Mr. Hartigan fidgeted with his tie. I watched as he swallowed hard. “The board has put a salary freeze in place for the time being.”
Gasps and whispers erupted instantly.
“I promise I am going to do everything in my power to find a way for this restriction to be alleviated.”
As I watched the newest member of our team get pummeled with question after question, I couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy. He was coming into a family unit, as most of us had worked together for at least five years already. It was never easy to be in the hot seat getting chewed out for things that weren’t your fault.
I shot up out of my seat, turning to look at all of my coworkers. “This was supposed to be a getting-to-know-you session. Cut the guy a little bit of slack. I am sure there will be plenty of time to hammer Mr. Hartigan about all this later. It’s hot, and we’re all on edge. This is not the time to work ourselves up into a tizzy.”
Crickets.
Everyone just sat there blinking at me like I had six heads.
Shirley cleared her throat behind me. “Caroline is right. I brought coffee and cookies. I think this is a good place to break for the evening.”
Mr. Hartigan mouthed, “Thank you,” over to us before running his hand over his face.
As the youngest principal in the school’s history ambled over, I felt completely conflicted. I hated that Mr. Alton was leaving our school. I hated that he had been forced to retire suddenly because of medical issues. I hated change. I also wanted to give Blake Hartigan the benefit of the doubt and wanted to like him, but there was a cockiness about even his gate that instantly rubbed me the wrong way. From his expensive suit to the Rolex he continually flicked on his wrist all the way to his chiseled jaw and perfect teeth, it just didn’t add up.
“Rough crowd,” Blake remarked once he was standing with Shirley and me.
Shirley shot him a kind smile as she scoffed, “They only bark. There’s no bite behind any of it.”
“You’ll get used to them, trust us. We were the new kids until you came to town.” I couldn’t take my eyes off his ostentatious watch as I tried my best to be comforting.
“How long have the two of you worked here?” he asked with a little chuckle.
“A little over five years,” Shirley responded while rubbing her baby bump. Shirley Porter was probably the most adorable woman I had ever met: petite, smiley, and all-around jubilant. Add in that she was so cute as a pregnant woman and I just wanted to pinch her cheeks constantly. We had been partners in crime since day one, and I was so thankful that we had been hired together.
“Man, I hope it doesn’t take that long for these guys to let me into the club.” Mr. Hartigan exhaled a long breath, peeking around the room over my shoulder.
I waved my hand dismissively. “You’re already off on the right foot because you didn’t crack under pressure. They will respect that.”
“And bring in donuts every once in a while,” Shirley added.
“Is that what Mr. Alton did?” Blake asked, genuinely mulling over bribery as a way to win his staff’s affection.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Shirley is on a donut kick right now,” I explained as my friend started to blush a bit.
“What baby wants, baby gets,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Mr. Hartigan was about to keep up with the banter but he was pulled away by a gaggle of senior staffers with more badgering interrogations.
“He’s hot as hell,” Shirley remarked once he was out of earshot.
I cocked my head harshly to the side as I scrunched my nose. “Not in the slightest.”
She gripped my forearm, turning me to get a better look at our new administrator. “You don’t have to admit it if you don’t want to, but that man is sex on a stick, and you need to jump on that for all us married women who can’t. If not for yourself, do it for us. We haven’t ever had eye candy like that around here.”
Being the only single woman in the school came with so many pitfalls. Everyone thought they were the world’s best matchmaker and tried their hand at setting me up with any single man within spitting distance. It seemed like the only criteria was that he had a pulse. I was looking for a little more substance than that, and a man who dripped money and arrogance wasn’t high on my list of viable suiters.
“And I think that is my cue to run away.” Swinging my bag over my shoulder, I said goodbye to Shirley quietly, hoping to duck out of the meeting in time to make it for happy hour with my girls.
“Miss Water?” Blake’s low voice called over to me just as I got one foot out the door.
I spun on my heels, nearly crashing right into his wide chest. “Yeah?”
“Do you have a few moments to talk about career day?” Mr. Hartigan was chewing on the inside of his cheek as his gaze darted away from me.