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ChapterTwenty-Five
Beth made her way back to her office with her head held high, ignoring the wide-eyed curiosity from the many heads that were bobbing up above the walls of their cubbies.
It was nothing but fighting talk, of course, the little speech she’d left Bob with. She really had no idea if what she’d said had any substance but socking it to him like that had made her feel good. And if nothing else, she hoped it gave Bob a couple of sleepless nights.
And no, it wasn’t strictly true that her words were meritless. What she’d told him was the truth. But she guessed if someone had devoted the entire 10 days to the ComTech account they might have completed it effectively, especially with the help of her written notes. But not all three.
Then again, who said there was only one player here? Could be that two or more people could have teamed up to claim her bonuses.
The idea that there might be more than one person in this godforsaken company, willing to stab her in the back, helped her accept she’d made the right decision.
Even if her life, as she knew it, was hanging in the balance right now, and the future stretched out like a frightening void in front of her.
As she headed towards her office Beth saw Lisa again, locked in what looked like an animated conversation with a newish guy Beth didn’t know well. When Lisa saw her coming, she quickly looked the other way and the two of them immediately stopped talking and started rapidly walking down the corridor.
Beth narrowed her eyes as she considered their hastily retreating backs. Lisa was acting weird again… just like this morning.
Like she had a guilty conscience, perhaps?
And as the person Beth was closest to in this hellhole, Lisa was also one of the few people who knew about her preference for making written notes, rather than using online files.
She pursed her lips, and instead of going straight to her own office, Beth made a detour via Lisa’s empty cubby.
It was all neat and tidy and nothing looked out of place. There was no sign of Beth’s distinctive patterned notebook on Lisa’s desk, but if you stole something you wouldn’t leave it in plain sight, would you.
She looked around the small space trying to imagine where someone might hide contraband. The desk drawers were a bust. Maybe Lisa - because Beth’s money was on Lisa - was smart enough to keep it at home. Except it wouldn’t be much good to her there, would it?
Maybe the guy she’d been arguing with had it. But if Lisa had gone to the trouble of stealing it, Beth couldn’t imagine her entrusting it to someone else.
But there wasn’t really anywhere else, unless…
Beth stared at the box Lisa’s monitor was raised up on. Was it possible?
Without waiting to consider whether it was a good idea or not, Beth moved the monitor and inspected the box. It wasn’t like she had anything to lose after all. She’s already quit, what else could they do to her? Didn’t seem like Bob would be interested in the option of pressing charges considering his reaction to everything she’d told him a moment ago.
And bingo!
She pressed down on the lid of the box, and it popped open. And there it was. Her own notebook. She picked it up and didn’t let it out of her hand again, even while she struggled to put the monitor back into place.
“Hey, what are you doing in my private space?” A voice screeched from behind her.
Lisa.
Beth was surprisingly calm as she turned to face the woman who had stabbed her in the back.
“I’m just taking back my private property. Funny how it ended up in your private space, isn’t it?”
“You can’t take that!” Lisa lunged for the book, but Beth rapped her on the knuckles with it as she tried to snatch it away.
She got right up into Lisa’s scrawny little face. Sometimes there was an advantage to being a big girl, and Beth had no qualms about using it to be intimidating. “This is my book,” she growled, her eyes flashing fire. “It has my name on it, and my personal details inside it, in my own handwriting. You can go squeal to whoever you think might listen, but they might be more interested in how you came to have stolen property hidden in your cubby. Especially after I file a complaint about my accounts being hacked.”
Beth didn’t actually hold out any hope about that going anywhere, but she wasn’t going to let Lisa know that.
Then she marched back to her office to pack up her few meager belongings.
She’d just finished when Bob came hurrying in to find her. Lisa hot on his heels. Seriously?
He glanced at her notebook, where it lay in the top of the box with her other personal items, then at Lisa. “I’m afraid that will have to stay here, if it has client information,” he said with a mulish look on his face. Data protection rules and all that.”
Beth raised a single eyebrow and picked up the book before either Bob or Lisa could. “Data protection only applies to digital information, Bob. But you’re right. It is confidential. As is all of my personal bank and investment information, so no. I won’t be leaving it here. There’s no telling what other account theft might occur in this place.” She slid her eyes to Lisa, who looked away. “But don’t worry. I have an idea.”
She flipped through the first couple of dozen pages until she reached blank space, then ripped them out of the book.
Lisa held her quivering fingers out to take them, but no way was Bethany allowing that to happen. “Of course, these are my personal insights into my clients. Little notes I make about where past issues have occurred, to smooth things out in the future. Client preferences for formatting, that kind of thing. Bullet points about what work needs to be done on their files. Nothing anyone here needs access to since the files have been closed out. Nothing someone can’t work out by working through the remaining open files. But you’re right. Since it’s confidential, we need to make sure the information isn’t abused.”
She walked around her desk, but instead of placing the pages in Lisa’s sweaty, thieving fingers, Beth dropped them into the industrial shredder.
“No!” Lisa’s horrified shriek was drowned out by the whirring noise of the blades as they devoured and minced the paper.
And with that, Beth grabbed her box of belongings and marched out of her job without a backwards glance.
