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“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.
“Just go home, Keri. I have enough to deal with today,” he demanded. I nodded. He opened his door and I left. I refused to meet the eyes of everyone watching as I left the building, especially not the person who’d caused this whole mess in the first place.
I went home and poured myself a big glass of wine, not caring that it was before noon or that I was the only one who was going to enjoy it.
It was fucking five o’clock somewhere, right?
* * *
The next day I woke up with a headache. I hardly ever drank, and I had outdone myself last night. I stared at the empty bottle of wine on the coffee table and made myself a strong cup of coffee to combat it. I poured a healthy dose of creamer into it and sat down on the couch. I had nowhere to go. I wasn’t welcome at work until next Monday came around and that left me dangerously alone with my thoughts.
