Pulled to the Dark (The Siriena Series) (28 page)

"No," I told her. "I wanted to be sure. I didn't want you taking a job just because you thought you had to. You don't have to."

"So I got the job?"

"I think you damned well better act like I refused to answer all your questions or I won't be screaming in joy tonight
.
"

She s
miled. "Do I have to move to Minnesota
?"

"I don't know," I told her. "Maybe for a few weeks. Erika too."

"She got the job, too?"

"She's in there interviewing with the hiring manager. You know what Erika's work is like. The only reason she won't get the job is if she and Susan hate each other."

After that, I went back to my lounge chair and rolled over. "Do me," I told Beth.

She laughed and applied sunscreen to my back.

Erika came out a while later and sat on the pool deck between my chair and Beth's. "I like her," she said. "Oh god, I'm so nervous."

"You two realize if you get jobs, you owe me. The things I had to do to Petra to get her to hire you. Oh my god, it was rough."

They both laughed then exchanged looks.

"Oh shit!"

Before I could move, they had me pinned face down to the lounge chair and were tickling me.

"Not fair!" I told them. "But paybacks are a bitch!"

They spent several minutes tickling me and didn't let up until Petra walked out of the bungalow. "A little help here!" I said to her.

"If you insist," she said. She grabbed a free foot and went to town on it.

They finally relented. I rolled over and glared at them. "Paybacks are a bitch. Just remember that."

No one looked remotely intimidated.

Petra sat down next to the pool and took off her blouse. She had her swimsuit on underneath it. She gestured and Karen and Andrea moved their own lounge chairs closer. "You know," she said. "I have never in my life offered a pair of jobs to anyone while wearing a swimsuit."

Erika and Beth started squealing.

"Hey, you two," I told them. "Show some professionalism here."

"Petra," Beth asked. "Would it be professional to throw Felicia into the pool?"

"Of course," she said. "But I doubt you can do it without going in with her, unless she lets you."

"Oh come on, she's tiny," Erika said.

"And she knows aikido," I said.

They backed off immediately and sat down.

"I should be doing this privately," Petra said. "But it's not like everyone doesn't already know." She glared at me.

"Hey," I said. "All I did was asked Beth whether she really wanted the job and told her she wasn't obligated to take it if she didn't really want it."

"Erika, Susan loves your work and loves you.
She feels your creativity is stifled in your current position and is looking forward to seeing what you can do when given more freedom to do so. We would like to extend you an immediate offer."

"Yes," said Erika.

"Don't you want the details before you accept?" Petra asked.

"You won't ask me to take a pay cut, I know what the work is, and I presume I need to be on site," she said. "I'm a little worried about paying for that last part, but everything else is fine."

"The company will insist you accept an apartment in a building we control," Petra said. "That is not negotiable. Rent will be whatever your current rent is once you are released from your current commitment."

"You're going to offer me Felicia's old apartment?" she asked.

Petra laughed. "I'm going to offer that apartment to you and Beth, if you want to share, or else we'll offer you a significantly smaller apartment elsewhere in the building."

"Yes," said Beth.

Petra smiled at her. "Your position is a little different. While you have an advanced degree, you have no on the job experience that directly relates to the position we have for you. We can offer you exactly what you are currently making with the same terms on rent. Promotions and raises when they become appropriate based on your ability to assume full management of your department. I don't have your starting title ready, but it's about two steps above intern."

"So you want us to move, not...
"
said Beth. "Work remotely."

"Yes, we want you to relocate."

"I love New York City," Erika said, "But I have a crappy little studio apartment I'm paying far too much for, and I hate my job. Yes."

Beth looked away for a while. I knew she loved California.

Finally she looked back. "I can do this job," she said. "If I had all the experience needed
so
that
Renea
didn't need to watch over me, what would my title be?"

"Vice President of Finance."

"That's a higher title than yours or Andrea's."

"Yes," said Petra. "Than our current titles, yes."

"And there is an even path from 'two steps above intern' to 'vice president'?"

"We'll have to make one. I don't have any details."

"Are there going to be rules about how often I can step between the rungs of that ladder? Or if I am consistently doing the work, I get the promotion?"

"If you are doing the work and have been doing it for sufficiently long that
Renea
has confidence in you, you get the promotion. I can't be more specific. This isn't the path we'd planned on taking, but it's a good path that I think will work."

She looked away,
then
looked back. "Can you be a friend for a few minutes? I want your advice."

"Of course," Petra said.

"I'm giving up California, which I love. I like my job, and I'm good at it. However, the route to promotion at the bank is limited and there's definitely a glass ceiling. You're offering me a low level title, but are suggesting there's no glass ceiling and even if I were a man, probably significantly faster promotions than I'd otherwise be able to earn. Plus, perhaps exotic travel besides."

"That's a good summary," Petra said. "And probably better overall benefits. Especially the life insurance."

Andrea scoffed.

Karen looked puzzled. "Our life insurance benefits aren't any better than anywhere else."

"Petra," said
Beth
, "is this a good move for me?
It would be an easy choice if I didn't have to give up California."

"Professionally speaking," Petra said. "For the short term, it's probably a demotion. Long term, it is absolutely the right choice, if you want to move into finance instead of mortgage banking. The personal side..." she paused. "You'll get far more interesting travel than you will at your bank. You won't make more for the first year or two, but you'll soon be making far more than you are now, and you won't have a California cost of living to deal with. You'll be close to two of your oldest friends." She shrugged. "I would take the job."

"Beth," I said, standing up. "Come with me."

I didn't wait to see if she were following me. I walked out onto the beach. I turned around and she was right behind me.

"Do you want the job itself?"

"Yes. Absolutely. No question."

"So this is about California vs. the frozen
tundra of Minnesota
?"

"Yes."

"Take the damned job. Don't be daft. Between all of us we can start buying places all over the world. We can spend our weekends anywhere we want.
Anywhere at all.
Starting in a few months when you learn to pop in and out."

She looked at me. "Really?"

"I've been popping back and forth here. I can go home and grab something if I forgot it and be back here twenty seconds later." I paused. "The rules are weird. You have to kind of own a pl
ace to go there, or have permis
s
i
on from the owner, but renting this bungalow for a week means we own it, if just for the week. So I can't pop over to Paris right now, but if we bought a tiny little flat in Paris, I could go there whenever I wanted."

She smiled and walked back to Petra with me in her wake.

"Petra," she said. "Has my job offer expired?"

Petra laughed. "No."

"When do I start?"

* * *

"What did you tell her?" Petra asked me early the next morning. We were in her tower for a little fun before summoning Beth and Erika. I had her clothes off and was just about to start doing delicious things to her.

"I see the shine has worn off our relationship," I told her. "I'm about to do the things I'm about to do and you're already thinking about another woman."

She laughed. "I want to stop thinking about another woman so I can properly enjoy my love slave's attention."

"Love slave, is it?"

"Yes. No
w
answer the question."

"I reminded her of the travel opportunities available. She really loves California, but I pointed out between all of us, we could buy a few places around the world. We can, can't we?"

She smiled. "We already have.
Renea
owns four. Andrea and I both own two more. But before you can go there, you have to travel in person so you know how to find it."

"Can't you just, you know, send me?"

She put on the most startled expression. "I've never tried. I've never had anyone I could send, and
Renea
never mentioned anything about it. Felicia my love slave,"

"Yes, she who isn't getting any tonight?"

"Ha, we'll see. Felicia, you are welcome to travel to any of my properties." She smiled. "I own a little cabin in the mountains of Idaho. It's exceedingly remote and is next to a small lake. There is no running water or even an outhouse. Just a one-room cabin with a bed and some furniture, and a beautiful view."

"Send me."

I felt a push, and then I was lying on a bed in a new room. I got up and looked around. It was cold, so I grabbed a blanket.

I was in a rough log cabin, exactly as Petra had described. It was small and cozy. I walked to the window and saw there was snow outside.

There was a pop and I turned around. Petra was standing in the middle of the room. "Oh my god, it's cold," she said. "She pulled a blanket out of a chest at the foot of the bed. "It worked!"

I smiled. "So you can send me. That means you'll be able to send Beth, and Andrea will be able to send Erika. I wonder if you can send me somewhere that Andrea owns, if she gives you permission. Or somewhere
Renea
owns."

I hugged her. "It's cold though."

"Snow bank time for you!" Petra said.

"No way," I said. I tried to pop back to the tower but didn't go anywhere. "Um. Something is wrong. I can't go back to
Siriena
."

Petra smiled wickedly. "I know. You need to wash off all your naughtiness in a snow bank before you can go back!"

She started stalking me around the small cabin. I backed away from her. She made a grab for me, and I tried an aikido throw. She reversed it and somehow picked me up over her shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down."

I tried to pop back to the tower.

"No, no, no," she said. "That's not going to work."

"Bully!"

She stepped to the door, opened it, and carried me outside onto the deck. The only consolation I had was she had to walk through snow to do it. Then she gave me a heave and I went sailing over the railing to land in a deep pile of fluffy snow. I immediately started shrieking.

Then I felt a pull, and I was back in the tower.

"Cold! Cold! Cold!" I said.

Petra was laughing. "You!" I said. "Get up on that bed. I need to warm my tongue."

"You are so romantic," she said. But she climbed on the bed. I crawled over to her, pulled her to the edge, and grinned wickedly at her.

She started to shriek when I put my cold hands on the insides of her thighs. But her shrieks changed soon when my tongue got involved.

I watched Andrea and Petra summon Erika and Beth. Beth immediately squeezed my hand when I offered it to her. Once they were both there and looking at me, I told them, "Remember what I said about paybacks?"

I moved to their feet and began tickling them. I only kept it up for a minute,
then
I kissed them on the foreheads. "I love you both." Their eyes followed me, but they still weren't able to talk. Soon.

I'd been watching Petra and Andrea. To avoid bothering them, I went to the other side of the room, knelt down, and began thinking about Karen. What harm could this cause, right? I began humming and trying to weave the magic, thinking about Karen and thinking about the magic wrapping around and through her. I felt something, but I couldn't have told you what.

I closed my eyes and zoned out to the feel of the magic, thinking about Karen and the magic, the magic and Karen. I tuned out what was going on in the rest of the room and the rest of my life, and just tried to feel the magic and imagine Karen sliding into the room, wrapped in my magic as if I were holding her.