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A flash of understanding hit, and I sneered. “So that’s why you’re in such a foul mood today. Maybe instead of attacking me, she should have handled her emotions like asaneperson. Then I wouldn’t have needed to get the sheriff involved at all. I can admire being there for your friend, but maybe you should consider doing so in a way that doesn’t makeyouout to be an awful person.”
When she didn’t seem ready to move out of my way, I shouldered past and set the dishes down in the kitchen before she could play more of her childish games. But just as I was making my way out to another table, a flash of movement came from the corner of my eye.
Only my quick reflexes let me dodge the worst of the hot coffee Emily casually threw my way. All eyes were on us now as I held my shirt away from my skin before it could burn. Emily’s face was twisted into a superior smirk, the sight raking claws down my back and fraying my temper.
“Oops, I must have tripped. I’m so clumsy.” She said, her lips curling in such a pitifully fake smile that it was all I could do not to drag her outside to beat it off her facenow.
But that wasn’t the appropriate adult response, so instead, I took several deep breaths and turned on my heel. I couldn’t work with this kind of hostility, and talking to her would be useless. She wasn’t going to act like a sane adult, which meant I would need to go through the proper channels if I wanted this handled.
I hated reporting people, but if she was going to be petty and throw burning hot coffee at me because Diana was stupid enough to attack me at work, in broad daylight, then she deserved whatever punishment was given to her.
Besides, I had enough on my plate as it was and I wasn’t going to be dealing with this too.
Before I could make it two steps to Mr. Hern’s office though, Emily’s voice chimed in over my shoulder. “Not even going to fight back?”
As if I’d give her the satisfaction.
Not looking her way, I pointedly walked into Mr. Hern’s office while saying just loud enough for her to hear. “Iamfighting back, but not in the way you want.”
I caught her confident smirk falling into a fearful frown as she lurched as if to stop me from entering the office, but I slammed the door in her face before she could grab me. Mr. Hern sat at his desk, raising a brow at the display, and I dipped my head in apology.
“I’m sorry for the dramatics, but I need to know what the procedure is for reporting a coworker for harassment.”
Immediately he sat straighter, his eyes sharpening with anger as he hissed. “Was it the new dish boy?”
I shook my head. "I should have specified it wasn’t sexual harassment.”
He relaxed a hair, nodding to the chair opposite to him, then he said. “I’m glad, but how about you tell me more? I feel like there’s a story here.”
I sat, doing what he said. I hadn’t wanted to ‘tattle’ on Emily, but if she was going to act as deranged as her friend, then I wouldn’t be tolerating this in the workplace.
Keeping that in mind, I met Mr. Hern’s eyes and told him the truth.
“It’s Emily. She’s always been…heavily disapproving of my friendship with Oliver, throwing barbs and trying to warn me away from him. When we started dating, her attitude turned even further south. Today was the worst of it, thanks to her friendship with Diana and my supposedly getting her into ‘unnecessary trouble’ with the sheriff.”
I paused for breath, taking in the stormy scowl curling Mr. Hern’s lips. Choosing my words carefully, I continued. “She escalated from verbally attacking me to trying to trip me with an armload of dishes, and then threw a pot of coffee at me that I–thankfully–dodged for the most part.”
I gestured down to my uniform. “If you check the cameras, it should be easily proven.”
He opened his computer, typing for a minute, then staring at the screen. After a beat, his ears all but poured steam from anger, and he seethed.
“I see that. You can go back to work now, Ms. Cordova. I’ll be having a talk with Emily after you do. You can rest assured, thiswon’thappen again.”
I nodded, leaving after muttering a quiet thank you. The second I walked out, Emily was on me, her hand fisted into my shirt as she sneered with an undertone of fear in her voice.
“What did you tell him?”
I glared at the hand still tightly wound into my shirt before wrenching it off. “The truth, if you didn’t want him knowing that, thenmaybeyou should have acted like the adult I was trying to be.”
Then I walked around her, not wanting to see her features turn purple with anger. I felt more than heard her try to make another grab for me, but her hand never connected.
“Emily, I need to talk to younow.” Mr. Hern’s voice cut through the air, his frame taking up the doorway as he glared down his nose at Emily. She froze, sweat beading along her forehead as she tried to smile and play innocent.
“I have no idea what for, Mr. Hern. If it has something to do with Jen, I’d like to point out that she's a liar and-.”
He laughed, the sound colder than ice as he cut her off. “I looked at the cameras, Emily. Are you saying that somehow they’re wrong? That I didn’t see you harassing Jen twice today with little provocation other than your friend doing something stupid and getting what she deserved for it?”
She blanched, all the color fading from her face as she sputtered. “There’s been a misunderstanding, I’m sure-.”
