I froze. I tried to take a breath. I tried to remember that the promotion would be decided in a matter of days, that now was a time more important than any to remain levelheaded and rise above her tricks. I tried to think about all that I had worked for, but she continued spewing her vile words and I couldn’t see anything but red.
“How do you think she likes it? Think she begs him to take it in the ass?”
I could ignore her silly rumors about how many buttons of my blouse were undone or about how I strutted my stuff when I walked by the people I worked for. I could handle that, but when she attacked my integrity as a person, I would stand up for myself no matter the cost.
I turned around, only to find Miranda watching me with her ruthless gaze. She was waiting for me to falter. I knew that, but I couldn’t hold myself back. My fury was too strong.
“You fucking liar,” I spat, loud enough for the entire office to hear. “There is nothing between Robert and me and you know it. We had coffee once to discuss the talks he attended at the conference and that’s it.”
“Is that why I saw you kiss him before you left? When you thought no one was looking?” she lied brazenly. She hadn’t seen that because it had never happened. She was just fabricating nonsense now.
“You made that up, you spiteful bitch. I never kissed him, and you know it,” I snarled. I wouldn’t let her win.
I had a mug of coffee in my hands and I struggled to maintain a hold of it. It wasn’t good coffee by any means, and it had been made more than an hour ago, so it wasn’t even remotely hot anymore. Miranda strode toward me with vindictive audacity. I turned away in hopes of slamming my office door in her face, but she grabbed my arm and I swung around. The coffee mug slipped out of my fingers and crashed into the wall, but that wasn’t the worst of it.
The full mug of coffee splashed all over my boss, Colin Harrington.
He stood there, glaring at the two of us, but his gaze settled on me. He was annoyed. He didn’t need to say it. The entire office went silent and I could hear the terrible sound of coffee dripping onto the floor. I stared at him in horror, watching as the liquid spread across his chest. His white shirt was probably completely ruined.
“Keri, my office. Now,” he yelled, and no one else said a single word, not even Miranda.
“Yes, sir,” I whispered. I was mortified.
Fuck.
I’d fucked it all up. I’d let Miranda get to me and I’d ruined everything.
“Someone call a janitor and get this cleaned up,” he blurted impatiently, and Miranda nodded. She had the smuggest expression on her face. She thought she had won. Maybe she had and I was about to get fired. Maybe I’d screwed everything up.
“I’ll get right on it,” she answered as if she was the most innocent angel in the world.
I wished that I could punch her right in the nose. Or even better, straight in the tits. I didn’t say anything at all though because I was scared. I walked into my boss’ office instead and took a seat as he slammed the door behind him.
He shut the blinds and turned back to me, his face red with fury.
“I should fire you right here,” he growled.
“I’m sorry, Colin. I’ll pay for the dry cleaning. I’ll buy you a whole new suit if you want to replace the one that I ruined,” I said softly.
“I don’t care about the suit,” he answered.
“She’s making up rumors about me. I’m not the person she says I am. I would never do what she says I did,” I choked.
“Keri, I know that and right now, that’s the only reason I’m not firing you on the spot,” he replied.
“You’re not?” I asked, finally braving a glance in his direction. His red face had turned pink and as he took a deep breath, I watched as he shook his head.
“I’m not, but I can’t let behavior like that in this office go unanswered,” he replied. “You’re going to go home. You’re going to take a week off and next Monday, you and I will sit down and reevaluate your position here,” he continued.
“And the promotion?” I ventured hopefully.
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes,” he answered. He gave nothing away, but with his words my hopes were dashed.
“What about Miranda? She’s the one who started this whole thing,” I ventured cautiously.
“She’s not the one who made a fool of herself in front of the entire department, did she?” he chided with exasperation and I dropped my head.
“No,” I responded, knowing that’s what he expected to hear.
