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She smirks.
‘Why did Caleb have a bad tummy too? A bunch of us know exactly where you were on Monday night, and it was nowhere near him – or eating, for that matter.’
‘Are people talking about why we weren’t here yesterday?’ I try to change the focus.
‘A few of the girls touched on it at lunch. Nicole, of all people, she stamped it right out and asked us all to have some compassion. Compassion. From Nicole.’ She guffaws a little too loudly, turning a couple of heads.
‘Wait…did you say “us”?’
‘Yeah! I was there running interference. They like me; it’s you they’re still trying to figure out. The one thing they do know is that there’s no way anything is going on between you and Caleb. Ugh, gross.’ She shudders for effect.
‘Thank goodness,’ I respond, knowing that I have just lied to Lara.
‘I’ve got your back, girl. You should still watch out for Nicole, though. I know you buried the hatchet, the way you were hugging on Monday night.’
Lara rolls her eyes. It’s out before I can control it.
‘We were hugging because Nicole spiked my drink, Lara. I can’t call the police and I can’t report her to HR, because she’s going to make sure they know that she got it from you. Please tell me you’re not some drug dealer?’
Lara’s shock silences her, but only temporarily.
‘That bitch! I’m going to—’
‘Shhh!’ I try to silence her.
‘Don’t shush me, Aari. This is serious! Seriously, like, what the fuck?’
‘Lara!’
The entire room is now looking at us and Christopher is giving her a look that would freeze a meeker person. I disappear behind my notebook as Lara mouths a quick sorry.
‘Right,’ Christopher begins. ‘Good to have Caleb and Ariella back from a ferocious bout of food poisoning yesterday that rendered them both, weirdly enough, incapacitated at the same time.’
There are a few chuckles and I don’t look up. If Christopher is commenting, it’s bad news. He tends to stay above the fray. It’s one of the reasons I like him.
‘Let’s kick off.’
I sink further into my chair and focus on following the events team’s updates, making sure they don’t miss anything, until the meeting is over. Now all I have to do is make it to the safety of my desk. I wait for the room to empty. When Lara and I get up to leave, I see Nicole standing by the open door to our main workspace. She waits for Lara to walk past before she steps out in front of me.
‘Aari,’ she coos, with fake concern dripping from her voice. I want to ask her to use my full name, but I decide that it is easier to get this over and done with. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Fine,’ I answer quickly, trying to get past her.
She moves to obstruct my path out of the room. She wants the whole office to have eyes on us without being able to hear what we are saying.
‘You know it was just a little joke on Monday? No big deal.’ She shrugs.
‘Drugging a person without their knowledge is a crime. I believe it’s also grounds for immediate dismissal, but I’d have to ask HR,’ I deliver matter-of-factly. She knows I’m not going to do that without hurting Lara, but plays along anyway.
‘It doesn’t need to go that far, Aari. It was just a silly joke.Je suis désolée.’ She smiles sheepishly, tips down her head and looks through her eyelashes at me.
I see Lara fuming behind her and choose not to dignify her insincere apology with a response. When she doesn’t get a reaction from me, she turns to exit and the next thing I see is Nicole, almost in slow motion, hurtling through the air, to the ground as a high heel is sent flying. Her head narrowly misses the corner of a desk before she lands on her hands to protect her face. The gasp from the whole floor is almost deafening. I catch Lara quickly tucking an angled, outstretched foot back in. I give her a disapproving look before I drop to my knees to help Nicole. Lara just shrugs a shoulder silently, then steps over Nicole to get to her desk.
‘Get off me.’ Nicole pulls away as a couple of the guys join me. ‘Lara!’ she screams. ‘You tripped me on purpose.’
Lara, almost at her desk now, turns round, calmly clutching her notepad to her chest. She looks more bored than remorseful.
‘Did I?Je suis désolée.’
