Page 15

“Vacation.”
Janice fires another name out of her mouth. “Jodie?”
“In meetings all day.”
Like a tennis match, my eyes ping-pong back and forth between them.
“Jessica?”
“Also on vacation. And everyone else is either in meetings, busy, or unavailable today.”
Janice places her hands on her hips and arches her neck back. Eyeing the ceiling, she lets out a long-exaggerated sigh.“Do I have to do everything around here?” Dropping her head, she pins me with hertakes no shitglare. “You can take minutes.”
“Yes,” I reply, unsure of what is going on.
“It wasn’t a question. Follow me.” Janice spins on the balls of her feet and hastily moves between the sea of desks. “Samantha, pull up the forms.”
“Yes, Janice.” The girl I now know as Samantha follows behind us as her fingers move fast across her screen. “Here.” She holds the laptop in front of me. “Sign the space that says signature with your fingertip. It’s a touchscreen laptop.”
“What am I signing?” I ask, confused, because I can’t see the document heading.
“An employee confidentiality agreement,” Janice replies coolly.
Of course, I expected I’d have to sign something like this. It complicates my larger plan, but if I want to avoid drawing attention to myself, I’ll comply.
Using the pad of my pointer finger, I sign my name and hand the laptop back to Samantha.
“This way.” Janice marches past the elevators to another elevator hidden around the corner. She taps a keycard against the wall, the doors slide open, and she hands me the keycard then whips Samantha’s laptop out of her hands and thrusts it into mine. “You’ll need this. It has all the software you are familiar with on it.”
“Where am I going?” I step inside the elevator, feeling bamboozled.
“Top floor. You’ll take the minutes for the meeting as no one else is available for today.”
Holding the door open to stop it from closing me in, I exclaim, “What? No.” Sweat beads across my top lip. “You hired me to be a records clerk.” I applied for that job for a reason.
“Which is ridiculous given that you were a legal secretary before this position and have an impressive résumé, Ari.” Face stern, Janice doesn’t back down. “The meeting requires you to take down the exact wording of all resolutions, decisions reached, and outcomes of motions or proposals. I’ll call Joseph, our top-floor receptionist, to tell him you are on your way up. Congratulations on your promotion.”
Promotion?
No!
This can’t be happening.
My heart drums faster than a heavy metal band against my ribcage. Unconsciously, I throw my hand up in the air, removing it from where they were keeping the door open, causing it to begin closing. “I can’t do this.” My voice rises a few octaves as I step forward but I’m too late and the doors slam shut, sealing me inside.
“Welcome to the company, Ari.” Janice’s voice fades behind the doors, muffled as it penetrates through the thick barrier.
“Shit.” I run my hand through my hair.
This wasn’t what I had in mind.
I hold my hand over my thumping chest as panic like I’ve never felt before threatens to strangle me.
If I have a heart attack right now, it wouldn’t be a bad thing; at least this way I could die in an elevator without ever having to come face-to-face again with the son of the man who ruined my life, or the man I had earth-shattering sex with. It was amazing. Unforgettable.
My strategy started going off the rails on Friday, and my carriage is careering down the track and I’m losing control.
Nothing is going according to plan.