Read Online Intoxicated by Alicia Renee Kline - Free Book Online Page A

was a
promotion.
    I wouldn’t mention the majority of the
details to Eric. He would definitely gloat if he ever found
out.
    The tour finished, George escorted me back to
my office. He informed me that my computer should already be ready
to go and I should be able to use my same logins and passwords as
before. He paused in the doorway to remind me that his office was
just three doors down and to feel free to stop by if I needed
anything. His sense of bravado had diminished greatly by this point
in time, and I decided that I liked him.
    I sat down in my chair and powered up my
computer. As I waited for everything to come up, I pulled my cell
phone out of my purse and set it on the desktop. The notification
light flashed brightly at me, and I checked to see what or whom I
had missed. There were three texts wishing me luck. One from my
father, one from Blake and the last from Matthew. I smiled as I
read through them, deleting my dad’s and Blake’s immediately after.
For whatever reason, I kept the one from Matthew.
    When I was able to sign in to my work email,
I clicked on the message from Gracie first. She was also wishing me
luck, of course, and I quickly typed back that I would call her
later with all of the scoop. I knew this would make her happy, and
also fill her with anticipation. She knew me well enough to know
that if everything was favorable, I would have just come right out
and said it. However, I wasn’t about to write anything that could
be considered a critical review of my surroundings and send it via
company email.
    True to George’s word, my team filed in right
before eight in the morning. Trust me, I sympathized, having been
there, done that. I would be overseeing four employees who
basically did the same job that I had done at the branch. However,
most branches did not have a field underwriter. The sheer volume of
applications processed in the Indianapolis market had made me a
necessary anomaly; the majority of underwriting was done right
here. In essence, the loan officer took an application, then sent
the complete file to me, the Director of Underwriting, to
distribute amongst my team for processing. I would now have a
supervisory role, though all tough decisions would ultimately be my
call.
    I locked my workstation and rose from my
desk, eager to meet the people I would be working with. This was
where the nervousness came into play. Being as young as I was, I
was no stranger to the fact that others might have a hard time
taking orders from me. I wanted to come across with just the right
mixture of friendliness and authority. I had no clue what their
opinions had been of my predecessor. I only hoped they would give
me a fair chance.
    As I crossed the distance between my office
and the grouping of cubicles, four sets of eyes turned and looked
back at me expectantly. Fortunately, none of them looked like they
were ready to bite my head off.
    “Good morning,” I said with more confidence
than I felt, “I’m Lauren Jefferies. It’s a pleasure to meet
you.”
    I walked from desk to desk, shaking hands
with each person. Bob Patterson was the employee with the most
seniority in the department, almost sixteen years’ worth. I spied a
family picture on his desktop. He had a lovely wife and a son that
looked like he was in high school. Samantha Walters was next; she
had just started at the bank about four months prior. She was
middle to late twenties, single from the looks of it. The only
picture on her desk was a candid shot of her puppy. Lisa Allen was
a rather established employee with five years’ experience. She was
more of a mystery; her workstation was very clean and lacked any
personality whatsoever. Kelly Jones rounded out the group. I had
actually spoken with Kelly several times on the phone, and she
looked nothing like I would have imagined. She had a girlish,
almost bubbly voice, but in reality was a little on the Amazonian
side. An imposing presence indeed. Kelly had been with the company
for