Page 113 of Stay With Me

“All right, now come back,” Ray called from the other end of the bars.

I’m your what?she wanted to ask.

But she didn’t. This wasn’t the time.

She did, however, feel hopeful that his cut off words were his way of starting the conversation she was beyond eager to have.

* * *

Apremature cold front hit the city of Austin the following week, and the first wicked winter storm of freezing rain blew through town on a Friday, causing traffic to crawl, and Samantha was late for work for the first time in her life.

Significantly late. She typically arrived an hour before most of the staff, but by the time she arrived this particular morning, the office was bustling with activity.

She slipped in unnoticed, but her stomach plummeted when she pushed her office door open to see Martin, as well as Frank Swartz, the branch manager, leaning against her desk with their arms crossed.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” she greeted them, maintaining a cool head.

Martin glanced at his oversized watch. “Seems to be almost past morning.”

She clenched her teeth.

No, technically, eight forty-five is still very much morning,she wanted to say.

“Traffic was terrible,” she mentioned. “You know how Austin drivers can be when there’s the slightest bit of precipitation.”

“Of course,” Frank said pleasantly, gesturing to a chair. “Have a seat.”

She had an instant gut feeling this was not going to go well at all,but took a seat anyway.

“Samantha,” Martin began, casual as ever. “We noticed you were out again yesterday.”

“I left at three,” she clarified. “And it’s been documented in the branch calendar for several weeks. According to company guidelines.”

Martin opened his mouth to speak, but Samantha decided to add one extra bit.

“And as I recall, you both approved my request for personal hours when I originally submitted it.”

“We did,” Martin answered.

Samantha lifted her palms. “Is there suddenly a problem?”

“We just think the necessity to request so much time off is a little concerning.”

“This isn’t a permanent situation, Martin,” she defended herself. “I requested a set amount of time, and when it’s over, I’ll be back here from before open until after close, every day, like I always have for the three years since I began working here.”

“Well,yeesss,”Martin drawled. “But Anderson is in the process of evaluating things. We’re tightening our belt and we want to make sure our team is on board with that vision.”

What freaking vision?she wanted to shout.

But she didn’t. She simply folded her hands in her lap and waited for them to give her a warning and punishment, and mentally prepared herself to apologize to Nick that she wouldn’t be able to keep taking him to therapy.

But apparently, her assessment of the whole situation was dead wrong.

“You’ve clearly been on board with that vision in the past, but since yourmale friend’sincident in August, you seem to have departed from it.”

Her stomach knotted.

“So the fact that I’ve had a personal emergency, the majority of which I dealt with without allowing it to affect my ability to do my job, somehow makes me not on board?” she stated flatly. “Even though I’ve done everything according to company policies and guidelines, andonlytook time off usingcompany allottedpersonal hours—which, by the way, are part of my compensation package—andonlyafter it had been approved?”