How I Got My Job

Mrs. Winter? As in Kaleb's wife or mother? Neither one was an option I liked. Mrs. Winter extended her hand to me and I stood up. "Ms. Lewis, I understand you may have met my son."

Shit! She's his mom. I shook her hand and said, "I guess that's what we're trying to determine."

"Please sit down. When did you meet with him?" asked Mrs. Winter as she sat in the chair next to me. Ms. Keller took her place behind her desk but didn't seem quite as confident as she was before.

"Wednesday," I said and I sat back down. "We were supposed to meet at a local Starbucks but it was a kiosk in a Vons so he took me to lunch at an Applebee's that was across the parking lot instead."

"When did he give you this card?"

"Just before I left," I said, deliberately omitting our time at the hotel.

"Did you happen to see what he was driving?"

"Yeah, a fairly new Lexus sedan, I think it was a hybrid."

Mrs. Winter sighed; Ms. Keller looked a bit pale. "Ms. Lewis, did Ms. Keller share with you about our situation?"

"If you mean the hacking, then yes."

"Right," said Mrs. Winter. "May I see Ms. Lewis's resume?"

"Of course," said Ms. Keller.

She clicked some buttons and I heard a printer hum. Ms. Keller spun around and that's when I noticed the printer behind her. She grabbed a piece of paper and handed it across the desk to Mrs. Winter. I could see it was my resume. She looked it over then said, "I can see why my son would contact you. You're quite experienced."

"Thank you," I said.

"And it seems that unlike the other young ladies who have come here looking for a job; you may have actually met with my son."

I'm not sure how long it took before I realized what she said. "He said you were relocating to a larger site for the management team."

Mrs. Winter smiled. "That we are. Kaleb sent you here because that site isn't quite finished."

"Ms. Keller said there weren't any openings."

"Well, she is right. However, I'm awaiting a phone call-"

I swear the phone in Ms. Keller's office rang just as she said the word call. "Edith Keller... Yes she is." She handed the phone to Mrs. Winter and said, "It's Mr. Winter, ma'am."

"Thank you Edith," she said taking the receiver. "Hello... Kaleb! How are you? Wonderful... I'm sitting here with Ms. Lewis right now... I wish you had let either Edith or myself know she was coming... Really? Hang on." She covered the receiver with her hand and said, "Edith, have you checked your e-mail?"

"Yes ma'am, several times."

"Kaleb swears he sent you Ms. Lewis's resume and a message she was coming in today."

"Let me check again," she said.

I watched her work the mouse and type some keys. "Damn it!" she hissed. "I mean, oh hell. The hacker is back."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"The e-mail was moved to my junk folder. It was flagged as spam."

"When you were hacked, did you change all your passwords?" I asked.

Ms. Lewis looked a bit green now. "No, my IT guy said it wasn't necessary. He said he'd take care of everything."

I started to laugh. "I think I know who your hacker is."

"Who?" asked Mrs. Winter and Ms. Keller.

I shook my head. "Oh, I'd love to help you ladies, but I don't work for you. Remember, you said you didn't have any openings available."

I swear I could hear Kaleb laugh through the phone. I knew what I was doing was foolhardy, but I decided after all the shit I'd already been through, I had nothing to lose. I'm not sure who was more shocked, Mrs. Winter or Ms. Keller. Finally, Mrs. Winter smiled and said, "Good girl. I see why my son likes you. He loves intelligent women."

I did remember that, and how wonderful it felt that he complimented me on my mind, and not just my body. "Well, I don't know if you talked salary with my son or not, but let me make you an offer... What? Oh, yes Kaleb... He'd like a word with you."

Mrs. Winter handed me the phone while she grabbed a piece of paper. "Hello?" I said.

"Please tell me you're wearing the wine suit and those sexy black thong panties you wore on Wednesday."

"I am."

"Mmmm, and you really think you know who the hacker is?" he asked.

"I have a strong idea."

I was keeping my answers short; I didn't want give too much away. "If I hadn't already seen you naked, I'd swear you've got balls the size of basketballs."

That made me laugh and it took me a moment to compose myself. Mrs. Winter handed me a piece of paper, and said, "Tell me if this would be an acceptable starting salary for you."

I looked at the paper and gasped. Kaleb said, "If it's not at least ten percent more than what your last employer paid you, turn it down. Even they were underpaying you."

It took me a moment to do the math in my head, but the number I was looking at was closer to twenty percent more than my last job. "Um, what about benefits? Medical, dental, 401K?"

"Atta girl," said Kaleb.

Mrs. Winter smiled. "Is my son telling you to ask this?"

"No, I swear he's not."

"Cheyanne, have them put me on speaker."

"He says he wants to be on speaker."

Ms. Keller touched a button on the phone base and gestured to me to hand her the receiver. "Okay Mr. Winter, you're on speaker."

"Thank you," said Kaleb, his voice echoed in the room. "Now, what I told Ms. Lewis was if your offer wasn't at least ten percent more than what she was making before to turn it down. She asked about the benefits on her own. I swear it Mother."

Mrs. Winter smiled. "To answer your question Ms. Lewis, our executive retirement package is a five percent dollar for dollar match. We pay 100% medical and dental for the employee and a prorated price for spouses and children. We don't care if you're married to a man or a woman."

"I'm not married," I said.

"She's divorced," said Kaleb.

Everyone turned toward the phone. "Oh?" said Mrs. Winter.

"It's true," I said. "I got married when I was twenty, and we divorced two years later. I never took his name."

"Mother, you know I do full background checks on anyone I consider worthy of my time."

Kaleb sounded a bit exasperated. "Yes son that I do know. So, Ms. Lewis, is our offer acceptable for you and my son?"

"Well, I don't know what Kaleb would think is truly acceptable, but-"

"Kaleb?" asked Ms. Keller and Mrs. Winter.

"I told her to call me Kaleb. And to answer your question Cheyanne, nothing less than fifteen percent more of what your former employer was paying you, plus our benefits package."

I took a deep breath and said, "Then I must say, your offer is very acceptable. My only question is when do I start?"

I heard Kaleb laugh. "Atta girl!"

"I was under the impression that you were to start today," said Ms. Keller.

"And you also said you know who the hacker is," said Mrs. Winter.

"I'll tell you once I've signed a contract."

Kaleb laughed even harder. "See Mother, I told you she was smart!"

After filling out stacks of papers, the W-2, I-9, direct deposit for my paycheck, and other forms, I told them I suspected the hacker was their IT guy. With some investigation, it turned out I was right, and he was fired. He was brought up on criminal charges for fraud and sexual assault, it turned out he used threats and force on two of the victims. It also happened than I had a friend who was a computer tech and miserable in his current position, but wasn't willing to leave without a guaranteed job waiting for him. Needless to say, our offer was way too good for him to refuse, especially with the benefits for same-sex couples.

I'm sure by now you're wondering what happened between Kaleb and me. Well, that's a funny story in itself. It turns out that he was on his way to Japan to work at the company's newest location, and that took him away for two years. He was only in town for a few days to see his mother, and it was why he wanted me to come in so early, just in case there was a problem. He flew out immediately after our call ended. We would Skype almost daily, sometimes for business reasons, and talk for hours. We each dated other people, but nothing ever manifested into a permanent relationship for either of us. I worked my way up and now run the new site that opened shortly after I started. My IT friend redesigned the entire computer system, ran random spot checks, and found that the old IT guy was not only tricking desperate and unemployed women to have sex with him, but had been embezzling money from the company for years. Had he not only found evidence of this crime, but recovered most of the stolen money, thus enabling us to hire two more people, one, a former coworker of mine.

Mrs. Winter is retiring next week and there's going to be a big party for her. Kaleb's flying in for it and he's talking about taking me to Applebee's again for lunch. I'm hoping it will be more than just lunch as I've missed him so, and he's such an amazing lover. I'm planning to wear the black thong panties that I wore the day we met, and haven't worn since the day I signed my first contract. This time, if Kaleb wants to keep them, I'm going to let him.