Yours,
Susan
The next morning Sally found the letter lying on the floor close to the hand that was hanging over the chair. Junior's legs were stretched out in front of her and the glass on the desk was empty. Sally said a quick prayer for forgiveness for the woman that had died, even though there were days when she had wished that fate upon her for the hurt she had caused Junior. The last time Quinton Baxter had walked into this office was when he had come to collect the check for his share of the pie. Old man Baxter had only one heir could rule the empire and it wasn't his son. For that reason Quinton had never forgiven his half sister.
"Come on, Junior, we have a busy day ahead of us." Sally put the coffee cup down along with the morning paper and important messages that had already come in.
"Try not to sound so chipper and I might not have to kill you."
"With an attitude like that, Junior, you're never going to find a young woman to wake up with."
"And why in the hell would I want that, when I have you to wake up with?" Junior stood up from her chair and pulled her assistant into her arms and dipped her back. The older woman laughed, glad to see the sense of humor was still intact.
"Get into the shower with you. I left a change of clothes in there," Sally called out as Junior stepped into the private bath in her office. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, could you cancel my appointments for this morning? I'm going to drive down to see Daddy and break the news to him. Let's hope this isn't one of those rare occasions when he gets up wanting to read the paper."
"Honey, unless someone wraps it around a Jack Daniel's bottle, your father is not up reading the paper." Sally snorted when the pants Junior had on flew out of the bathroom and hit her in the head.
"Some semblance of respect please. The old coot is a handful, but he's my father."
"Ain't that the truth."
"What's that suppose to mean?" The owner and head of the company didn't look all that powerful standing there in her underwear arguing with her assistant was the thought that made Sally laugh.
"That the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, and the old coot, as you call him, thanks the heavens for it everyday." The statement got a Junior to take her hands off her hips and smile. Her relationship with her father had been the only constant in her life besides work. "Are you sure you want me to cancel all your appointments this morning?"
"Why do I have the feeling I'm going to say no? And I'm not the same apple, woman. I never chased you around the desk. That has to be one point in my favor, right?" The bathroom was starting to steam up helping the woman in the shower forget about what had happened the night before.
"Junior, I'm sixty-two years old, of course you don't chase me around the desk. I could be your grandmother for pete's sake."
"Ah, come on, grandma, you're still kinda cute."
"Be quiet and pay attention. That Sterling girl called bright and early this morning and asked to see you." Sally leaned against the door of the bathroom noticing that the hands which had been working up a lather in the light brown locks just stopped.
"I saw her last night."
"Really, do tell?"
"Not like that. I ran into her and her father having dinner." Junior went back to work on her hair making a mental note that she needed a haircut.
"Is she cute?" pushed Sally. Every so often Junior would notice there was more going on around her than work, so she had penciled Jillian in when she called that morning. If Junior had given her a ride home and not bitched at the fine, the young woman had to be spectacular.
"She's cute, but would probably find some infraction against me for telling her."
"She has to be gorgeous for you not to have gotten mad when she fined your ass. Your father would have thrown her off the rig in protest."
"It's a new day in the oil "bidness" and Branasourus Baxter would not have survived. Why in my day we would have given that guy in Alaska a medal for hitting the only land for a hundred fucking miles." Junior's Avery imitation sent Sally into hysterics. No one ever described Avery Baxter as a tree hugger. She was laughing so hard she never heard the door open behind her.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for Junior." Sally closed the door to the bathroom and faced Jillian Sterling making a thorough assessment.
Jillian's hair was so blonde it looked white in the brightly lit office, and Sally noticed the young woman looked nervous as she swayed from foot to foot. Her slim build looked nice in the mini dress she had on with a blouse over it and flats didn't add any height to her five feet two inches.
"Miss Sterling?"
"Yes, ma'am, I know I'm early but…..," started Jillian.
"Nonsense, would you like some coffee? Junior will just be a minute so why don't you sit and wait." Sally left their visitor sitting comfortably in one of the chairs facing the massive desk and went to get everyone some coffee.
Left alone, Jillian couldn't help herself and started looking around. It seemed obvious now that Junior wasn't a company diver if this was her office. The carved cypress nameplate on the desk that read Avery L. Baxter, Jr., along with a picture of smiling man holding a child told Jillian otherwise. Behind the two smiling faces was the brilliant blue of a body of water, and enough equipment parts were in the frame to tell the viewer the two were standing on an oilrig. Jillian stood up and looked at the back wall where the company's founder smiled back at her from a beautiful frame.
"It was the only the second time I saw him in a suit." The voice right behind her left ear scared Jillian into clutching her chest and turning around.
"I'm sorry, you scared me." The tall woman she had been thinking about was standing there in jeans, a button down cotton shirt and wet hair. "Aren't you going to get in trouble?"
"For?"
"Being in the boss's office with no shoes on." Jillian pointed down to the big feet thinking someone in Junior's family must have been oriental.
"You are kidding, right?"
"No, I made an appointment to see you but the guard brought me here."
"That's because this is where you would find me." Jillian rolled her eyes at Junior and questioned her rationale for coming. "What can I do for you?" Continued Junior unaware she was annoying her visitor.
"I came to talk to you about a job."
"I know you fined me, Ms. Sterling, but I don't need another job." Junior went to the closet near the bathroom and took out a pair of worn bucks.
"Not for you, for me. After everything I was able to find on Pegasus I thought you could use my help as a company inspector. So, I thought you could put in a good word for me." Jillian got the whole request out before she changed her mind then just held her breath waiting for Junior to say something.
"Wouldn't that be your equivalent of selling your soul to Satan?" This woman asking her for a job was the last thing Junior expected. She looked at the date on her watch again just to confirm it was now the second. "Yep, can't be a joke."