Chapter 6 #2
She couldn’t even change her name. ASAC wanted her to go in as Danielle Kim since she’d been in finance, and the chances were decent that in Renegade, where she’d been born and bred, she’d run into someone who knew her at some point.
So, her plain-white-blouse-and-black-slacks outfit had no personality. She had the same name she’d been given at birth. Her hairstyle was as basic as one could get—a fringe of bangs and long hair hanging straight down.
Staring at her own face, she pulled out her cherry-red matte lipstick and puckered up. Smacking her lips, she looked into the mirror and smiled. That was better. If she had to sit at a desk plugging numbers into columns, she could at least have this.
The driver dropped her off at the front entrance. “This is the right place?” he asked over his shoulder.
Like it or not…it was. Landscaping with shrubs around the front gave the small brick building a little personality, unlike the extensive warehouse behind it with loading docks and huge bay doors.
Very utilitarian. Trucks were lined up neatly on the fence running along the interstate.
There was no doubt what business she was walking into.
“This is it. Thanks.” And she needed to make the most of it. She threw her shoulders back as she walked into the building with the SL Trucking Main Office sign.
A woman sat at the front counter with a headset on. A grouping of open desks spread out behind her. She was typing and talking into her microphone at the same time. She held up a finger at Dani while continuing her conversation. “I’ll let the shop know. See you soon, Frank.”
She pushed a button and looked up from her monitor. “What can I do for you, hon? I think you’re in the wrong place.”
“The temp agency sent me. Said you needed an accountant. I’m Danielle.”
“Oh! Right! Sorry. I thought you were all gussied up for the office down the road. As you can see, we’re not super formal here.
I’m Shirley.” She stood up, showing her jeans and company-logo T-shirt.
Her bleach-blonde hair definitely came from a box.
She wore no makeup, no jewelry or accessories, but her smile was kind, and she shook hands like she meant it when she said “Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” Dani returned her smile with one of her own. “I guess I overdressed for the job.”
Shirley shrugged. “I mean, considering it’s me and a bunch of truckers, maybe a tad. But I also grew up on a ranch in Texas, so I’m used to wrestling calves and riding trails, and I still dress like it.”
“So there’s no dress code?” It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to come to work in jeans.
“Silas will provide you a lifetime supply of these shirts, and as long as anything else is clean and not full of holes, he won’t care what you wear. But I have to say, I love your lipstick. I can’t pull off such a bold color.”
Aw, she was liking this lady. Hopefully she wasn’t the one embezzling. “Oh, I bet you could. It’s just a matter of finding the right shade of red.”
“You don’t say. But anyhoo, let me show ya around.
” Shirley waved her behind the counter. “We’re not a real big outfit, but we manage almost forty trucks and drivers.
The bigger building out back is where they load and repair the rigs and such.
The office here is just these few desks in the middle, where our dispatchers are working—once they get off the phones later, I’ll introduce ya—and the three offices off there to the right.
” She pointed to the one in the corner. “That’s Silas’s office.
He’s nice as far as bosses go. His door is always open, and he’d rather be out here shootin’ the breeze with us or out in the garages with the guys.
The door there is for our assistant manager, Judd Downey.
He’s the complete opposite of Silas, and I would suggest keeping your head down when he’s here, but he manages a couple other companies too, so he’s only here Mondays and Thursdays.
” Shirley walked over to the middle office.
“And this is yours until the regular accountant comes back after his mother’s medical procedure.
Which kinda came out of nowhere, so I’m glad we could find you on such short notice. ”
Yup. Lucky break.
Dani stepped into the small windowless room. Tan walls. A few cream filing cabinets lined one wall and a bookshelf the other. The desk chair tilted slightly to one side. Her back hurt just looking at it. “So this is where I’ll be working?”
“Sure is. I’ll get ya set up for payroll and benefits, but we’ll have to wait for Chris Grantham, the IT guy, to come in later today to get you into the computer system.
We still keep some paper files too, so I can show you those.
I used to do a lot of the billing and accounts when we were a smaller outfit, but we’ve grown so much in the last seven years since the merger, and it got to be too much to do it all. ”
“That’s gotta be good for business and job security.” Dani tried to ignore the ugly space and focus on Shirley.
“Yeah, once we joined Continental Transport, it tripled our business. Then Connor Drews was hired as an accountant. He came in and changed everything to digital books, which I never really learned. Otherwise, I can’t exactly tell you what Connor does except for the times he helps cover the front desk for me when I’m running mail in. ”
“My guess is once the IT guy shows me the accounting system used, I’ll be set.
” Basic accounting systems all had the same pieces.
Money in. Money out. She just had to find the person cooking up the numbers.
And in the meantime, hopefully, the heavy wooden door would mute the sounds of her screams of boredom.