Disclaimer: You know the line. I only own Alex the rest belongs to JE.
Enjoy!
Chapter 9
Tank's POV
I'm in the office the day after Alex's birthday when the phone rings. The caller ID doesn't have anything listed.
"RangeMan, Tank speaking," I say. Stephanie has been working here a couple months now and we're doing better than we had before. We'd actually doubled in clients.
"Tank, it's Ranger. Report." It's the first time we've heard from him since he's been on the mission. I'd ask him how he's doing, but I know he'd rather hear the report first.
"Well, we have a new employee. Her name is Stephanie and –." He cuts me off.
"Fire her." He didn't even know how well she was doing. Why the hell could he want to fire her already? God damn, sometimes that man made me so pissed. Right now, I'm in charge.
"No goddammit. She's a great employee and everyone loves her. You haven't met her and you have no idea what her fucking work ethic is. I don't know what your problem is, but she's not being fired." I think that's the first time I've actually been seriously pissed at Ranger. Oh shit, he isn't going to forget this.
"Fine. I'll do it when I get back. Which should be in two months. Why the hell are you so hell bent on keeping her?" Why was he so fucking hell bent to get rid of her?
"One, you didn't listen to hear how well we're doing. Clientele has nearly double since she started. Two, she has a fucking son that she needs to take care of. Three, all the guys love her and her son. Four, women don't want to talk to me they'd rather talk to her. Five, she's nice and polite and knows how to butter up the clients. So, just shut it. She's not getting fired because I guarantee you that everyone in the Trenton office will quit," I rant to my boss. I don't care what the fuck he says. Stephanie looks at all of us with love and respect and she treats us like humans. She's wiggled herself into everyone's heart. And, so has Alex. It's strange, but he looks so familiar and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Many of the guys have been saying it too, but we can't decide who he looks like.
"We'll see. I'll talk to you when I can." He hangs up. I can't believe I went off on him like that, but he needed to know what would happen. I had just been looking at another contract that meant promoting her. She'd be at the same level as Lester, Bobby, and I. A core member. She'd be able to handle business deals alone and do the fine print on security. I have already talked to Lester and Bobby about and they agree. She should be moved up. I walk out of my office to find her talking to the guys in the control room. She smiles when she sees me.
"Hi Tank," she greets before turning back to the monitors. She motions to something on her clipboard.
"Steph, I need to talk to you about something when you aren't busy," I tell her. She nods.
"Okay Tank, I'll be there in a minute, I just need to make sure they know how to do the cameras in Mrs. Benson's home," she informs me. I nod and walk back into my office. She comes in a minute later.
"Hey Tank, what's up?" she asks taking a seat in front of me. She's still smiling. She just brightens up the place.
"Well, I have a proposal for you. Lester, Bobby, and I want you to become a core member. You'd have pretty much the same responsibilities as us. You'd probably do more of the women based clients though. So, what do you say? The contract is mostly the same only you will get a raise and a five year contract. It can only be broken if three of the four core team decide it's not working out," I tell her, putting the contract in front of her. Her jaw is open a little and she's just gaping at me. When I don't say anything she snaps out of it.
"Are you serious? I've only been here a couple of months. And, what about Ranger? He hasn't met me to decide if I'm even worth keeping around," she says in one breath. At the end she's a little breathless.
"I just got off the phone with Ranger, he's happy we hired you," I lie trying to put on a convincing smile. I might look a little scary though. She just laughs and bites her lip.
"Well...if you're sure. I don't think I need to talk it over with my lawyer." She grabs a pen and signs. Bobby, Lester, and I have already signed. Since it's majority, Ranger doesn't need to sign.
Steph's POV
Tank floored me. I had no clue this was coming. The fact that they all had agreed on it meant something really special. These guys don't trust many people. I'm glad they trust me. I don't need Ash to look over this because I know I'm happy here and things won't change that much. I can't stop the shit eating grin from crossing my face.
"We also decided you need your own office since you'll now be a core member. I know it's not the greatest but we're renovating the supply closet. It's actually pretty big and you can decorate it however you'd like," Tank informs me. My jaw drops once again.
"I...thank you guys. You don't know how much this means to me." Tears fill my eyes. I'm so happy to have found all these wonderful friends.
"Also, the RangeMan jet will be flying you and Alex to Miami and Boston this weekend so you can see how the other office runs. You'll meet the main guys in each of those offices and also you'll help pick the women who will work with them, if you're up to it," he tells me. Wow, flying on a jet to Miami and Boston. "Lester will be escorting you, unless you'd rather have someone else." I smile.
"Lester's great. This is such a great opportunity. Thank you Tank," I say with appreciation.
"You're office should be ready by Friday. Feel free to decorate it anyway you want. In fact, the decorators are coming in tomorrow so you should sit down with them." I nod.
"I think that's all. Welcome to the core team Stephanie," he tells me with a smile. I stand up to leave and my hand is on the door knob when he speaks.
"Oh, right. The guys wanted me to tell you that you don't have to pick up Alex. Your parents have him. Also, see Lester when you're ready to go home." I nod not wanting to question him. I head out and go check out my soon to be office. There are people already inside. It seems that they are clearing it out.
"I take it you accepted the job," a voice from behind asks. I jump about a foot in the air. I spin around to see Lester laughing silently.
"Jeez, you could have given me a heart attack. And, yes, I took the job," I inform him. He wraps his arms around me and spins me.
"Now, you are like my sister! Core member," he says with a grin. "We're celebrating tonight at Shorty's."
"Not Pino's?" It's almost a whine. I've been hanging out with nine year olds too much. He just shakes his head sadly.
"Don't you know that Shorty's has the best pizza ever?" he asks with an expression that says I'm crazy.
"Does not."
"Does too."
"Does not."
"Does too."
"Does not."
"Does not!" Les says, losing the war. I laugh and point at him.
"I got you! See Pino's is better! Even you can't deny it." I smile as I walk away. I go to my cubicle to work on a schematic of where security camera's should go in a single mother's home. It's five o' clock when the guys round me up. We take two SUVs and head to Shorty's. It's the guys favorite place.
We get inside and have a great time. All the guys are happy that I am moving up. It's a very nice night.
The next day I meet with the decorator. A cross dresser named Sally Sweet. He seems pretty cool. He says he knows Lula and Connie. I picked out a burnt orange color that's a little lighter than what people normally see. I got the same kind of desk as Tank only with plush chairs for clients. I have a small couch on one wall and a mini bookshelf. I have a corner lamp that puts off a lot of light. I went with a cream colored rug with coffee brown edges. I'm sure it was going to look nice. They were planning to finish it when I went to view the other offices with Alex and Les.
I hear a commotion in the hall so I peek out of my cubicle to see a bunch of guys. I get up to see what's happening.
"Russ! Nice to see you man," I hear Bobby greet. Who's Russ? I come out farther and Lester spots me.
"Beautiful! Come meet Russ, he's a good bounty hunter friend from RangeMan Boston," Lester says dragging me up to meet the stranger. Only when I come face to face with him, I realize he's no stranger.
"Steph!" he greets wrapping me in a hug. I haven't seen Russ since college. We had been together pretty much throughout. We only broke up toward our last year.
"Russell! What are you doing here?" I ask, really surprised. It was good to see him again.
"I came up here because I have a skip I need to catch. What are you doing here?" he questions with a raised eyebrow. He looks good. I can't believe I forgot about him. He's really tan with a beard going on. He's brown eyes are just as beautiful. He could use a comb though.
"I work here," I say. "We need to catch up. You should come to dinner at my place tonight." He grins and reminds me of how white his teeth are.
"Will do. I'll come by later to get the address. I need to see Tank," he tells me. He walks off towards Tank's office. Les turns to me.
