Page 67 of Making Home with You

I thought about driving, but I knew the traffic home would be much worse than my seventy-eight-minute train ride.The weather is finally starting to break, which means all those commuters who avoided the highway will be back on it, making the gridlock traffic unbearable.

I have little patience left and I imagine after my “meeting” today it will be nonexistent.So the last thing I need is to be stuck in traffic and raging.

The weekend was amazing and I try to focus on that as I navigate the fairly empty sidewalks.My week had been complete shit and to have Finn surprise me with a weekend away made it all disappear.He’s incredibly thoughtful, because this weekend was about us, about me, despite the fact that he’s going through some major shit.

I’m trying to keep calm, but my body is a mix of anxiety, fear and anger, and I feel like my skin is crawling as I think about what is going to happen when I walk into that office and find Andrew waiting for me.

My head is down when I reach the revolving door to the office building so I barely notice the uniformed officer standing outside it.

“Sarah,” the officer calls out and I lift my head.Just the sound of my name can strike fear in me now, but the voice isn’t one I recognize immediately.But I do recognize the face.

“Joe?”I question, wondering why he’s here and why he’s in a uniform.“What are you doing here?”But he doesn’t need to answer; I know immediately.

I cock my head to the side and look right at him, a sheepish grin on his face.

“Your brother,” he responds, shrugging his shoulders and I give a little laugh that’s also laced with relief.

Joe and I met back when I was living with Ryan here in Boston, and to be honest I think Ryan hoped I’d end up with Joe.While he’s a great guy, Ryan had little knowledge of his mad crush on a local paramedic.

“So, I thought I’d head upstairs with you,” he says, gesturing toward the doors with an open hand.

“What have you been told?”I ask, because besides my admission of Andrew’s harassment, I have told people very little.

“Just that your boss is a dick and he makes you uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much the gist of it.”When we get into the elevator I look over at Joe and ask, “What’s with the uniform?”

“Scare tactic,” he replies, chuckling a little and it makes me smile.There’s nothing I wish for more than to scare the shit of Andrew.

“He’s going to question me on why I’m not alone,” I say, my nervousness over the situation returning.

“I know, and I have an idea, but really Sarah, instead of having me scare your boss, you should report him.”

I nod, once again silent on the issue, because Andrew’s words replay in my head.

And don’t go running to HR.Been there, done that and no one gives a fuck.

“I’m sure you don’t need a lecture on harassment, but if you’re uncomfortable, that’s exactly what it is.And I’m sure you’re not the only one who feels this way.”

“I know I’m not the only one, but it seems to be an unspoken rule that we don’t report him.”

Joe looks over at me, his eyes serious and his tone firm.“Rules are made to be broken, Sarah.”

When the elevator door opens on the fourteenth floor, everything is dim, only the overnight lights illuminate the hallways, but Andrew is standing just in front of the door.

He waits for me to step out, my is heart racing and my hands are shaking as he reaches out to grab my wrist.I pull back, my face twisting up into a grimace, but that’s when he notices Joe.

“What the…” Andrew starts, muttering under his breath.He looks at Joe and then at me, his eyes narrow and then he points a finger at me.“Sarah, you’re here for a meeting.This is so un….”

“Hey, man,” Joe jumps in cutting him off.“Joe Callahan,” he says, reaching a hand out to Andrew.“Sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I promise I won’t be a bother.I was supposed to meet up with Sarah on Friday to pick something up.Got tied up at work, you know how it is.”Joe casually shrugs his shoulders and begins to follow Andrew toward our offices.

Andrew has yet to acknowledge Joe, not even when he reached out to shake his hand, but Joe keeps talking.“Just got off shift and when Sarah told me she had an early morning meeting, I figured now was as good of a time as any.”

It’s amazing to me how nonchalantly Joe is acting, like he has no idea that Andrew is a complete and total douchebag.

When we reach our offices, Andrew turns around, ignoring Joe and shooting daggers at me, and says, “We’ll meet later, Sarah.”And he slams his door behind him.

I walk into my office and before I can reach our adjoining door, Andrew slams that too.