Love In The Jungle by Ann Walker

Chapter One
    “C lara?” My boss’s voice cut through my thoughts,
and my cheeks flushed when I realized I’d spaced-out while seated on the other
side of his unnecessarily enormous desk. “Do you understand what’s required of
you? I thought the email was pretty clear.”
    I swallowed hard, hating the way he talked to me like I was
a third grader who didn’t understand a math problem. Sure, the email had been
informative in the succinct manner that I was accustomed to from the
higher-ups, but that didn’t mean I was okay with the content. I wasn’t spaced
out and dreaming about hunks or anything; my mind was a mess with what I’d been
tasked with, and I’d found it hard to concentrate on anything since that email
found its way into my inbox.
    “I just…” I trailed off with a sigh, then shook my head.
“Hal, this is a lot to ask of—”
    I noticed his jaw clench somewhat before he remarked, “It’s
your job, Clara.”
    I wasn’t going to say that it was a lot to ask of me .
No, it was a lot to ask of the managers I had to break the news to. The company
had a very tight year, and it was my responsibility to tell all the in-store
managers—who worked hard to push our electronics year-round—that they needed to
cut employees, then cut the remaining workers’ hours as much as possible. Too
much competition in the market to keep going the way we were, apparently.
    “Time to make some cutbacks. Fire some underlings. Do a bit
of restructuring”. I said under my breath.
    It didn’t feel right to me. I’d been one of those sales
associates in high school. I’d worked there to finance my university business
degree, and the company had been good to me ever since. Hell, I was one of the
few women in the senior tiers of the entire company.
    I should have been grateful I wasn’t in here to get fired, I
guess. Maybe I should have sent a thank-you email to Hal for not firing me
through the computer. But it didn’t sit right with me. I’d rather take a salary
cut than lay off hundreds of hardworking people across the country. Our store
was nationwide, with major outlets in almost every state except Alaska and
Hawaii. In my opinion, we could afford to keep our people.
    But no one wanted to listen to the chief PR executive
because I don’t deal with numbers—I give the company a shiny, smiling face for
the public, and I make sure my legion of HR folks do their jobs right and don’t
get sued by a disgruntled employee.
    Aside from it being a questionable moral decision, letting
go of this many workers was going to be a PR nightmare.
    “I’m going to have to think this over,” I insisted after a
slight pause.
    His thick eyebrows shot up as he glared at me. We’ have
always gotten along, but I felt Hal was looking for ways to replace me with
someone who didn’t question his decisions. I mean, who could blame him?
Regardless, I figured he needed someone around to question his ethics from
time-to-time—like now, for instance.
    “What’s to think over?” He held up his hand when I drew a
breath to speak. “No, it’s really simple. This order comes from the higher-ups…
higher up than me. You take your assignment; you spread the word to management,
and you follow-up to make sure they’ve cut the hours. End of story.”
    “But Hal—”
    “We’re not discussing this further,” he said dismissively,
his eyes flicking toward the door. “I only called you in here because you
hadn’t replied to the email to confirm you received it. I expect you to carry
out your job by the end of the day.”
    I hesitated before leaving, and Hal let out a long sigh.
    “Part of working at corporate is making the tough decisions,
Clara,” he told me. He then turned on his desktop monitor and began clacking
away at his computer. “You can’t care what other people think of you if you
want to survive here.”
    Biting down hard on the insides of my cheeks to keep from
snapping, I pushed the chair back and stood.
    “Thanks,