
“I’m guessing they weren’t from your actual team, because Moira would have just fired you,” I said, tapping the page with her recommendation on it. “Unless… you were sleeping with Moira too, weren’t you?”
“No!”
Buzz.
I laughed. “I get it now. You fancy yourself as the office Romeo, and you dipped your wick where you shouldn’t have.”
Craig stared at me, aghast. Seconds ticked by. He was truly speechless.
It never ceased to amaze me just how many affairs happened in the office.
I could rattle off a whole handful of names of employees in this very building who were secretly sleeping together.
I understood the temptation. People worked long hours, and office affairs were a fun distraction from the endless drudgery and boredom of work.
“I guess Moira is quite fond of you, so she decided to ship you off to another company on the other side of the city. Hence, the glowing recommendation.”
He shook his head desperately. “I don’t— I’m not?—”
“Come on, Craig.” I met his eyes and threw him a sunny smile. “Be frank with me.”
A long moment of silence passed. He glared at me. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?”
“No, I know I am. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure all this out, Craig.
” Of course, it helped that I could tell when he was lying, but I wasn’t going to say that out loud.
“Let me give you a couple of tips. Don’t be an arrogant asshole in your interviews, for starters.
It’s not impressive. And get Moira to re-write her recommendation so it’s not so glowing. It’s too suspicious the way it is.”
“I could report you for this,” he growled. Apparently, Craig’s balls were far bigger than his brain.
I waved my phone. “I’ve got Moira’s number. Should I give her a call and tell her you’re banging other women in your office as well as her?”
A shadow of fear crossed his features. He stood up abruptly, swallowed, and nodded at me stiffly. “Thank you for your time today, Susan. I appreciate you seeing me.”
“Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out, Craig,” I sang.
He stalked out, slamming the door behind him.
I sank back into my chair, grinning like an idiot. Susan, the maestro of management, was back.