“I don’t know about that,” he replies carefully. “But I don’t think you should worry too much about it. He might be a dick but you can avoid him. Business is doing well; you have to be happy about that.”
“I am happy about that; I’m just pissed off with him. I don’t like it at all.”
“I know. I know you don’t. And none of us like you being all worked up, but aside from that everyone is happy. Even the people who were unsure about the move are over the moon.”
“Yeah.” I grip my forehead hard. I can’t be selfish; I can’t focus just on what I want. Everyone else is happy. I can’t just turn my back because I don’t like Carter. “Okay, I just need to calm down, that’s all.”
Leon nods and moves back from me. “Okay, well I will give you some space. I know that you need that, but once you’re in a good place, come and see the production line. We could use your advice.”
He might be just trying to make me feel better, but it works. I do love to get attention. I nod and watch him walk away before trying to shake off the anger that Carter has settled within me. I can’t keep flying off the handle like this forever and I’m going to have to find a way to just ignore it when he tosses that shit my way.
“It will be fine,” I mutter to myself. “I will be fine. I am a strong, independent woman.”
I grab my cell phone, needing that confirmation from the one source I can trust.
Raelyn: Help me! He’s pissing me off again. What do I do before I go insane? Xx
Abbi: Just remember who you are. Don’t let him get to you. You are kick ass xx
Raelyn: Thank you, Abbi. It’s hard but I’m trying my best. See you later on xx
Abbi: DON’T BE LATE! You have been much better recently and I love it xx
Raelyn: Because I can’t wait to get out of here. But yes, I will be on time xx
Okay, so now I need to go and see Leon, to lose myself in the production line for a while where hopefully he’s too busy doing other stuff to annoy me. I do intend to get out of here to see Abbi on time today so I need to ensure that everything is running as smoothly as humanly possible.
“Hey, Leon.” I smile widely so he knows that I have calmed down a bit. “Let’s have a talk.”
“Actually, it’s Gary who wants to talk to you. Carter’s production manager.”
Immediately, my hackles raise. I feel the wall building up around me. Anything to do with Carter has me instantly annoyed once more. I just have a feeling that this is going to be some sort of trick.
“What for?” I narrow my eyes. “Is there something wrong here?”
“No, he just wants to speak to you about how we do things. He’s interested.”
I can’t even think that this is to steal our methods because we’re all one team now. “Okay, sure.”
Leon takes me to see a very tall man with pale blond hair and a friendly looking smile. He doesn’t seem like the enemy off the bat. He kinda seems like a nice person. As he holds out his hand to me, I
shake it.
“Hi, Gary. Leon said that you wanted to talk to me.”
“Yes, I wanted to discuss your methods with you, if you don’t mind? I have spoken to Leon but he says that you are the expert behind it. So, I would of course, love to speak to the expert if possible.”
I can’t stop myself from warming to him, and not just because he’s being complimentary, although the respect does feel really nice. “Yes, of course. I am happy to speak to you about anything.”
We walk up and down the line together, talking about what’s going on. What they do compared to what we do, and I soon relax around him. He even has me laughing, as we talk and walk along the line, which is nice. I don’t mind sharing things with him and telling how we do things because he’s such a nice person.
“No wonder you guys have come this far,” he tells me. “You are really smart, Raelyn.”
“Oh, thank you. That’s really kind of you. I have worked hard though. It hasn’t come easily.”
“I’m sure. I mean, I have been here with Carter almost from the beginning, so I know what a struggle it can be. You must be very proud of yourself to have come as far as you have.”
I tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear and beam happily. “Yeah, I sure am.”