One
Kelli
KelliEllisdroveher car intoBuildingC’sparking lot and saw over the piles of freshly plowed snow that her favorite spot was available.
“Yes!” she shouted to her empty car, “Igot here first!”Sheimmediately looked around, sure thatParkerBrockbankfromTradeShowswas already in the lot, ready to steal it from her.Butthere wasn’t anyone else.
Then, just as she was almost to it,Parkerdrove in from the opening at the other end of the lot and pulled into her parking spot.Thespot that so perfectly had the boughs of a bigPonderosaPinesticking straight out above it, completely shading the entire parking space in the summer and keeping the snow off her car in the winter.
Sheshook a fist atParker’scar, pretty sure he was chuckling at having snuck in and grabbed the space when she was so close.Thenshe went to her second choice spot—C15, which wasn’t anything special at all.Shelooked up just in time to seeParkeras he strode down the sidewalk toward the building, looking infuriatingly perfect in his slacks, overcoat, and perfectly imperfect hair.
Aftergrabbing her bag and exiting the car, she checked, and yep—she was evenly spaced between the lines and exactly straight.UnlikeParker’scar, which was a good six inches closer to the line at the front than it was at the back.
Shehad woken up still in a sour mood from the bomb her dad had dropped on her when he and his new wife had stopped by her house last night.Butshe was determined not to let that, orParkerstealing her spot, ruin her day.Shehad put on her favorite pair of heels, a pink blousy top, a navy skirt, and the necklace that never failed to get her compliments.
Shepushed away the negative thoughts, purposely put a spring in her step, and reminded herself how much she loved her job as she used her keycard to open the front door of theZentCubeoffices.Aftertaking the stairs to the second floor, which housed the entire marketing department, she sat at her desk and pretended she had been the first in the office.
Itwasn’t easy to arrive first—or the second—at the office, but it was worth it.Herconstant goal was to be the perfect employee, so getting in early was important.Itwas when she came up with her best ideas.Andwhen she made the effort to get them, she didn’t have to rely on something coming to mind on the fly during marketing meetings—she had ideas, plans, and proposals waiting in the wings.
Shesmiled at the adorable littleChristmastree on her desk, straightened her papers and pens, made sure her keyboard was perfectly straight, and then got to work.
Ateight-forty, when the first of her coworkers stepped foot on the second floor, she was putting the finishing touches on her ideas for their new advertising campaign.Fiveminutes later, she went into the break room and grabbed a cup of coffee.Shehad just taken the first step out of the break room when she heardParker’sboss say to him, “Twoo’clock onWednesdayworks forAdrian, andI’mguessing it will for the others.Willyou get the conference room scheduled?”
Kelliducked behind a cubicle and pulled out her phone.Afteropening her email app, she quickly typed an email toGreg, asking if she could schedule the conference room for two onWednesday, then sent the email beforeParkerand his boss even finished talking.Shechuckled all the way back to her desk, already imagining the look onParker’sface when he realized it was payback for stealing her parking space.
Valeria, her best friend and normally on-time coworker, didn’t arrive until ten after nine.Sheblew into their team’s quadrant like a snowstorm, ushering in a rush of air and a flurry of excitement with her.
“Goodmorning,Sunshine,”Kellisaid. “You’rerather happy today.”
Valeriacollapsed into her chair at the desk kitty-corner fromKelli’swith a sigh. “Itwas a really good morning.IthoughtIwas going to be here early, but thenRhett—”
Kellislapped her hands over her ears. “Lala la!What’sthe rule about being late?”Shetook her hands off her ears when it was clearValeriawasn’t going to finish her sentence.
Herfriend let out a huff of air. “ThatIcan’t tell you why if it involves somethingRhettandIdid until we’ve been married for at least six months.Preferablytwelve.”Shegrabbed the poofy fluff ball that they usually tossed back and forth when they were brainstorming and threw it atKelli. “I’lltell you what the real solution is, though—Oh.Youdidn’t have so great of a morning, did you?”
“ParkerBrockbankinTradeShowsstole my spot, so that wasn’t great.”Kellithrew the poof ball back and turned to her computer. “ButIcame up with some great ad copy for theBusinessSuccessmagazine campaign.”Herboss,Liz, was sure to be impressed.Kellididn’t need promotions, the corner office, or a fancy title.Whatshe did need was for her boss,Liz, to be impressed.Tosee her as a valuable member of the team.
Anemail notification popped up on her screen and she quickly clicked on it when she saw it was a response fromGreg, and she grinned. “Iheard thatParkerwanted the conference room tomorrow at two, soIemailedGregright then and it looks likeIgot it.Heeven said, ‘Youemailed just in time, too.Someonerequested it less than a minute after you did.’”
Valerialaughed and gave her a high five. “That’smy girl.”Butshe’d been studyingKellithe whole time she’d been talking. “Okay, today’s good.Itwas last night, then, that was bad.”
“Howdo you always know?”
Valeriasmiled and threw the poof back to her. “IfIsay what your tell is, then you’ll stop doing it.Now, about last night.Spill.”
“Mydad came over.”
“Oh, good.Iknow you’ve been feeling like you haven’t seen him enough lately.”ThenValeria’sface dropped. “Oh.Hebrought the evil stepmother with him.”
“JoAnnisn’t evil.She’sjust…”Kelliwanted to end the sentence with, “a thief who stole my dad,” but she was trying to be an adult about this. “Shejust wants to work on blending the newly combined family.”
“Afamily that she doesn’t want you to be a part of.”
Kellinodded but didn’t let herself think of it fully.Shewasn’t about to let the door open on that much pain—no one needed to know how much it hurt her.NotevenValeria.
“Whathappened?”
“Well, my dad texted to ask if he could bring me over a couple of éclairs fromPetrocelli’s.Ishould’ve known right then and there that he was buttering me up.Hedidn’t tell me that he was bringingJoAnnwith him—that was a surpriseIgot to enjoy whenIopened the door, threw my arms around my dad’s neck, and saw her standing there.
