Putting It to the Test

Matt dismissed Adam’s enthusiasm but didn’t let the sentiment show on his face. Sure, everything he’d said about Carly was true, but since Matt had come on board, Hall had practically been grooming him for a spot on the management team. All signs pointed to the idea that she would be working for him someday, not the other way around, but he didn’t need to further strain his relationship with her by spreading that notion around.

So he lied.

“Yeah, I suppose Carly would be another viable candidate.” Then, getting back to his meal, he added, “I guess we’ll have to see how things pan out.”

2

“DO YOU THINK I’m funny?”

Carly posed the question to her friend, Bev, as they stepped out of the offices of Hall Technologies and into the bright midday sunshine. For almost a year now the two women had been spending their lunch hours power walking through the industrial park that housed Hall Technologies and several other high-tech firms just north of San Francisco. That was, of course, unless the weather was bad or one of them was up against a deadline. Or if they had errands to run or there was a sale at Paulson’s. And never on Fridays, when the Sub Shack ran their two-for-one lunch special.

In truth, today was the first time in two weeks they’d sufficiently run out of excuses and opted for the walk.

“What do you mean? Funny ha-ha or funny strange?” Bev asked.

“Funny. Humorous. Someone who can make a joke and take one.”

Letting the door swing closed behind her, Carly followed Bev down the sidewalk toward Lakeford Park, a block from the office. Structured like a town square, the park was the primary destination for the nearby office workers looking for a comfortable place to enjoy the sun. A half dozen restaurants lined the shady square, most only open for lunch, though Lone Dog Coffee caught the morning rush, and Flippers—equipped with a liquor license—stayed open for happy hour.

Separating the tree-lined park from the soggy marshlands to the east was a paved jogging path that supposedly stretched all the way to the small airfield a few miles away, though Bev and Carly never cared to see for themselves. Between the plantar fasciitis that ailed Bev’s feet and Carly’s general hatred of exercise, the two always opted for the short route, which involved cutting off the jogging path at the far end of the park and circling through the square, picking up something for lunch on the way back around.

“I don’t know.” Bev shrugged. “I suppose I’d consider you funny.”

“You suppose?” That didn’t sound convincing.

“Yeah, I suppose. I mean, you wouldn’t make my top-ten list of hilarious people, but you’ve had your moments.”

Carly frowned as Bev picked up her pace, her blond ponytail whipping like a pendulum once they crossed the street and started down the jogging path. Intent on losing the twenty pounds she’d gained since her wedding four years ago, Bev had more enthusiasm for their workouts, and Carly nearly had to break into a trot to keep up despite being five inches taller.

“Why are you asking me if you’re funny?”

“Because Matt Jacobs thinks I’m not.”

Bev eyed Carly inquisitively. “Since when do you care what he thinks?”

“I don’t. I was just taken aback when he said he didn’t think I was capable of making a joke.”

The mere thought added pep to Carly’s stride, irritation fueling an extra dose of adrenaline. Ever since Matt walked away from her cubicle this morning his comment had been stuck in her craw. “I can’t believe he thinks that,” she added.

“I can’t believe it matters to you. You’re fun, friendly, and everyone likes you. You don’t have to be the office comedian, too. Besides, it’s only his opinion.”

“So you’re saying he’s wrong. I am funny.”

Bev shrugged. “I’m saying, why the big fixation over Matt Jacobs and his opinion of you? Neil insults you all the time and you never bat an eyelash.”

“Because Neil’s always kidding. It’s just his way.”

And Neil wasn’t the iron-chested, dark and studly sex magnate that ruled her dreams every night.

“Maybe Matt was kidding, too,” offered Bev.

“He wasn’t.” Carly had played the conversation over in her mind a dozen times and remembered very specifically that he had not been kidding. He’d truly been shocked when she’d explained her joke about the survey.

And, of course, she also remembered the tiny flutters that had swept through her stomach when his shock transformed into pleasure. He’d almost seemed smitten with her, delighted to see a side of her he hadn’t expected, and for a fraction of a second her body had responded with joy.

Until his words had sunk in and quickly squashed the moment.

“Forget what Matt said, I’ve got something bigger to talk about.” Bev panted, her breath growing heavy as they followed the path along the edge of the marsh.

It had felt like a perfect spring day when they’d stepped out of the office, but now, in the high-noon sun, it was beginning to get warm. Carly noted with relief that they were only a short distance from where the path met up with the trees and the rest of their walk would be shaded.

“You’ve got scoops?” she asked.

“That compatibility survey they’re making us do for the Singles Inc. project.”

That got Carly’s attention. Could they have picked the winners already? She’d thought they had through the week to complete the surveys.

“Remember Patty, my friend at Singles Inc.?” Bev huffed.

“Yeah.”

“According to her, things aren’t exactly as we were told.” She glanced briefly behind them, then went on. “She heard one of the candidates had already been picked by Hall. This whole business about filling out the compatibility surveys is only to find out who’s going to be on the project with him.”

“Him?”

Bev tipped her sunglasses and flashed a blue-eyed glance at Carly. “Yeah, he’s got the man picked out. Which means all the other men on staff filling out the surveys are just wasting their time. Their surveys won’t even be considered, only the women’s.”

Carly shook her head. “I don’t get it.”

“The whole thing is a ruse, Carly. Hall’s not looking for the two most compatible designers on staff, he’s looking for the woman who most closely matches the man he’s chosen for the job.”

As Bev’s words sunk in, an angry pool formed in Carly’s stomach. “Don’t tell me who the man is.”

Bev nodded.

“You’re sure it’s Matt?”

“Positive.”

Steam filled Carly’s veins until she recalled her confrontation with Matt that morning and her anger turned to dread. She’d been so cocky about him having to fill out the survey to get the job, had accused him of trying to cheat even. And all the time Hall had already lined him up for the project.

She slowed her pace and sighed. How long would she continue to make a fool of herself in front of that man? It was bad enough infatuation turned her into a babbling idiot whenever he was around. Now the one moment she’d held her wits long enough to tell him off, she’d ended up being wrong about the whole thing.

It was too humiliating to consider.

“Does he know?”

“I don’t think so. Patty told me they were keeping it really close to the cuff. Only she, her boss and one analyst there are aware of Hall’s instructions on how to tally the surveys. In fact, now that I’ve told you, I’ve been ordered to kill you.”

Carly would have laughed if she wasn’t so dumbfounded, not certain whether she should wallow in embarrassment over popping off to Matt when she was the one with egg on her face or ire that once again he was being handed the big job.

Ire was winning by a nose.

“So all the surveys are for nothing?”

“All the men’s surveys. The women’s are legitimately being used to match against Matt’s.”

“I can’t believe it,” Carly fumed. She placed her hands on her hips and slowed down to a stroll. “Matt’s walking away with another top project again.”

“Matt and whoever strikes the closest match to his survey.”

She stared out over the grassy lawn. The warm day had brought a crowd out from under the fluorescent canopies to enjoy lunch at the tables or hold an outdoor meeting. It was the first sign of spring, normally Carly’s favorite time of year, but today even the good weather wasn’t enough to hold up her spirit.

“Why do they think he’s so great?” she asked. “So he’s got, like, double master’s degrees. Big deal. He’s arrogant and flippant and not the least bit interested in sharing that wealth of talent with anyone else on the team. Why they keep raising the man to the level of he-god, I’ll never know.”

“He-god?”

Carly frowned. “You know what I mean. He doesn’t deserve the constant accolades. There’s a lot more to being a company asset than good Web design.”

“True,” Bev agreed, stepping over to a park bench and plopping down for a rest. “Though he’s got a few assets someone’s company would enjoy.” She smiled as Carly sat down next to her. “You ever noticed him on casual Fridays? Man, does he have a butt for a pair of jeans.”

Noticed? Carly had studied that butt so many times she could pick it out of a lineup. But this wasn’t where she wanted the conversation to go. Matt Jacobs had had enough of her attention over the last two years. If there was ever a day to squelch it, today would be it.

“He used to play pro baseball, you know,” Bev added. “Can you imagine that ass in a pair of those tight-knit baseball pants?”

The Anaheim Nationals, two years in their AA league before he’d been “cut loose,” as Adam had put it. He hadn’t said much more than that, just enough to feed a few steamy images of Matt in a uniform—and then out of it.

She shook off the thought, annoyed that she could be so easily pulled off track. This conversation wasn’t about Matt’s assets but how he’d become her personal liability. If this latest move by Mr. Hall wasn’t enough to permanently exorcise her lust for that man, she seriously needed to consider psychotherapy.

“Can we get back to the subject, please? We’re talking about Singles Inc. and who deserves that job. Mr. Hall lied to all of us. This project was supposed to be a fair game.”

Bev blew out a sympathetic sigh. “I know, but in retrospect, none of this surprises me. It’s our biggest account. There’s no way Hall was going to let the project randomly go to two people on the staff. He needed one person in there as his anchor to make sure the job ran smoothly.”

“And that anchor couldn’t have been me?”

“Carly, they love your work. You and Matt are the two top designers on staff. They still consider you one of the best.”

“They did before Matt came along. Now who knows what they think? I haven’t had a challenging project in over a year. It’s just the same old stuff, info screens without any user interactivity. How am I supposed to keep up my programming skills if I’m just putting graphics and text on pages?”

This job was not working out as she’d planned. She wasn’t supposed to have hit a glass ceiling at the age of twenty-six. She was supposed to be on her way up the ladder, making the steady climb to bigger jobs and a bigger salary. Granted, she hadn’t expected to spend her life working for Hall, but she’d thought as new opportunities opened up she’d continue to be in the running. But since Matt had come on board, her career seemed to have come to a screeching halt, and if she wanted to keep progressing, maybe it was time to accept the fact that she’d have to do it somewhere else.

“I’m tempted to quit.”

Bev scoffed. “And go where? The high-tech industry is barely picking up around here. To find anyone hiring, you practically have to move to Texas.”

“I could go to Web Tactics.”

“Rumor has it they aren’t doing so well.”

Carly’d heard that, too. Oh, who was she kidding? She’d just bought a house with a hefty mortgage. She couldn’t risk losing it by leaving a secure job for something unknown. Wherever she went, she’d be the new gal on the team, the first one on the chopping block if a company decided to downsize, and with so many firms being swallowed up by the big fish or relocating out of state, she wasn’t certain she could take the chance.

“I could move to Texas, but Mom and Jodi need me.”

“They rely on you for a lot.”

Carly sighed. She knew if she left Hall Technologies, she’d find a way to make things work, but making a move like that out of anger wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

Right now she felt stuck, and if there was anything Carly hated, it was feeling trapped without choices.

“It’s not fair,” she said, the tone coming off whinier than she’d intended. “They should be giving everyone opportunities to be challenged. When they announced how they were handling the assignment of Singles Inc., I thought they’d finally seen that and done something about it.” Gazing out toward a clump of cattails, she added, “I guess I was wrong.”

“I don’t know about that. I heard another rumor today.”

“There’s more?”

Bev nodded.

“Is it good news?”

“I don’t know. It’s all in how you choose to speculate.”

Carly clasped her fingers around the seat of the wooden bench and braced herself. “What is it?”

“I heard Hall’s planning to open a new management position.”

“A manager?”

This was news. Mr. Hall had always preached the hazards of being top-heavy, which was why so far he only had two managers under him—Hugh Simonds, in charge of the programmers, and Frank Meyer, Carly’s own manager and head of the creative-design team. The sales staff reported directly to Mr. Hall, as did Renee and Andrea, the two women who handled Human Resources and Payroll. The idea of a new position opening up was a big deal.

“Any idea who’s getting the job?”

Bev shook her head. “Not a clue. I don’t even know if he’s planning to hire from within or bring in someone from the outside. But what I’ve heard is he wants to put together a team that exclusively handles the bigger projects and that he plans to assign the team a leader.”

“A special project team, huh?”

“To take on jobs like Singles Inc. I guess he wants to keep moving in that direction.”

The mention of Singles Inc. darkened Carly’s mood. “And if he’s thinking about hiring from within, you know what golden child he’s got in mind.”

Bev quickly held up a hand. “No one’s said Matt’s getting that job.”

“But it’s obvious he’d be considered. They’re handing him Singles Inc., aren’t they?”

Bev shrugged and Carly’s infuriation mounted. “I’ll kill myself if they give him that job.”

“Carly, you’re getting too far ahead of yourself. No one even knows if Hall’s going to promote anyone on the team. He could have a golfing buddy or some IBM crony in mind. Who knows? And if he was planning to promote from within, who’s to say you wouldn’t be considered? You’ve been here from the start, have handled just as many big projects as Matt has and you’re a way better people person. There’s a lot more to managing staff than technical expertise.”

Carly knew that, but did Mr. Hall? And what if he did think technical skills mattered most? If that was the case, whoever handled Singles Inc. would have the best shot at proving themselves where that was concerned.

And she wanted a shot at that job.

She deserved it. In fact, she shouldn’t even have to fight for it after all these years. She should simply get it. But apparently Mr. Hall didn’t see it that way. Which meant she’d have to show him.

“I need to get on that project,” she said.

“Huh?”

“Singles Inc. I need that job.”

“Then you’ll have to match Matt’s answers closer than anyone else on the team.”

Carly’s hopes faded. “And of all the women on the team, I probably know the least about him.”

“But you and I are the only women on the team who know he’s the guy to match.”

True, she did have that advantage. But unfortunately, thanks to a two-year-long resentment, coupled with her relentless attraction toward the man, she’d all but avoided Matt from the start. What she knew about him could be jotted down on a two-inch sticky note. She knew he was single, lived in an upscale condo down in Sausalito, drove a shiny BMW, had once played baseball and looked delicious in faded Levi’s. That was the sum of her Matt Jacobs knowledge. Five basic facts. Plenty to feed her sexual daydreams but hardly enough to strike gold on a compatibility survey.

Attempting to change her answers to match his would be a total shot in the dark. Unless she had help.

“How close a friend are you to Patty?”

Bev shook her head in protest. “Oh, no. You could get in big trouble. Our company’s image would be at stake, and you know how Hall feels about that. If Singles Inc. found out we’d tampered with their survey and it got back to Hall, heads would roll.” She added with conviction, “I need my job and so does Patty. I can’t ask her to get Matt’s answers for you.”

Carly frowned. “I won’t ask you to, but it’s so unfair. You know as well as I do, I deserve a shot at this. I was the lead Web designer before Matt stepped in, and you were just as angry as me when he kicked me off that first project by telling Frank he could handle it alone. We were supposed to work together on that.”

“Jay-Lee Personnel Services. I remember that.”

“I don’t want you to do anything that would put your job at risk. Just help me brainstorm how I can swing this.” Pushing off the bench, the two women returned to their workout, but this time headed back toward the office. “We still have through Thursday to finish our surveys, right?”

“I don’t think that’s changed. Holly and Paul are only coming back from vacation tomorrow. Hall wanted everyone to have an equal shot at the project.”

Carly snorted. “Except for Matt.”

What a joke, she thought, Mr. Hall making such a big deal out of the survey, how Singles Inc. had liked his idea so much they were considering developing a new survey designed for corporate teams. It was a huge publicity stunt, and in the end it was all a sham.

“Brian could get you in,” Bev said.

Carly eyed her friend and grinned. Of course. Brian Shanahan, one of their programmers barely out of college, who prided himself for his hacking skills. And he was pretty good, too. Heck, knowing Brian, he’d probably already hacked into the database just to see everyone’s answers.

“I don’t know if I trust him to keep his mouth shut, though,” Bev warned.

Good point, but Carly remained unfazed. “I’ll take my chances.”

“Really, Carly, you need to think twice about this. You could get in serious trouble.”

“If I have to sit back and watch Matt walk away with both this project and a promotion, I’m not sure I want this job anyway.”

“You say that now because you’re angry, but think about your house and your family. Is it really worth the risk?”

One side of Carly would say no, but the other side wasn’t about to get stomped on out of fear. Security was one thing, getting passed over for jobs she deserved called for taking a stand, no matter how she had to do it.

“I can’t let this happen without putting up a fair fight. If Mr. Hall had Matt in mind for the project, he should have just assigned Matt a partner instead of dreaming up this stupid survey idea. And if I could say so to Mr. Hall without jeopardizing you, I’d do it.”

Bev gasped. “Oh, you can’t tell Hall what you know. He’d trail it right back to Patty in a heartbeat.”

“Of course I won’t. But that means I’ve got to even the stakes my own way, because if I don’t, if I keep sitting around letting them choose Matt over me, I’ll never get anywhere in this company. And if I’m in a dead-end job, then I’m not risking much, am I?”

“I just worry what they’d do if they knew you tampered with the results. They went to great lengths to make sure everyone answered honestly. Remember that speech Hall gave about people comparing answers?”

Carly remembered it, though it seemed pretty hypocritical given what she knew now. Taking a deep breath, she elbowed her friend affectionately, Bev’s warnings heeded but her decision made. “Then I’ll just have to make sure I don’t get caught.”

3

CARLY OPENED THE door to a ringing phone. Hoping to catch it, she dropped her purse and take-out dinner on her entryway table, rushed to the kitchen and grabbed the cordless from the counter.

She’d had a private conversation with Brian Shanahan this afternoon, and he was all but certain he could get her the survey answers she wanted. If this was him calling already, he was better than she thought.

“Hello?”

“Hi, honey, it’s Mom.”

She dropped her shoulders. “Hey, Mom, what’s up?”

“I just got Jodi’s softball camp information in the mail.”

“That’s great. So we got her signed up in time.”

As a sixth-grade-graduation gift, Carly had paid for her younger sister to attend a weeklong softball camp. It was, in a way, a gift to both Jodi and their mother, Jodi having dreamed of going all year, and their mother needing a break between working full-time, taking night courses at the JC and raising a daughter alone. As she’d had to scrape together the cost, Carly had just made the payment under the wire, so it was a relief to get the printed confirmation of Jodi’s enrollment.

“Yeah, and she’s thrilled. She’s making you a special thank-you present for when you come over Friday.”

Carly smiled. “That’s sweet.”

“But I was wondering if you could do me one more favor.” Her mother sighed. “The strap on Jodi’s backpack broke and there’s no way to fix it.”

“Does she need a new pack?”

“I remembered you’d said you were going to the outlet mall. Could you look for a purple backpack? I checked Deal-Mart but they didn’t have purple, and I don’t have the time to run around town looking for one.”

“Sure, I can look around,” Carly said.

“Would you do that for me? There’s no rush. She can do with her old one for a while, but I’ve got finals—”

“Mom, it’s no problem. I’ll find Jodi a purple backpack.”

“You’re my saving grace, sweetheart. Listen, I’ve got to get dinner going before her practice, but we’ll see you for Jodi’s game Friday, right?”

“I’ll be there.”

“Love you, hon,” her mother said before the phone went dead.

Carly pressed the off button, then placed the phone on its cradle and sighed. A purple backpack at the end of the school season. No problem.

Moving back to the entryway to fetch her dinner, she now wished she’d skipped the burrito and made something at home. She could use her seven dollars back. Not that she didn’t make a good living at Hall Technologies. It was just that she had steep goals for her finances.

Carly insisted ten percent of her income went into a retirement fund. Add to that the two-bedroom bungalow she’d purchased last year, payments on her student loans, an unexpected transmission overhaul on her 2001 Grand Prix, and it was no wonder at the end of each pay period she was down to her last dollar. It didn’t help that her mother and sister were barely scraping by thanks to a father who considered child support optional.

It was a constant struggle for Carly, trying to help her family on one hand yet still protect herself from ending up like her mother—unskilled, unsupported and still in love with a man who’d never learned to care for anyone but himself.

Not as hungry as she’d been a moment ago, she picked up the paper sack and carried it into her pale pink kitchen. If things kept going the way they were, she’d have to live with the previous owner’s decor longer than she’d hoped—a fact that could likely cause her to go insane.

Though the house had come with a good-size yard and solid bones, cosmetically it was like living inside a giant bottle of Pepto Bismol. To say the former owners liked pink was an understatement. Every room had been painted, floored and tiled in some various shade of fuchsia, and though Carly had made progress in some rooms, ripping up carpet and priming walls, the kitchen and lone bathroom still thrived in their pristine bubblegum state. Only one corner of her eat-in kitchen had seen the threat of demolition, and that was where Bev had tried to tear off a loose corner of wallpaper, only to discover that beyond that four-inch square, the cheery pink teapots with the pale violet flowers were virtually cemented to the drywall, destined to rival the ancient pyramids in their time-tested strength.