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Lana
Monday morning comes, and I’m rushing into the office an hour late. I had my car serviced this morning to get Jake off my back about getting it tuned up. We spent the day together yesterday, and I promised him that I’d have the car looked at. I’m hoping he will drop the idea of getting me a new car now.
My elevator ride up to my office has me filled with anticipation. I want to burst right into Jake’s office and give him the biggest kiss, smack on his lips. But I won’t. We have to pretend that we aren’t together when we’re at the office. When I pull open the door, I’m surprised by a huge vase of Stargazer lilies and pink roses sitting on my desk. A beautiful card is placed on top.
“Love you, Jake. P.S. Hope you are free on Saturday night.”
There are tickets to a sold-out Broadway show propped against the vase of flowers. My heart starts thumping wildly in my chest. I want to rush into Jake’s office and thank him properly—propriety and office rules be damned.
Who would have thought he would be so filled with charm and thoughtfulness?
Just then, I hear raised voices coming from Jake’s office. Our connecting door is closed, which is strange. For the last several weeks, Jake has been insisting that the door remain open. Whenever I’ve accidentally closed it, he has marched over and opened it again. And it’s also strange that he appears to have a meeting going on. I hear several voices, yet there is no meeting indicated on his calendar.
Not meaning to eavesdrop, I hear my name. It sounds like Dax and Liz are in the room with Jake and another voice that I don’t recognize. I hear Jake raise his voice again, but I can’t make out the words through the thick wood door that separates us. Then, I hear Liz’s softer voice. Again, I can’t make out the words, but it sounds like she may be trying to calm Jake. I try to listen in to hear more, but the sounds are too muffled.
A sinking feeling comes over me. Why wasn’t I invited to this meeting? Though I can’t make out any words, I hear the anger in Jake’s voice coming through the door.
Suddenly, our connecting door is thrown open.
Jake is looking at me, murderous rage showing on his face. “Get in here. Now,” he says through tightly clenched teeth. He turns and marches back over to the table where my colleagues have congregated. Before any words are spoken, I know that something is wrong. Very wrong.
I walk in, and everyone turns to look at me. Dax has a look of disbelief and anger, while Liz has a look of pity.
There is another person in the room, but I’ve never met him. He is dressed in a suit and tie and wire-rimmed glasses. He is a tall, thin guy who reminds me of someone who would probably work in accounting.
He clears his throat. “Lana, you don’t know me. I’m Daniel Osteen from HR. We didn’t get to meet when you originally started here at the Anders Group. Unfortunately, I was on a medical leave of absence at the time.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Osteen.”
He ignores my greeting and continues. He seems nervous as he shuffles some papers on the table in front of him. “Due to my sudden absence, I was unable to do your new hire paperwork. My temp was supposed to handle it, but well, he didn’t exactly do what he was supposed to do. As you are probably aware, your paperwork has brought up some questions.”
All the time that Daniel Osteen is speaking, Jake is pacing back and forth behind him. He has yet to look at me since I entered the office.
Now, he stops walking and looks me dead in the eyes as he speaks directly to me. “Do you have anything you need to say before we go any further, Lana? I’m pretty sure you know what this is about.”
I shake my head and lower my eyes so I don’t have to look at him. I can almost feel the rage coming off him in waves. I don’t trust my voice to speak. I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. My mind is spinning as I wonder how much they know.
“Fine. Then we will continue,” Jake says. “Daniel, go ahead.”
Daniel nods and shuffles his papers again. “I returned to the office just last week, and you can imagine my surprise when I saw that I had three months of paperwork piled up and waiting for me. Knowing how important these things are, I began to work on it. When I got to yournew hire paperwork, I realized that most of it was never processed. They put you on payroll and insurance, all the immediately necessary steps. But no one ever called your references or checked your employment and schooling background.”
While Daniel is talking, Jake continues to pace. But now, he stops. “Was the entire thing fabricated? Did you just copy someone else’s resume from the internet?” He barks the question at me.
Miserably, I look from one face to another. The HR guy, Daniel, is having a hard time meeting my eyes, and Liz has yet to raise her face up. From the looks on their faces, I can see there is no reason to lie any further. They know the truth.
“I did lie to get the job,” I say, my voice small. “I wasn’t qualified on paper, but I knew I could handle it. And I have. I’ve done everything I was supposed to do. And more.”
“I can’t disagree with that. You have most certainly donemore.” Sarcasm drips from Jake’s voice.
Jake knows more. I can see it in the stiff way he is walking like he is barely controlling the building rage within. I want to jump up and reach out to him to confess it all. But now it’s too late. Now I just have to wait and see what else they know and hope he will understand my motives when I explain.
Daniel adjusts his glasses before continuing. “I also noted that your file contained a copy of the background check. This is not our typical background check. This one is much more in-depth and contains personal family information that we would not usually care about. After speaking with Jake, he explained that he had this done because there was a question about your foster family a few weeks ago.”
Jake puts his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “Let me stop you there, Daniel. Still nothing to say, Lana?” The cold, dead calm of his voice is petrifying. He cocks his head, his blue eyes glittering angrily as his gaze sweeps coldly over me.
I feel the tears gathering in my eyes. I squeeze my hands into tight balls, my fingernails digging into my skin to keep myself from crying in front of everyone. I know exactly what he found.
“I can explain, Jake. I know it looks really bad, but there’s an explanation.”
