I sat at the dinner table, nervously hoping that Dan's boss like the meal. Tom had been in charge of laying off a lot of the executives at the office, and when he suggested coming over for dinner, Dan jumped at the offer. But I was the one who had to cook the dinner and hope that I didn't upset his boss with my average cooking.
Tom was a tall, dark skinned man. Possibly of Hispanic origin, he looked like he used the gym regularly. I had a feeling he did it strictly for appearances and not for the health benefits. I had only met Tom once before, but he struck me as being arrogant and controlling. I hadn't paid too much attention to him before, but now I was forced to as he was paying way too much attention to me and not the meal.
I had dressed like Dan suggested, a casual dress, something that didn't look like we were trying to hard to impress, but showed off my assets. I had a feeling I had exposed too much as I found Tom frequently staring at my breasts. They were modest, but firm and the bra I wore lifted them, displaying them nicely in the pale green dress I wore. Dan hadn't seemed to notice. He was too busy trying to present himself as the ever diligent employee.
"So Mr. Gordon, I've been working on those reports that you wanted and I think you'll like what I've accomplished," Dan said. He had been working late almost every night at the office, trying to prove that he was worthy of keeping his job. It seemed no one was safe in these tough economic times, and there had been plenty of lay offs.
Tom Gordon smiled, "Well, I'm looking forward to reading them. That's part of the reason I came tonight. Would you mind if I take a look at them right now?"
I saw Dan pale at the question, "Um, well I don't have it here. I've been working on it at the office and I'm afraid I didn't save a copy to my flash drive."
Mr. Gordon managed to make my husband squirm with a look and went back to eating dinner.
"But I could drive up there real quick and bring them for you if you like!" Dan said. I held back a protest. It was a fifteen minute commute to his office, and that would leave me making small talk with Tom for thirty minutes.
Tom's face instantly changed from haughty disregard to delighted interest in a second. "That would be fantastic. I would hate to think that I wasted a trip out here. Not that it wasn't worth it for your wife's fantastic cooking. Go ahead and get it and I'll just finish eating while you do that."
Dan nodded and hopped up, grabbing his keys and heading out the door without another word to me. I was instantly furious at him for leaving me without even a word. And now I had to pretend that Tom wasn't undressing me with his eyes.
"So," Tom started, "I'm sure your husband has told you that there have been quite a few layoffs lately."
I nodded and shoved some potatoes in my mouth. It was a good excuse to not have to say a word. Wouldn't want to be rude and talk with my mouth full.
"Good, that makes this part easier." I swallowed the potatoes and looked up at him, my heart pounding. Was he planning on firing Dan? I never really thought Dan's job was at risk. He worked so hard, twice as hard as anyone else at that job. We had a huge mortgage payment, and a large credit card debt thanks to a run of bad luck requiring us to use it quite frequently. I had no delusions about how long we'd last without his job.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, I have been in charge of trimming the fat off this company and making it profitable again. We simply can't afford to keep the office staffed so high. I'm afraid that Dan is on the list of potential candidates for termination."
I started at him numbly. Then I wondered why he would tell me while Dan was gone. Did he want me to break the news to him? I doubted it. Tom seemed the type to want to be the man in control of someone else's life. "What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, I had planned on firing Dan yesterday, I went into his office and was going to get it done quickly, but then I saw a picture of you on his desk and had a better idea."