Page 98 of September

“Usually, it’s just an ask to join them for lunch or dinner because they’re all going to eat anyway. They’re just being nice.”

“Was henotjust being nice?” her boss checked, seemingly ready to pounce on the guy if needed.

“I don’t think so. I didn’t get a weird vibe or anything. He just asked a couple more times when the rest of them had given up already. He’s married with four kids, and he talked about his family during class. I didn’t think he was trying to get me to go to dinner with just him or something else. It was more like he thought I was away from my family and wanted to make sure I wasn’t eating alone unless I wanted to.”

“Okay. Well, if anything ever happens and you’re teaching, you can call me,” Stacey told her. “We have protocols in place.”

“I know. Thank you,” she replied.

“I’m sorry, Juliet,” her boss added. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“I get it, I guess. Can I go back to my desk now?”

“Sure,” he said.

Juliet stood, a little wobbly on her feet, and walked out of the office, turning quickly and heading back to her desk, where she found Molly.

“Coffee. Now,” she stated.

Molly nodded, grabbed her own purse and Juliet’s bag for her, and they were out the door and on the street, walking to the store, within seconds.

“What the hell happened?” Molly asked when they were a safe distance away from the office.

“They thought I was fucking a participant in one of my classes,” she said.

“What?” Molly asked.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Why would they think that?”

“Because of Jordana and her stupid drama,” she replied loudly. “Gwen surprised me the first night and brought Carly. She and I might have gotten a little carried away, but I didn’t know that one of the managers was in the room next door. I guess that explains the weird look he gave me the next morning.”

“He heard you two?”

“Apparently. He thought I was with someone else from the class.”

“Why?”

“Some guy asked me a few times to go to dinner with them. I said no, but the other one reported me. I’m not sure if he reported it against me or to try to protect me from the other guy, but it doesn’t matter. He still reported me, so I had to sit in there and tell HR and my boss that I was having sex with my girlfriend in a hotel room next to a manager in my fucking class.”

“Jesus. Sorry, Jules. I didn’t know, or I would’ve warned you.”

“I know.” Juliet sighed. “I’m more upset about the fact that I was put in the situation to begin with.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I don’t want this job, Molls. If we teach all of our classes here, I’ll go home at the end of every day, and I won’t have to be in a hotel room next to someone in my class. Gwen won’t have to visit just to get some time with me or make sure I eat something decent for dinner.”

“You want them to host the classes here?” Molly asked.

“Yes. It’s stupid that the trainersandthe participants travel when we have space here and can have them all come to the corporate office.”

“You should tell them that. It’s a good idea, and I bet it would save us money, too,” Molly replied.

“It would. And I was going to tell them, but now, I’m just really pissed off.”

“Hey, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve read the rules on travel, and there’s nothing that says you can’t have someone stay in your room with you. As long as they’re not charging the company for their travel or food, you’re not in the wrong, Jules. You’re an adult; you can have sex with Gwen whenever you want. That’s what you have to remember. Was he an asshole to you or something?”