Chapter Text
Chapter One -At The Beginning -Carson POV
When Carson’s phone alarm sounded at 6:45 in the morning she had already been awake, staring at the ceiling for hours. The first time she checked the time it was 3:00AM. She checked her phone again at 4:15AM, 5:05AM, 6:14 AM, tossing and turning all the while. She tried counting ceiling tiles. She tried her white noise app. She tried the most boring podcast she could find. Nothing worked.
She quickly turned off the alarm so as not to wake up her new roommate. They had just started living together this week and Carson didn’t want to be annoying. She was so lucky to be in this apartment downtown. There were tons of nearby restaurants and bars and if she wanted to, she could totally walk to her new job. She wouldn’t be doing that today, but it was nice to have the option.
Groaning quietly as she hoisted herself up and out of the bed, Carson shuffled over to the bathroom, opened the shower curtain and turned the water on. As she waited for the hot water to kick on, Carson did her deep breathing meditation. Taking five minutes each morning to center herself put her brain in a good place. She would definitely need it today: it was her first day at her brand-new job.
Once she was done, she brushed her teeth and checked to make sure that the water was hot. It took forever to warm up in her new apartment. ‘That’s what you get for living in a historical building,’ Carson thought to herself.
The building she lived in was beautiful, even if her apartment wasn’t very modern. They had a small balcony with room for two chairs and a table, where you could look out over the river. Carson had been enjoying her morning coffee out there all week long. Their building even had a rooftop terrace with some grills and lounge chairs where the residents could host parties, mix and mingle, and generally enjoy the weather during spring, summer, and fall. There was no way anyone would go up there during the freezing winter months. The building also had a gym and a game room, complete with a Ms. Pac-Man machine. Carson didn’t want to brag, but she had already nabbed the high score. Waiting a long time for hot water seemed like a small price to pay for those small luxuries.
Stepping into the shower, letting the hot water wash over her body, Carson couldn’t help but think of what a huge opportunity this new job was. Finding a job was hard. Finding a job in a competitive field that she loved, that was even more challenging. Carson knew how lucky she was. She had been offered a position at a young, upstart technology company, located in the heart of downtown. It was exactly the opportunity she had always dreamed of. Sure. It was in sales. She couldn’t stand most salespeople. All she could see in her mind’s eye was that sleazy guy who sold her the used car currently parked outside the building. He wouldn’t stop staring at her and making her uncomfortable. She didn’t want to be like that.
Maybe she could do it her own way. Carson Shaw didn’t know if she would be a good saleswoman, but god damnit -she was going to give it her best shot.
Working with the technology was the part of the job she was most looking forward to: the web development, the coding, the problem solving. She loved working with computers. When she sat down to code or design or fix a bug the time just seemed to fly by. She would get completely lost. Carson loved it. If she had to be charming to do that… well, she could fake it until she made it. Right?
She tried to visualize what that would look like. If she could keep their potential customers focused on the tech aspects and the design specs, then maybe she would be okay. ‘Play to your strengths’ she thought, reminding herself of what her mom used to tell her when she was a little girl. She took a deep breath. It would be hard, but she could do this.
Stepping out of the shower, Carson heard her coffee-maker go off. ‘Thank goodness for self-timers,’ she thought. She had been careful to make sure everything was prepped exactly as it should be the previous night, right down to the most miniscule detail. Toweling off her hair, Carson wrapped a fuzzy robe around her body.
She looked in the mirror, wiping the fog away so she could see her reflection. She examined the features on her face, with a deep sigh. She didn’t know why she spent so much time in front of the mirror in the morning, nothing about her appearance was going to change, no matter how much time she spent looking at herself. While she didn’t always love how she looked, Carson knew it also wasn’t the most interesting thing about her. ‘Whatever’ she thought, turning away from the mirror. She didn’t have any time for the demon of self-doubt today.
Walking over to her closet, Carson began to get dressed. She had laid out her favorite work outfit the night before. She knew the new workplace had a casual dress code, but how casual? What did that even mean? Who decides these things? She had already panicked over this last night. Finally, making a decision, she knew what to do. She would wear something that made her feel good., even if it was a little more formal than the dress code suggested.
Carson slid into her cream-colored button up shirt and tucked it into her navy tapered pants. Pulling a blazer over her shoulders, Carson went back to the bathroom mirror. She quickly blow-dried her shoulder-length brown hair. Tucking it behind her ears, she took a final look at her appearance. ‘Not bad,’ she thought. Now that she felt like she was presentable and ready to go, she headed downstairs to fill her travel mug with coffee and grab her pre-packed lunch. She managed to eat a granola bar as she caught a snippet of the tv news on the small television in the kitchen/dining room.
Before long, it was time to head out the door. Realistically, it was a little bit early, but Carson wanted to give herself plenty of time to find parking, collect herself mentally in her car, and get to the second-floor office with time to spare. ‘Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable,’ she reminded herself.
Carson knew she would be starting with one other sales manager today. Maybe she would finally make a new friend at work. She had never been the best at making friends, but today was already a fresh start. Maybe it could be a fresh start in more ways than one.
As expected, Carson was the first new hire to arrive at the Reel A Job corporate office. She even managed to get lucky and find a parking spot right out in front of the building. She paid the parking meter and set an alarm on her phone to remind herself to feed the meter in four hours. She didn’t want to get a ticket, or worse, get towed.
Once Carson arrived at the office, she took a seat in the lobby and waited for her new boss, Xander, as instructed in the e-mail she received several days ago. She watched and waited as her new co-workers all filed into the office. She was slightly alarmed to see that they were all men. All of them. Surely she couldn’t be the only woman working here. She heaved a deep sigh. She could “bro” if she had to, but she wished that wouldn’t be required of her. Carson kept her eyes on the simple black and white clock on the wall, counting down the seconds as they ticked off until her official start time of 8:30AM.
At 8:29AM, she heard the unmistakable click-clacking march of high heels coming up the stairs. Carson’s first thought was, ‘oh, thank god. Another woman.’ That was until she saw this particular woman. The office door swung open. Carson suddenly felt warm as the tall, red-haired woman strutted into the office lobby. Carson didn’t know who she was, but damn. She was very attractive. Her long auburn hair was neatly curled, cascading down to her shoulders. She wore a tailored black business suit with a red leather work bag and matching red high heels. Her make-up was flawless. Carson suddenly felt very small, awkward, and completely intimidated.
The mystery woman sat down on the opposite chair, facing Carson. Her face was unreadable, like she was trying very hard to give nothing away. Carson was still waiting for her pulse to return to normal. She had never really been able to ‘be cool’ around hot women, but the way she was feeling now was ridiculous, even for her.
She took a deep breath and begged her body to calm down. Time to attempt some small talk. Carson forced her face into a small smile.
“Are you starting today, too?” She mumbled. The mystery girl looked up at Carson.
“Did you say something to me?” she asked Carson, an eyebrow raised.
Carson opened her mouth to respond but was never given the opportunity. Her new boss walked up to the two chairs where the women were currently sitting.
He was wildly nerdy and lacked some social graces, but if her interview was any indication, she could tell that the new boss was ultimately a kind soul. He founded the business and ran the small company with his twin brother.
Xander looked at the two women. “Good. You’re both here, so I guess we will be able to get started. I don’t know if you’ve had the chance to meet yet.” He stood there awkwardly.
The silence dragged on uncomfortably. Eventually Xander took the hint. He proceeded to introduce them. “Carson Shaw, this is Greta Gill. Greta Gill, this is Carson Shaw.”
Carson extended her hand for Greta to shake. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said with a warm smile on her face.
Greta simply nodded with a slight smile, taking Carson’s hand in hers. With that touch, color flooded to Carson’s cheeks. Greta’s smirk grew a little bit wider, noticing Carson’s reaction. It wasn’t quite a smile, though. It was a challenge. Even Greta’s handshake was firm, tough, even a little aggressive. Any thoughts Carson may have had about becoming friends with the other new hire were quickly quashed. Greta clearly wasn’t interested in being any kind of friend or teammate.
Carson didn’t know what she had been expecting as far as a proper workplace orientation went, but this wasn’t it. Xander showed them to their desks. She and Greta were both seated across from each other in the open floor plan office. Xander then presented them with a simple, white, three-ring binder, nodded, and walked away without a word. A plain sheet of paper was inserted into the sleeve of the plastic cover. “Sales Orientation Manual” was written in sloppy handwriting on the cover. Carson flipped the binder over, looking for more. Finding nothing, she knew that this was the only onboarding she was going to get.
She opened the cover and perused the table of contents:
- Welcome to Reel A Job
- Setting Up Your Computer
- Job Description
- Daily Tasks
- Sales and Leads
- Commission Structure
- Company Rules, Policies, and Procedures
Carson sighed to herself and began to read. This honestly looked like an instruction manual. She could follow directions as well as the next person. ‘Okay Carson, you can do this,’ she tried to encourage herself.
As she so often did when she read, Carson let her mind wander to a different world, even if that world happened to be the company manual at Reel A Job. A quiet hum filled her head as she looked over the words on the page. By the time she got to Section Two -Setting Up Your Computer, Carson had begun to feel more comfortable. At least, until she finally looked up at Greta seated at the desk across from her.
Greta already had her computer completely set up and looked like she was beginning to scroll through her sales leads. What the actual fuck? How did she do that so quickly? Greta must have felt Carson’s gaze on her because she finally glanced up from her computer, a knowing smile on her face.
Carson’s breath caught in her throat as she found herself transfixed by Greta’s eyes. They were a deep shade of chocolate brown. Intense. Strong. Carson found them completely compelling. Greta raised her eyebrows at her. Shit. Carson had been caught staring. She anxiously cleared her throat and returned to her manual, beginning to follow the steps to set up her own computer on the company network.
When lunchtime rolled around, Xander suddenly reappeared at their desks.
‘So, uh…I feel like I should take the two of you out for lunch, it being your first day and all. But, I have a meeting that I need to be at, so uh… you ladies good?”
Carson nodded, relieved to be spared from what was sure to be an awkward lunch with Xander and Greta filled with small talk. Anyway, she was all set. She had her preprepared sandwich in the insulated lunchbox, tucked safely in her backpack.
“Of course, Xander.” Greta said, speaking for the both of them. “We totally get it.”
At any other time, Carson would probably have been annoyed by this woman speaking for her, but Greta somehow got a free pass with Carson.
“Hey Carson,” Greta called to her as Xander walked back to his office.
Carson looked at her as Greta stood up, slinging her red leather work bag casually over her shoulder, full of confidence and bravado.
“I’m going to grab some lunch. You coming?” She asked Carson, but when Greta said it, it didn’t feel like a question.
Carson didn’t hear herself say yes or understand why she agreed. Suddenly though, her neatly packed lunch lay forgotten in her backpack. She quickly tucked her wallet into the pocket of her work pants and hurried to follow Greta out of the office.
Greta guided the two of them through the city until they arrived at a local café. Once they were seated at their table, the two women looked over the laminated menus in silence.
Carson attempted to break the ice. “Looks like you know your way around downtown already. Are you from here? Or at least, from around here?” Carson asked her.
“No.” Greta calmly stated. Carson waited for more as the silence seemed to stretch on for eternity. “But a friend who IS a local told me about this place. It’s supposed to be good and it’s only a couple of blocks from the office.”
Their waitress came by to take their order. “A sweet tea and hmm… the peach and walnut salad for me,” Greta told her confidently. Carson envied her easy charm and grace.
Of course, Carson still hadn’t decided what she wanted to order yet, but both Greta and the waitress were looking at her expectantly. She panicked and said the first thing on the menu that popped into her head.
“A grilled cheese and tomato soup, please.” She blurted out without thinking
Greta laughed. “That’s an interesting choice for an eighty-degree day.”
Carson shrugged her shoulders. “It just sounded good,” she explained, the pink flush creeping back into her cheeks betraying her nerves.
What was it about this woman that made Carson so easily flustered? She was beautiful, sure, but Carson had been around beautiful women before. None of them had made her brain go fuzzy like this. Not in the way that Greta somehow managed to. She couldn’t let this woman turn her into a blithering idiot.
“So, what’s your story?” Greta asked her, interrupting Carson’s racing thoughts.
“My story? I don’t really have a story,” she managed to mumble.
“Carson,” Greta said, explaining things to her like she was in kindergarten. “Everyone has a story.”
“Well…” Carson began, thinking hard. “I always wanted to work in tech, ever since I was a little kid. I was always fiddling around with computers. Somehow, I never really fit in with the other kids, especially the girls. They all thought I was really weird. But programming…designing…that I could do. So, when I got the opportunity to work here, I obviously jumped at the chance.”
“Makes total sense,” Greta nodded knowingly.
“What about you?” Carson asked her as the food arrived.
“Me? Oh, I’m not trying to help out the competition.”
“You think I uh… I could be competition,” Carson stammered, completely surprised by what Greta had just said.
Greta leaned back in her seat, looking Carson up and down, appraising her, sizing her up.
“You don’t see it?” she finally asked Carson.
“See what?” Carson responded, still having absolutely no idea what Greta was insinuating.
“Did you look around that office this morning, Carson?”
“I mean, yeah. It’s kind of a hot mess.”
“Why do you think that is, Carson?”
Carson frowned, thinking hard.
Greta looked like she was refraining from rolling her eyes with greatest of difficulty.
“Okay. Riddle me this, Batman. Did you see any other women in the office? At all?”
All of a sudden, the light turned on in Carson’s brain. “Oohh...” she said, finally comprehending what Greta was getting at.
“Yeah. I’m sorry, Carson Shaw. Chances are, there’s only going to be one woman in any room at this company. You’re definitely my competition. And unfortunately for you, I’m yours.”
Any thoughts she might have had of the two women in the office teaming up and working together quickly vanished from Carson’s mind.
Carson countered, a fire blazing in her eyes. “Unfortunately for me? That’s pretty confident of you. Maybe it’s unfortunate for you? You don’t know me yet.”
“Ooh!” Greta grinned back at her, the first real smile Carson had seen out of Greta. “I do like a challenge.”
By the time Carson got back to her apartment after her first day, she was utterly exhausted. The complete lack of sleep from the night before had finally caught up with her. She had only managed to get halfway through the orientation binder that Xander had given her, disappointing herself. She knew she wasn’t expected to get through the whole thing in one day, but Carson had high expectations for herself. Still, having such a long way to go was completely frustrating. Carson had always excelled. Always. She was top of her class. She was top of everything actually: school, sports, games. Her competitiveness knew no bounds and was a core part of her personality.
She couldn’t believe the way that Greta Gill had eclipsed her in every possible way today. She was clearly so much more than a pretty face. Greta spent the afternoon on the phone, headset over her ears, charming everyone she spoke to. She was already working leads, making connections, and building relationships. Carson was still reading the user’s manual. It didn’t help that Carson spent the afternoon entirely distracted by Greta’s sultry, throaty voice. She needed to get a grip on herself or this new job was going to be a complete disaster. Tomorrow, she promised herself. Tomorrow she would do better. She had to.
Sighing deeply, she collapsed into their well-worn couch. When her roommate, Max, heard that Carson was home, she poked her head out of her bedroom, where she had her work from home desk and setup.
“Hey Carson, how was your first day at the office?”
Carson looked at her, leaned her head back against the cinderblock wall and groaned dramatically.
“That good, huh?” Max asked, deciding in that moment that Carson’s need was greater than the looming deadline to finish the article she was working on about the local baseball team.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Max gently asked her.
Carson took a moment to appreciate the way she had lucked out with her roommate when she moved downtown, a week before starting her work at Reel A Job. Max’s former roommate and long-time best friend, Clance had just moved out when she married her husband, Guy. Max quickly needed to find someone to live with and pick up the other half of the rent. Carson was just in the right place at the right time. They were definitely still feeling each other out, but it seemed like a really good fit.
“Okay. Start at the beginning. How was the orientation?”
“What orientation?” Carson asked, wishing she was joking. “I got handed a binder and was basically told to figure it out.” She scoffed. “It wasn’t at all what I was expecting.”
“Well, did you manage to figure it out?”
Carson smiled for what seemed like the first time all day. “Some of it, yes. Actually, I did make good progress in the morning. The afternoon was a little bit more questionable.”
“What happened to you in the afternoon? Did you get accidentally drunk at lunch or something?” Max teased her.
“Oh my god, no. That was one time and I never should have told you about that,” Carson said with a chuckle. “I just managed to get my brain all distracted and discombobulated.”
“Hmm…” Max murmured her eyes narrowing to figure out what Carson wasn’t saying. Smirking, she asked Carson, “How was the other new person? You were starting with someone else today, right?”
“Yeah, her name is Greta. She is…” Carson trailed off, trying to find the right words to describe the enigma that was Greta Gill.
“Another woman?” Max asked, eyebrows raised. “That’s pretty rare in tech, right?”
“Not as rare as it used to be, thank goodness. But at Reel A Job it definitely is. I think Greta and I are the only two women in the office.”
“Holy shit. The ONLY two?”
“Yeah. It’s a bunch of tech bros.”
”So… tell me…what’s she like?”
Carson paused. “I think she’s complicated. I can’t get a good read on her. She’s tough, fierce. I can already tell that she’s not going to stand for any of the bullshit that the guys throw. She was already on the phone today, talking to potential customers. It’s her very first day. That’s definitely intimidating.”
Max waited, not saying anything. She had already learned that if she waited long enough, Carson would ramble to fill the space. Sure enough, after a moment had passed, Carson continued to talk.
“Greta comes off as confident but aloof, maybe even a little bit cold, but I’m not sure that’s who she actually is. I’m pretty sure it’s a shield, a persona that she puts on to protect herself. I think that deep down she may actually be kind with a really good heart.”
“And you clocked all of this on day one?”
“I mean…I could be wrong. She could be a stone cold bitch for all I know. But somehow, I don’t think so.”
“Well, you’ve sure spent a lot of time thinking about this Greta person. Is that what had you all distracted this afternoon?”
“No,” Carson whispered, staring at her kneecaps.
“Carson.” Max said, and then paused, not sure if she should continue. She didn’t know Carson that well, yet. ‘Screw it,’ she thought. “Carson… how much of a hottie is she?”
A bright red flush flooded Carson’s cheeks, spreading all the way up to the tops of her ears.
Max couldn’t have missed Carson’s reaction if she tried. “Oh wow,” she said laughing, “You’re in big trouble.”
“I’m not.” Carson insisted. “There is absolutely no way that woman is gay.”
“Carson,” Max started, with a roll of her eyes. “I know I haven’t known you for that long, but you have absolutely no gaydar. For all that you know, she could be.”
“Even if she was. Even if she was, which she’s definitely not,” Carson explained. “She’s still my co-worker. That’s definitely against the rules. And there is absolutely no way that she,” Carson said, holding one hand high up in the air, “would be interested in me,” Carson extended her other hand all the way down, almost touching the area run that covered the hardwood floor.
“Okay. You have got to work on having a higher opinion of yourself, Carson.”
Carson rolled her eyes at Max.
“Listen to me. I say you bust your ass at this new job and MAKE Greta notice you. So, she got ahead of you today. That doesn’t have to be your story. Make sure you get ahead of her tomorrow. I’ve played monopoly with you. I know how competitive you can be.”
Carson’s lips curved into a smirk. She nodded. “You know what, Max? You’re right.”
Max smiled. “You’ll learn this quick, Carson. It’ll be easier for both of us if you just assume I’m pretty much always right.”
“Thanks, Max.”
“No problem, roomie.”
And with that, Max went back to her room to resume writing her article leaving Carson alone with her thoughts and the repeat episode of Grey’s Anatomy she turned on as she mindlessly scrolled on her phone.
Later that night, as she got herself ready for bed, Carson began to come up with a strategy. She would never be able to out-charm Greta. That hill was far too tall for her to climb. Carson knew what her own strengths were. It was immediately obvious that Greta was a natural in sales. But did she know the technology the way that Carson did? Did Greta love a good spreadsheet? Somehow, Carson doubted it.
“Okay, Greta Gill,” Carson said to herself as she slid under the covers. “You want competition? You’ve got it. Bring it on.”
END OF CHAPTER