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I don't deserve it, but I am instantly filled with a determination to do whatever it takes to become the kind of man who does deserve this life with them.
My dreamy thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door.
"That's Sam," Vanessa says, sliding out of her chair.
She races to the door to answer it, and I hear them discussing something about a lost key. When the woman comes around the corner, I realize it's the same one who answered the door when I stopped by to tell Vanessa she got the job. Well, actually, I stopped by to tell Vanessa off. The job news was forced on me, but god I am ever glad it was.
Sam freezes when she sees me. She flashes a puzzled expression, looking back and forth between me and Vanessa. Addy crosses the room and places a hand on her shoulder.
"Sam, you may not like this...but you see, the thing is when two grown-ups enjoy each other's company and when they're attracted to each other..."
"There's something I need to tell you," she says to Addy. "Ha ha, very funny," Sam and Vanessa chide.
Vanessa mouths something to the effect of "We'll talk later" in Sam's direction, then pulls out her phone to check the time. "We better get going to work." She walks over to give Addy a hug and kiss on the forehead. "I beg of you, please take it easy on Sam and the rest of the world today. Not everyone holds up so well under your amazing fierceness."
I look up with a smirk. "Huh...Reminds me of someone else I know."
Vanessa flashes a smile, then walks off to gather up her purse and keys. I tell everyone goodbye, even though I get the sense they're still warming up to me, and follow closely behind.
Never once in my entire life have I commuted to work with another person by my side. The closest thing to this I've ever had was in college when Vanessa and I might walk to class together. But she was the only one I ever did that with.
We read the news on our phones and drink coffee on our bus ride to the hospital. I have to admit...It's kind of nice doing this with someone else.
The rest of the morning is smooth sailing too. Around eleven, Vanessa says she's going to go catch up with Kate and grab some salad for lunch. Not long after she's gone, the smooth sail comes to a screeching halt. Sturgill storms into the lab with red cheeks, looking mad as a hornet.
"We have a big problem," he fumes at me. "My office. Now."
My heart pounds as I slide off of my stool and follow him out of the room, down the hall to the elevators. He doesn't say a word the whole way up, but he looks pissed with his nostrils flaring and his fists clenched. When we get up to the top floor, he leads me straight into the boardroom. He slams the door behind me and locks it, then closes all of the blinds. I don't understand why he's turning off the lights until he presses play on a video that's projected across the screen at the front of the room.
All at once, one of my worst nightmares comes true. There, plastered on the screen as plain as day, is a video of me and Vanessa having sex in the lab.
Of course. How could I have been so stupid? All of the labs have cameras in them, and pretty high quality ones at that. If someone were to fuck up something big like a dosage or the wrong combination of things, we have to be able to zoom in on what they were doing well enough to prove exactly what went wrong.
It's all crystal clear to me now with the sound of her moans filling the room.
"Okay, I get it," I huff. "Turn it off."
"You get it? Good," he barks, slamming the remote down on the table. "Then I don't have to waste my time explaining how I'm not going to just sit around and let this simmer into a surprise lawsuit. This woman already threatened to sue us once. You just had to go and do something to guarantee she'd do it again, only next time she'll probably go through with it."
"It's not like that," I insist. "Vanessa and I…it's different. We're together. We're going to make a go at things."
His face twists up in confusion and surprise, then he starts to laugh. It starts as a light chuckle at first, then builds into hysterical laughter as if what I just said is the funniest damn thing he's ever heard.
"Give me a break, Ashford!" he cries as he catches his breath. "You in a serious relationship? I don't think so. I know you. I give it three months tops before you get restless and do something to break this woman's heart. Then I'll have to hear about it from her lawyers.
"She wouldn't do that," I argue. "She's a grown woman. I wouldn't do that to her. You don't understand…"
"No, you don't understand," he shouts firmly, slamming a fist on the table. "I can't just go along with this until you realize you're wrong. I won't risk it." He slides a file across the table. "I'm giving you a choice. Either you can go, or Vanessa can. You'll find a termination notice for each of you in that folder. I want one of them to be signed and waiting for me on my desk in the morning."
"This is bullshit," I grumble under my breath. "I have to think about it."
"There's nothing to think about," he informs me, picking the folder up and tossing it at me. "If you're serious about Vanessa the way you say you are, then you need to do the right thing and leave. She's got a bright future here, Ashford. A really bright future. But if you'd rather her have a nice severance package instead, then so be it. Either way, your both getting off easy - no matter which way you slice it. You're lucky I don't fire you both on the spot."
I slowly stand up in silence, my body full of anger and fury. I think about saying something to defend myself, but realize he's right. I let this happen. I was the one who made the move on Vanessa that night. I should have known better. And now one of us has to pay the price.
If there was ever a good time for my old selfish, callous, commitment-phobe self to come back - it would be now.
22
