Chapter 7 - Hale

I know I should have been working; I have plenty to do, but I was making myself a cup of coffee messaging with EMomma. And our conversation stuck with me as I went back to my office.

The parallel to my morning was too much to ignore. And while Portland has many companies who could have newly hired a social media marketing admin, I don’t believe in coincidences.

I may lack a wolf, but I still believe faithfully in the Goddess, and she leaves nothing to chance. So the moment I got to my desk, I pulled up the personnel file on Miss Carlisle. Erin Carlisle, mother of two, last residence… Massachusetts.

Yeah, this is not a coincidence. No way that everything EMomma has told me could match with the information I have about Erin and it not be the same person. Let’s see the similarities. E could stand for Erin, mother of two children who made her Kindred Spirits account.

Part of me wanted to just let it go. Let myself believe it’s a coincidence and carry on as if nothing has changed. Even without Jason, I know exactly what he would be saying. He’d be sarcastic and tell me, ‘Sure, all the companies in Portland are bringing in single mothers from Massachusetts with the first initial of E. Yeah, and I’ve got beachfront property in Utah to sell you.’

I need to know for sure. Because if EMomma is Miss Carlisle, nothing can happen. Kinsley has policies about interoffice relationships. And just to refresh myself on the policy, I pulled it up from the HR p*f. As I’m skimming through the list of procedures, I reach number six and found the article that references this situation explicitly as I’m the marketing direction. I may not be her direct report, but I’m still above her in the company hierarchy.

“Any supervisor, manager, executive, or another company official in a sensitive or influential position with Kinsley Industrial must disclose the existence of a romantic or sexual relationship with another co-worker. Disclosure may be made to the individual’s immediate supervisor or HR director. Kinsley Industrial will review the circumstances to determine whether a conflict of interest exists.” I sighed, reading the article.

While I can at least say there officially is no romantic and least of all sexual relationships between myself and Erin, there had been a slim possibility. And while I know the policy states you would have to report such a relationship to HR, I can’t see it being deemed appropriate given my role in the company and hers.

So with that in mind, I put aside any thoughts or considerations for continuing contact with EMomma. At least until I can confirm if she is or isn’t Miss Carlisle. If EMomma isn’t my employee, I won’t have an issue continuing to talk to her. But if I’m right, and this isn’t a coincidence, all communication in that app will end. It wouldn’t be appropriate to talk to an employee outside business hours and in a dating app, for Goddess sake.

I did my best to focus on work, not how I would address the EMomma/Erin issue. Not an easy task since I’m generally the type that if I get focused on something, I am blinders up to everything else. So, I am sad that I didn’t accomplish much before my lunch break.

My mind was going over the various possibilities. I already know what steps I must take if they are the same person. But her reaction is the variable here. I don’t know her well enough to judge her reactions. If EMomma is Erin, I’ll be disappointed because I won’t be able to keep talking to her. And if EMomma isn’t Erin, I can keep talking to her. A part of me would still feel disappointed because I don’t know what EMomma would look like, but I know I’m at least attracted to Erin.

Before taking my lunch, I reviewed the email from Erin about the new campaign. She has excellent ideas. I’m sure the campaigns she had planned to pitch earlier would have been great and exactly what I was looking for. Probably another good reason why, if Erin is EMomma, I shouldn’t pursue anything with her. I don’t want there to be any weirdness on a professional level.

I typed out a brief but professional email to Erin with Andrews cc’d indicating which direction I am leaning toward and a couple of suggestions in that line of thinking. With that handled, I grabbed my lunch from my mini fridge and headed for the office cafeteria to eat.

I hadn’t intended to address the EMomma/Erin situation until later but given how little I accomplished before lunch with it on my mind, spotting Erin eating alone seemed like a perfect opportunity. I, of course, caught her off guard by asking to sit with her, and it probably didn’t help that I was vague on what I wanted to discuss.

“Was there an issue with the initial ideas I emailed before lunch?” Erin quickly assumed me sitting here was business related. “They were just drafts, so obviously are subject to change and will need improvement.”

I could take that as a sign she isn’t EMomma. Or maybe she just hasn’t pieced together that I’m MountHD. Who knows? Well, I will once I bring the subject of the app up. But first, business, I suppose.

“It’s not about your initial thoughts for the change to the campaign. I replied with some suggestions and directions based on your ideas.” I assured her. I could see her visibly relax, but only for a half second.

“Then what did you want to talk about, Mr. Shelton?” She arched her brow, taking a cautious bite of her sandwich.

I wish I had Jason about now. He was never the shy or hesitant type. He’d have just blurted it out, probably with no tact, but he’d have said it. But I’m not Jason, and he’s not here. We are at work after all, and there are plenty of packmates in the cafeteria right now who could overhear us. So, I have to do this my way. That means thinking through what I’m saying and how I’m saying it.

“This isn’t the easiest subject to broach, especially given we only officially met this morning.” I began. “And even though this is rather embarrassing to ask for my peace of mind, I must. Have you heard of an app called Kindred Spirits?”

Erin practically choked on her sandwich at the mention of the app. Crap. She is EMomma, or I am assuming based on her reaction. I quickly offered her the water bottle she had. “Here, have something to drink. Are you alright? I didn’t mean to startle you like that.”

It took her a few moments, but she got her coughing under control before looking at me. “I… why do you ask? Are you on the app?” She questioned her expression somewhere between terrified, curious, and hopeful. A strange combination, but I guess I can’t blame her. I felt that way when I thought she was EMomma.

“Yes, my son and his fiancée signed me up. I’m asking because I noticed parallels between a woman I’ve been talking to and you, especially during our morning meeting. So, I’m just going to ask, are you EMomma?” I questioned.

All color drained from her face, and she started to sink into her chair. Well, that’s undoubtedly a nonverbal answer if there ever was one. “I…oh god.” Erin covered her face with her hands. “Are you MountHD?” she whispered, her words muffled by her hands.

“Yes.” I sighed because that left no doubt. She is EMomma, and now I have to uninstall that app and pretend it never happened. Okay, uninstalling the app might be extreme. There might be other women who aren’t just looking for someone to fuck. But it does mean I have to terminate all contact with EMomma.

“Fuck. I should have known something was going to go wrong. MountHD seemed too good to be true.” Erin grumbled. “This is just my luck. I don’t know if this is better or worse than Mount HD turning out to be a total asshole like every guy I like. But then again, him being you still leaves that chance. Cause there is no way you aren’t an asshole or something.”

I furrowed my brow as she continued her mumbled rant. “You were or rather are expecting me to be an asshole or something along those lines? You said you tend to attract or rather be attracted to the bad boy type who end up being toxic assholes. But….” I gestured to my mild-mannered dad office look. “I’ve never been that type.”

“So, you say. But I’m sure there are secrets and skeletons in your closet. I wouldn’t be interested in you if there weren’t some hidden issue. Something that would send me running for the hills. And honestly, MountHD sounded too good to be true. No one could be that nice or know just the right things to say.” She shook her head.

Okay, so she’s not wrong that I have secrets. I can’t tell her I’m a werewolf, or I was one. I’m still unsure if I can be classified as a werewolf when I don’t have a wolf. But either way, I can’t tell her anything about that or the pack. But I’m not some toxic asshole. I am nothing like my father.

“I think everyone has secrets they keep. We always keep things about ourselves private, so judging someone for what secrets they might have is unfair. I’m sure you have secrets of your own.” I shrugged.

“But all of that is moot. You are one of my employees, so all communication and interactions should remain professional. I wanted to confirm my suspicion that you were EMomma. And now that I have, I will cease further conversation in the app.” I sighed, gathering my lunch and standing.

“I wish you the best of luck in the app, Miss Carlisle, and I hope that you and your children continue to find more things about this great state and city to explore and enjoy.” I nodded my head. “Have a nice rest of your day.”

As I returned to my office, I told myself this was for the best. It’s the right thing to cut all nonprofessional contact with Erin. I have never crossed a line in business and will not start now.