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Turning to my product manager, who looks nervous and scared as hell, for a moment, I wonder if this has been a horrible mistake or if the act has been deliberate. Could this all have been Aaron's doing, seeing how mad he was yesterday? I shake my head, unable to believe that Aaron would do something so heinous. He's one of the first that knew about All4One before it even became a properly planned action. Would he allow anger to rule him to the point of ruining my life's work?
“I will need suggestions on how we can get All4One back up before the general public notices.”
My heart races with fear at the prospect of the application receiving unflattering reviews.
"I think," my product manager begins, “we should pull it out of all digital distribution services for now. The truth is, as we speak, people could be trying to gain access and could leave very unflattering reviews.”
My blood boils.
“What the fuck happened? Yesterday, the goddamn app was working just fine. Who was the last on it?” I question.
The fear on their faces was so obvious as they gaze back at me, but Beth speaks up.
“I was the last to make a final tweak before the launch,” she says, looking boldly into my eyes. “And I can assure you that there were no mistakes.”
“You think so?” I ask, wondering why I'm suddenly feeling this wave of anger toward her.
“I am very sure. It is something I have been doing for the past couple of weeks,” she explains. When she happens to see the anger in my eyes, she mutters, "You have seen my work, I have never made any mistakes. A plethora of other things would have caused the crash.”
“Yet, this very one happened right after you made whatever adjustments,” I say in a deadly tone.
Beth's eyes are wide with hurt as she gazes into mine.
“Are you blaming me?” she questions in a quiet tone of voice.
“I don't need to blame you for something you have obviously caused,” I scream angrily.
Turning fiery eyes on the rest of my staff, I tell them that the meeting is over, and I'd like to talk personally with Miss Potter. Everyone leaves, with obvious relief on their faces that they are not the ones on the receiving end of my tirade.
Beth rounds the desk and moves toward me but remains some distance away, eyes filled with hurt. “You can't possibly blame me for the crash. We have not looked into other possible factors that could have caused it.”
“What other factors are there to look into?” I question. “I had gone through everything myself before the launch. There had been no hitch, no glitch.”
Beth takes a deep breath and turns away, facing the door instead of me. I resist the urge to move over to where she's standing, to shake her, to rage at her… to take her in my arms and tell her everything will be alright. Because clearly, it won’t be. Her brother hates my guts, and she's somehow done something to sabotage my months of hard work.
This is why fraternizing with employees has always been frowned upon, isn't it? I'd blurred the lines between us so much that even though I know I am doing the right thing by questioning her, I still cannot help but feel absolutely guilty.
“Like I said,” she says in a calm tone of voice that belies the trembling of her shoulders. “Anything could have caused the crash.”
“And that includes the possibility of what you did last night,” I say because no one else has been authorized to play around with All4One except her. I've given her so much access, and I feel a little bad that it's something I am suddenly regretting.
When Beth turns to me, there are no tears in her eyes, but the wave of hurt in those depths causes something inside of me to clench.
“I am sorry that I won't be around to have this fixed, but since you clearly don’t trust me anyway, maybe it’s for the best,” she says, her last words ending in a quiver.
I don't say anything, just continue to watch her. This was not how I'd expected it all to end. I'd known that Beth's time here was borrowed, but I'd always envisioned a more wonderful goodbye, not this tense affair where my heart feels like it is being ripped out.
“Just thought you should know I think the crash will only be experienced by iOS users, whatever happened did not nick the centerfold,” she says as she begins to make her way to her office door, her back to me. “And if that's fixed, everything will be up again.” With that, she gets inside her office, where she begins to pack up.
I continue to watch her, unable to help myself. There's someone there who helps her, the woman I employed to assist her. The duo had gotten really close during Beth's stay here, and I can see the way she sadly pulls Beth into a hug, whispering something that causes Beth's shoulders to tremble in what could have been a low chuckle or a heaving sob, but I cannot tell because Beth's long hair covers her face. And I hate it.
Turning away from the sight, I begin the short walk to my office, where I promptly get to work. I don't think about the fact that, come tomorrow, Beth will no longer be part of the company. And I know that the others will simply assume she has been fired. I don't wonder why my heart physically hurts at the thought of never seeing Beth again in her transparent office. How I will never again see her eyes light up when they meet mine or that evident want and desire that I had always had a knack for knowing.
I push my fingers through my hair in frustration because the last thing I should be doing right now is thinking about Beth. I summon Sam, who promptly appears before me.
“I need you to contact Mr. Yung for me.”
Mr. Yung was a backend developer for All4One and will know what the hell has gone wrong and how it can be fixed. Hopefully, there is going to be light at the end of this goddamn pitch black tunnel.
