Too Close to Touch (5 page)

“Maybe a touch more salt.” Kylie removed her jacket and tossed it over a chair.

Caroline smacked her daughter playfully with the towel. “You always say that. And hang that jacket in the closet, please.”

“Everything needs more salt, Mom.” Kylie did as she was told, feeling twelve again.

Caroline shook some more salt into the pan. “If your father says this is too salty, I’m blaming you.”

“Yeah, but I can just use my little-girl voice and call him Daddy and he’ll let me off the hook.”

“It’s always worked for you in the past.”

The playful banter was something Kylie cherished about her relationship with her mother. It hadn’t come easily. As the youngest of

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GEORGIA BEERS

four children, Kylie didn’t get as much attention as the older siblings…

there were just too many chores to be done and things to handle. She had learned to take whatever time she could get from her mother. But when she’d Þ nally accepted her own sexuality, as a junior in college, she worried immensely about telling her parents. She was sure it would be the Þ nal hammer blow on the wedge that seemed to keep her from being friends with her mother. Instead, the admission had brought them together.

“I love you no matter what, Kylie Jane,”
Caroline had said with tears in her eyes.
“And I love you even more for trusting me enough to
tell me.”

It had been the beginning of their adult relationship.

“When are we going out to dinner again?” Caroline asked. They had a standing monthly dinner date, just the two of them, but they’d missed last month’s. “I need some adult time soon.”

“You need a break from being Grandma?”

“I do.” Caroline stirred the stew absently. “I love my grandkids and I don’t mind babysitting at all, but there are days I just want to have a glass of wine at a nice restaurant and talk to adults. Or at least people without headphones on.” She glared at Kylie with a mock-threatening expression. “And if you breathe a word of that to your sister or brother, I’ll beat you with this spoon.”

Kylie laughed. “It’ll be our little secret. And we’ll do dinner next week. I’m not sure how many free evenings I’ll have this week.”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot. How’s the new boss?”

Kylie began setting the kitchen table for three. “I’m not really sure yet. She seems to know her stuff.”

“That’s a plus. Is she nice?”

“Hard to say. She was nice to me, but she wasn’t in the ofÞ ce much—she had a bunch of meetings with upper management to introduce herself around, so I only got a small taste. I’m just going to have to give her some time before I have a solid opinion.”

“Well, it’s always hard after you’ve had a boss you liked. But I’m sure things will settle down before you know it.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. She seems ready to crack down on those who aren’t pulling their weight, though, so I know some of the salespeople are going to hate her. But that’s what a sales manager does, right? Manages?” Kylie retrieved silverware from the drawer. “She and Mick had a little problem.”

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TOO CLOSE TO TOUCH

“About what?” Caroline glanced up from the bowls she was Þ lling.

Kylie smiled. Her mother had a soft spot for Mick and treated her like one of her own children. It had been that way since high school.

Mick’s home life had been less than cozy and she’d spent a lot of time in the O’Brien household, always loving and respectful of Kylie’s parents. To this day, Mick still thought of them like they were her true mother and father.

“It was just a shipping miscommunication, but they’ve sort of gotten off on the wrong foot.” For some reason, Kylie felt the need to defend Gretchen, despite the coolness she’d displayed when Kylie left for the day. She knew if she told the story of the boxes in Mick’s words, her mother would immediately side with Mick and be wary of Gretchen, and somehow that bothered her. “I’m sure they’ll clear it up, though.”

They worked quietly for several minutes before Caroline spoke again. “Can you believe it’s almost May already?” She was staring out the kitchen window at the beginnings of green in her back yard, no doubt imagining which ß owers would go where in the next month.

“Incredible.” Kylie put the basket of rolls on the table and got the milk out of the fridge. “Almost time for the annual O’Brien Memorial Day cookout.”

Caroline looked shocked. “My God, you’re right.”

“Mom. It’s over a month away. Don’t panic yet.”

Caroline was already riß ing through the junk drawer for a pad of paper. “I can at least start making my list,” she muttered, more to herself than to Kylie.

Kylie rolled her eyes, chuckling as she poured the drinks. “Relax, Mom. Everything will come together beautifully. It always does.” She kissed her mother on the cheek while directing her toward the table.

“Sit. I’ll get Dad.”

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TOO CLOSE TO TOUCH

CHAPTER FOUR

Kylie! Kylie, come sit with us.”

Damn it.
Kylie closed her eyes when she heard the voice shouted from behind her. It was Jason Bergman; she’d recognize his baritone anywhere. She also knew what was coming. She’d known it Þ fteen minutes into the morning-long sales meeting.

She continued through the cafeteria line, put a chicken salad and a Coke on her tray, paid at the register, then turned to locate Jason. Her stomach ß ip-ß opped when she found him, along with the six other sales reps sitting at his table. Behind them was a second table of eight. On the other side, another. Every set of eyes was Þ xed expectantly on her and Kylie just knew the entire team had been awaiting her arrival so they could pounce.

“Here we go,” she mumbled, heading toward them.

The sales reps were dressed in their business best…suits and ties for the men, skirts and jackets or dresses for the women, though Sarah Stevenson was wearing a navy blue pantsuit that looked expensively fantastic on her. The group appeared successful, but according to Gretchen that wasn’t what their numbers were reß ecting.

“What the hell, Kylie?” Jason spoke up for the gang the second Kylie sat down, leaning forward slightly to emphasize his words.

“Where the hell did the Cruella De Vil type come from? And who shit in her corn ß akes?”

Kylie popped open her Coke while trying to Þ gure out how to handle this situation. The sales reps relied on her. She was their point of contact and they trusted her to get them what they needed. Gretchen

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GEORGIA BEERS

had been extremely hard on them, criticizing their low sales Þ gures and browbeating them about improvements for nearly four hours.

“I’m not sure what to tell you, Jay. She’s tough.”

“Tough?” Sarah piped in, popping a potato chip into her mouth.

“She’s nasty.”

Kylie rubbed at her forehead, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. “I think she’s just trying to rufß e your feathers to help increase your sales.”

Jeff Carson was to Kylie’s immediate left and he snorted at her comment. “Oh, she did some rufß ing, all right. Telling me my proÞ t margins were a joke in front of the entire region certainly rufß ed me.

Jesus. Tactless much?”

“And didn’t she tell Roxy to get her ass out of her chair once in a while?” Jason clariÞ ed to emphatic nods and murmurs.

Kylie winced inwardly. That had been a particularly bad one. Not that Gretchen hadn’t been right. Roxy was far too comfortable with e-mail and didn’t visit her clients nearly as often as she should, and her numbers supported those facts. But Roxy was sweet and kind and soft-spoken, and Gretchen had made an example of the poor girl. It hadn’t been pretty.

“I think she’s still in the bathroom Þ xing her mascara.” Sarah shook her head. “Jim would never have treated us like this, Kylie. You know that.”

Kylie nodded. It was the truth.

“We’re not children,” Jason stated matter-of-factly. “We don’t need to be scolded like that, and certainly not in front of an entire room of reps. I didn’t appreciate being told that my numbers suck.”

Kylie pressed her lips together tightly. Those had been Gretchen’s exact words, and she was right. Jason was the most demanding of the reps, calling Kylie two or three times a day needing one thing or another, so she’d felt a small tingle of satisfaction over Gretchen shredding him the way she had. Now, she wanted to grin at his indignation. She managed to keep a straight face.

“Can’t you do something?” Jeff asked.

And there it was, the request she’d known had been coming. These reps depended on her for everything. She was their most solid link to the company; she was like their mother. Of course they’d ask for her help.

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TOO CLOSE TO TOUCH

She chose her words carefully. “I’m not sure what I can do, guys.

She’s the boss.”

“You need to tell her that we’re the top-selling region on the East Coast,” Jason said, determination and anger coloring his gaze. “Doesn’t she know that? We make a lot of money for this company. Tell her
that
.”

Jason was right, but it didn’t make him sound any less obnoxious.

Kylie kept her eyes on her uneaten food.

“Can’t you just talk to her?” Sarah’s voice was softer, less demanding. Sarah’s blond hair, light blue eyes, and knockout Þ gure served her well in the sales Þ eld. They also served her well with Kylie.

This time was no exception, as she held Kylie’s gaze and sweetly urged,

“Please. Just ask her to ease up a bit.”

Kylie couldn’t help but relent. “I’ll try,” she answered with a sigh, and murmurs of relief could be heard coming from all three tables.

Kylie had forgotten that the occupants of the other two were probably tuned in to the conversation. “But no promises. Remember, she’s new to me, too, and I have to see her every day. You guys don’t.”

“Sucks to be you,” somebody commented and Kylie pretended not to hear.

“But you’ll talk to her,” Jason conÞ rmed.

“I’ll talk to her.” Kylie looked at her chicken salad, suddenly Þ nding she had no appetite. She sipped her Coke and noted with worry that all three tables were extremely quiet, a very unusual thing for a group of salespeople who liked nothing better than to chatter on endlessly.

Gretchen had certainly done a number on them.

v

It was nearly six thirty when Kylie glanced at the doghouse-shaped clock on her desk. “Jesus,” she muttered. She hadn’t noticed the ofÞ ce quieting down or the phones becoming silent.

In the distance, she could hear a vacuum cleaner running—the cleaning staff tidying the conference room. She blinked and rubbed at her tired eyes, thinking not for the Þ rst time that she might need to get glasses as a result of all the time she spent staring at the computer monitor. Glancing over her shoulder, through the hallway windows into Gretchen’s ofÞ ce, she could see Gretchen staring at
her
computer.

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GEORGIA BEERS

Kylie wasn’t surprised. They deÞ nitely seemed to be of like minds when it came to working hours. She was already familiar with the routines of her new boss after only a week and a half working with her, and she was beginning to wonder if Gretchen ever did anything besides work. The majority of the time, she was in her ofÞ ce when Kylie arrived in the morning and still in her ofÞ ce when she went home at night. Taking in the dark hair, dark eyes, and alabaster skin seemingly untouched by the sun, Kylie smirked.
Maybe she’s a vampire
.

She’d spent much of the afternoon trying to decide when the best time would be to talk to Gretchen about the sales reps. They had yet to go over yesterday’s meeting and Kylie had Þ elded about a dozen phone calls from Jason Bergman alone, angling to hear how Gretchen had responded to the message Kylie was supposed to pass along. Kylie had some choice words on her tongue for the man, but managed to keep them safely locked in her brain for the time being. Pissing off their top sales rep probably wasn’t a smart career move. Jason might be arrogant and self-centered, but he also took care of some very large accounts; that fact gave him power.

Talking to Gretchen about the reps’ opinion of her methods wasn’t a conversation Kylie was looking forward to, but only because she didn’t know Gretchen well yet. She and Jim used to have such discussions quite often. Jim had relied on her to keep him abreast of numbers, new clients, potential clients, and proÞ ts. They’d had many talks over lunch about which reps brought in the most money, who needed to work a bit harder, and so on. Talking to Gretchen about such things should be no big deal. It was part of Kylie’s job, after all. And once they got into the subject, Kylie’s plan was to slip in a comment or two about maybe going a little easier on the crew in the future. No big deal.

She jumped when she heard Gretchen’s voice cut through the quiet of the ofÞ ce. “Kylie, can I talk to you for a minute, please?”

“Be right there.” Kylie closed the open application on her desktop and grabbed a pad and a pen. She’d realized that, though she didn’t really need to jot notes during their meetings, it made Gretchen feel better if she pretended. She headed in.

Kylie had noticed, over the past few days, that Gretchen’s ofÞ ce had begun to Þ ll up. The bookshelves were lined with sales report binders and several books on sales managing and sales in general. There were also several awards from the various companies she’d worked for.

Kylie had snuck a peek one day last week while Gretchen was out.

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TOO CLOSE TO TOUCH

One trophy and three crystal awards were engraved with
Sales Rep
of the Year
. Three plaques reported
Highest Percentage over Quota
.

Five different pieces read
District Sales Manager of the Year
. The twelve decorations were from three companies. The woman apparently knew her stuff when it came to sales. It seemed that Gretchen was a phenomenal success wherever she happened to be working. Kylie found herself hugely impressed and unexpectedly proud to be working for someone who was such an asset to any company.