Read Oh Stupid Heart for Free Online Page A

in.
    “The girl is rude,
inept, and refuses my every request.”
    An all too familiar
woman’s voice replied. “Ignore her. It’s her last day.”
    A ball of rage
exploded in Carrie’s head. “The hell it is! For your information, I’ve been promoted,
not fired.” She slammed the phone down before the bitch could reply, certain
she wouldn’t like her response.
    A minute later, Grant
stormed back in. “How dare you listen to my phone conversation!”
    She shrugged. “If it
really offends you, quit. No one will mind.”
    He leaned over the
desk and got in her face. “Listen, you piece of shit. You weren’t promoted. You
were given a meaningless position in hopes you’d have the sense to find another
job. But I can’t imagine anyone hiring you. So once you come back from
your two week boondoggle in San Francisco, you’re gone. I’ll make sure of it.”
    He stood up straight
and fussed with his tie. “Bet you’re sorry you didn’t get me that latté now.”
    She grinned as a
thought came to mind. “I’ll get you one now if you want.”
    He snorted and left
the room, calling over his shoulder, “Too late.”
    With a shrug, she
returned to her analysis. Probably wouldn’t have been a good idea to pour hot
coffee on him anyway. He’d no doubt press charges for assault.
    When she finished,
she called Trent. She used her cell so Grant couldn’t retaliate by
eavesdropping on her call.
    Trent answered. “I
heard you had a run in with my new EA.”
    “He’s an ass. You
should fire him and call in one of the other choices.”
    “I doubt you’d like
them any better.”
    “No, he’s really an
ass. He tried to send me down to get him a latté and he didn’t even offer me
the money to buy it. While I suspect you are going to need a secretary, at
least while I’m gone, you need to tell him she can’t afford to buy his coffees.
Those things cost eight dollars apiece downstairs.”
    “I’ll have Coco talk
to him. Did you really eavesdrop on their phone conversation?”
    “Yes. Can we talk
about something serious?”
    “Well, just for the
record, Coco is making it the crime of the century.”
    “Then she clearly
hasn’t been updated on all the crimes I’ve committed this past week.” During
her week from hell she had incited a city shutdown by screaming “bomb” when
there wasn’t one, fed two people Europa-laced chocolate turtles, and aided and
abetted illegal aliens in avoiding arrest. Eavesdropping didn’t even make her
list. “I need your focus on something important.”
    “You’ve got it.”
    “I believe Ott’s
staff may not exist.”
    “Who’s Ott?”
    “The systems
manager.”
    “Ah…yes. He called
and complained about your unreasonable request. I told him to ignore you.”
    “Trent!”
    “Calm down. You’re
missing the big picture, which is not like you. It’s usually you pointing out
what’s important to me.”
    “What’s the big
picture?”
    “We need to replace
him before we fire him.”
    Damn it, Trent was right.
She had totally missed their need for subterfuge.
    “I’ve some good news.
You remember the sales clerk who waited on you in Macy’s?”
    “Which one. I’ve been
there a billion times.”
    “The one who gave you
the discount on the black dress a day early and got fired for it.”
    “What? No!” Carrie’s
stomach turned to lead. She’d caused Jenny to get fired from a job she loved.
    “Yep,” he stated with
excessive cheeriness.
    “Why are you acting
like it’s good news?”
    “Because it is for
me. No other department store would touch her, so after weeks of searching, she
called me today for more information about the sales job.”
    “But your sales
manager will up and quit if you hire someone for his staff.”
    “I’ve got the big
picture clearly in my head. I’m hiring her as my temporary secretary so she can
follow me to meetings with clients and get a better understanding of our
business. Thus, when I can move her to sales, she’ll