Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 27128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Now, nothing but the best touches my body, such as creatures of beauty like the finest geishas.
The best hand-sown yukata.
Tailored suits crafted with vicuña wool. Even during my past time of vindicating forgotten Tatchan bylaws, and with blood pouring over my skin like warm summer rain, I wear the best.
At age 47, I take orders out of respect and obligation. I do not toe the line between light and darkness.
Good and bad.
The house of Tatchan is the central pillar of the community. No orders are carried out without Osaka Tatchan’s blessing. Not until . . . Today.
* * *
Grab Mai Tai
Chapter 15
Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl by Kasey Martin
CHAPTER 1
BREAK ROOM SHENANIGANS
DONTAE
“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Sara, happy birthday to you!” I sing along dutifully because, after all, I am one of the senior people in the Human Resources department. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least act like I wanted to be here.
I can’t say that birthday gatherings in the break room are my favorite part of the job, but at least I get to eat cake and ice cream.
“Dontae! Come here; I have some news for you!” Anita’s excited voice and wide-eyes gives away what the news is… gossip.
I love Anita, she’s one of my favorite co-workers, but the woman can’t hold water. She’s about as useless as a chocolate tea kettle when it comes to keeping secrets.
“Oh Lord, what is it now?” I question Anita in my most exasperated tone because I can’t admit that I’m actually curious about what she has to tell me.
I can’t exactly let on that I’m interested in office gossip. That wouldn’t be very professional of me, especially because of my position within the company. And I usually discourage Anita from telling anyone else after she’s told me, but I still want to hear what’s going on. Sue me; I’m human.
Anita pulls me to the back of the break room before she looks around. She flips her long red hair over her shoulder and scoots directly to my side. I arch my brow at her because this must be something really juicy.
“I just learned the merger went through last week. Of course, our boss hasn’t said anything to anyone.” Anita can’t stand our CEO, Meredith. And she refuses to say her name. “Anyways, I just saw a bunch of fresh meat rolling onto the executive floors this morning,” Anita whispers with wide blue eyes.
She should already know that I’m aware of the merger. I oversee personnel, and with the combining of two major companies, there will be a lot of assessments going on. Link 2 Jobs has been my employer for eight years, and I love working here, but with the emergence of all the other hiring companies, we have fallen behind.
Hot Jobs International is now the leading firm when it comes to employment search engines, and it was only a matter of time before they bought us out or took us out. I’m glad that the merger happened. It means a lot of people get to keep their jobs. Unfortunately, not everyone will get to continue working here.
“I’m sure Meredith will make an announcement soon, if that’s true, Anita.” I try to keep it vague, but when Anita narrows her eyes at me suspiciously, I can tell she sees right through my bullshit.
“If it’s true. We both know that it’s true. But that’s not all I wanted to tell you. You know I said I saw the new people coming in, right?”
“Uh huh.” I nod, having no idea where she’s going with this.
“So, I made sure I had a chance to introduce myself. And…” Anita’s face breaks into a wicked smile, and all I can do is shake my head at her.
“And what? What did you do?” I ask with apprehension. Because with Anita, there’s no telling what she said.
She waves her hand dismissively, “I asked who they were. And what they were doing here.”
“So, you just bombarded a bunch of strangers on the executive floor with questions.” I shake my head at Anita’s boldness.
Anita doesn’t even work on the executive floor; hell, I don’t work on the executive floor. Lord only knows what she was doing up there in the first place.
“If you don’t ask questions, sweetie, you don’t get answers,” Anita smirks.
“Anita, I don’t want you to get into trouble. You know how Meredith is.” I try to warn her, but I can already tell my advice went in one ear and out the other.
“Fu—”
“Anita!” I cut her off, wide-eyed.
“Forget that witch. Anyways, they confirmed they were with HJI and they would be here for some project. They wouldn’t tell me what kind of project though. I will have to flirt a little harder for that info.” Anita smiled and did a little shimmy.