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Tall, pale, and gangly, he reminded me of a greasy insect. His light hair always fell into his eyes in limp strands, his face was twisted into a perpetual sneer, and though he wore designer clothes, usually polos, sweaters, and jeans, they never seemed to fit right. Plus, there was always a strange, almost mildew-like scent that clung to him, as though he didn’t properly wash and dry his clothes.
Or maybe he just had bad breath.
“Good morning, by the way,” he said, his tone somewhere between sarcastic and amused. It flicked on the raw edge of my nerves, and I willed the elevator to get to the twenty-fifth floor faster.
“Good morning,” I said, watching him out of the corner of my eye. I’d made a point not to ever be alone with this fuckwit and here we were.
“Don’t people usually offer a smile with a greeting?” He asked.
I sucked in a breath, even as my body locked up more, rage filling me, and I couldn’t help muttering under my breath, “Is that a rule?”
“Yeah,” Zakary said, and elbowed me, making me flinch. I caught a triumphant grin on his face as I went to tell himnotto touch me, when he continued, “Especially on a Friday, Sara. I mean, you look like your best friend died.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Sara
My entire body went cold, and my stomach lurched so bad, I thought I was going to throw up. Both hands shook and I had to press my right elbow into my body to prevent my coffee from spilling. Questions burst inside of my skull like gunshots and heat pressed against my eyes.
What the fuck did he just say? Why the fuck would he say that?Panic screamed up my spine and wrapped invisible cords around my throat.He can’t know. It’s just a weird coincidence. He doesn’t know anything about Lia—she’s not—
“Elevator,” he said, and too late, I realized that we were the only two people waiting for the elevator when the doors opened, and I couldn’t escape, not when Zakary stepped closer, and I sensed him going to touch my lower back. All I could do was step inside to avoid him.
The doors shut us in, and I tried to move to the back corner, only for him to follow, treading that line of standing just a little bit too close.
Fucking twat,I thought as I offered him a demented smile.Is this smiley enough, jackass?He raised an eyebrow and I asked, “Excited for the all-staff and hearing the updates onIris-Beta?”
If I thought that might fill the interminable minute, we had to share stuck on this elevator, I was wrong. He scoffed and leaned over, shaking his head at me as though I were a child who needed to be indulged. “Of course, you’d be excited about that silly program, Sara. Let me guess, is it the user interface? Do you think it’spretty?”
Oh my God.I told myself that I couldn’t bite this man and risk jail time—at least not before I found Lia. A year ago, I’d made the mistake of getting excited in a meeting and raving about the interface of one ofMoxi’sproducts, howprettyI’d found it, but also useable and logical. It had been a masterpiece—a genius output of July and her team.
Also, how fucking creepy was it that he kept harping on something that I’d said ayearago?
“I do think it’s pretty,” I said in a calm tone that impressed even me. “But that’s not why I like it. I think it has interesting use cases.”
“Like what?” Zakary demanded with a scowl. “Have you even used it beyond the out-of-the-box modalities?”
“Actually, no—just outside of the box, Zack,” I said, knowing full-well he hated having his name shortened like that, and also wouldn’t understand what I even meant. “But I understand if you don’t want to get into the code trenches.” I gave him a broad, gentle smile. “It is written C++ with Scheme elements.”
Part of me quaked inside when those words came out of my mouth, wondering if I’d gone too far, and if Zack might report me to HR. I put nothing past him, always making comments that were borderline racist or misogynistic, but never quite crossing the line that I could report to HR. Even though Taisha, Morgan, July, and I were all certain that he was the reason that Ana, a sweet Chinese woman who’d been studying at Boston University, had abruptly leftMoxiearlier this year.
Zakary gave me a condescending smile and shook his head, but there was an ugly glint in his eyes. “I have better things to do than dick around with that program.”
“Hm,” I said and glanced at the numbers ticking upward, willing this elevator to move faster.
“I could show you, you know,” Zakary said, and he edged closer. Every nerve in my body went on high alert, jangling and shrilling, willing him away. But he was oblivious, even as I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t know why you’re so insistent on hanging out with those UX designers and program devs. I know the real deal.”
We have basically the same job, Zakary, which is ludicrous because you have zero idea of what you’re doing,I wantedto say, but I nodded, and pulled out my phone, even though that meant both my hands were occupied and I couldn’t defend myself. Except if I threw my coffee in his face.
Suddenly, his hand clamped on my wrist, and I almost dropped my phone. “You don’t have to be shy about the difference in our skills. I can bring you up to speed.”
“Please let go of me,” I said in a low voice and Zakary sighed, rolling his eyes, and making a big show of letting me go. I knew what was coming next and I wanted to cut him off at the pass. “And I’m—”
“It’s just dinner,” he snapped, and I jolted. “Dinner and talking about work, about coding. I don’t know why you have to such an uppity b—” He cut himself off, paling even more as I tilted my head and stashed my phone away.
“Such an uppity—what?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said and swiped at his upper lip. “A bore. You’re so boring, always saying no. I’m the only one who can teach you, Sara, and get you to the next level. Not those diversity hires you hang out with downstairs.”
