My picking got faster, and so did his shoe tapping. Fucker. “Well, why don’t you take Jodie here that I have to call back. She’s struggling to get her internet up and running for her medical practice.”
He cracked his neck, and I saw a little bit of tattoo peek out from his collar. It made me wonder if he was tattooed across his whole chest, all down his arms, everywhere. I’d never ripped his shirt off the way I wanted to.
And I never would, I reminded myself.
“Give me the phone, Izzy.”
Of course, now Lucas was smiling and leaning back to watch the show with his candy cane, while Cassie giggled to Penelope.
“Here you go, boss.” I emphasized his title, and his eyes cut to me.
“You really think this is going to stump me?” He grinned and dialed the number. “Yes, is this Jodie? I’m calling on behalf of Stonewood Enterprises IT. You’re having an issue?”
We all waited. I swear it was like we were at the movies. Cade was not personable. Not approachable. And he didn’t give directions. He worked alone.
“Okay. Start with checking to see if your Wi-Fi is on.” Another pause. “What do you mean what’s Wi-Fi?” he practically squeaked.
Lucas nearly spat out his candy cane, and I silently cracked up. Cade glared at both of us.
“I’m sorry. Do you have anyone else in the office with you? They will most likely know where it is on your screen. Wi-Fi connects you to the internet and—”
I watched Cade’s jaw get tighter and tighter.
“No. You can’t restart your computer. That won’t help.” Another pause. “Well, if you already pressed shut down, then I guess we’ll have to wait.” Pause. “No. It’s not a common occurrence through Stonewood Enterprises, Jodie. It’s because your Wi-Fi is probably off. If you could get someone—”
He was cut off again, and I had to get up from my chair to offer it to him while I laughed, tears streaming down my face.
He grabbed my arm and shoved me back into my chair. “No, Jodie. I actually have a great coworker here who’s going to help you with all this. My apologies. If you’d just give me a moment.” He pressed the hold button and handed me the phone. “I’m not dealing with that.”
“Why?” I placed my chin in my hand as I leaned on my elbow on the table and stared up at him with big eyes.
He glanced around at everyone, and I could see that Cade was flustered, like he wasn’t sure he belonged in this space all of a sudden. “Who normally handles those calls?”
“We all split them until you assigned them to Izzy,” Penelope piped up.
“Are they all like that?” His tone was full of disgust.
“I literally had a guy ask me if I could fly in to help him install email last week,” Braxton piped up, a soft smile on his face.
Maybe it was that Cade was finally approachable in that moment, or maybe we all bonded over the fact that our tech savviness made dealing with some individuals like pulling teeth.
Either way, we all chuckled when Cade shivered off the thought of the phone calls. “We’ll be outsourcing these in the future.”
“Okay,” I murmured, my heart suddenly beating fast, and he nodded, turned on his heel, and went back to his office, closing the door behind him.
We all glanced at each other like someone had cut the equivalent of Medusa’s head off our boss and replaced it with that of an approachable kitten.
“Well, I’m pretty obsessed with him now,” Penelope blurted out.
“I know I just went through a breakup, but I’m going to start reading the HR handbook,” Cassie laughed.
“Well, I already did, and it’s not against the rules. If we get to pick bunkmates, I know who I want.” Penelope winked at Cassie, and they giggled to each other.
Lucas elbowed me to get my attention. “You and I are going out for a drink at this remote location.”
“Why do you think I need a drink so bad?” I murmured, still not taking my eyes from Cassie and Penelope. Why was I already comparing myself to them and wondering if one of them would really try to screw our boss like I already had?
“Because you look like you’re ready to skin a person alive, Izzy Bizzy, and we’ve got to travel with them for two weeks.”
Knowing his tone, I held up a finger to shut it down immediately. “Don’t start, Lucas. I don’t even want to hear you breathe your next thought into existence. We’re not getting drinks. We’re going home, we’re packing, we’re getting our shit together to make sure we kick ass at this team building next week.”
“If they don’t have alcohol, I’m going to die.”
“But not too much, right?” Lucas nodded and we fist bumped because we always noted the limit we could handle. We never wanted to slide back to a place where we didn’t have control. Then, I sighed, “But, honestly, me too.”
10
Izzy
They had alcohol at night, thanks to every higher power that may exist. We’d landed early Monday. The drive in was scenic enough with forests and farmland for thirty minutes as we traveled in luxury SUVs from the airport.
As we pulled onto a gravel drive and weaved through thick pines and maples, it opened up to a sparkling lake surrounded by cabins. A bright, bouncy blonde gave us name tags the moment we exited the vehicles along with accommodation instructions and itineraries.
“The election security team is already here, and we’ve paired you all with them in separate cabins. You’ll find food in your fridge, although we will have food stations outside throughout the day. Bars with bartenders are set up between cabins for beverages, and you may call the number at the bottom of your itinerary if something isn’t up to par. You each have private Wi-Fi connections with optimum security. We truly think these two weeks will be most enjoyable once you get to know everyone. So please don’t switch accommodations.”
It was four people to a cabin, and there were five cabins available. Ms. Heather—she’d introduced herself as such—handed over bags for those of us who’d requested items. Mine clinked with the spray cans I’d asked for, considering they were prohibited on the flight.
Eight of us had come from Stonewood Enterprises. Cassie and Penelope seemed pretty disappointed that they couldn’t fight over rooming with Cade, but he’d taken his own car, and it appeared his cabin was on the other side of the lake, completely isolated from us.
“Guess Mr. Armanelli gets his own cabin,” I grumbled to Lucas as we hauled our luggage to cabins 1 and 2.
“He’s probably working on some nuclear warfare stuff that he can’t share with anyone else.” Lucas laughed and pointed to the literal log cabins ahead of us with what looked like kayaks and paddleboards set up along the shore for us if we wanted. Picnic tables and grills were sprinkled over the grassy areas, and I took note of the zip lines that were attached to some of the taller pine trees.
“Guess this is going to be some real team building, huh?” I murmured, concerned about the height as I stared at the zip line. “I’d rather have someone hold a gun to my head.”
“That’s morbid as hell, Izzy Bizzy.” He nudged me, and my duffel bag and suitcase wobbled, causing the spray cans to clink together.