Nerd Girl(84)

“The usual. How we met, how long have we been dating, how is it that he’s still single?”

“Oh,” he said dryly, raising an eyebrow. “What did you say to that?”

“I lied, of course. Only Anna and Ethan know.”

“Hmm,” he mumbled.

His brow was furrowed and I could tell he wasn’t entirely comfortable with what I had just said, but what was I supposed to tell my parents? If I told them the truth, they would be warning me that this was happening too fast and I should be careful about trusting him, blah, blah, blah … I just didn’t want to go there with them.

“Anna did ask me whether or not I still had a job.” I looked down at my food and shoved it around a little with my fork. “I wondered the same thing.”

Ryan shifted in his seat and then put his fork down. “We should talk about that.” He looked so serious all of a sudden.

“I have no idea what the HR policy is on something like this, if there even is a policy, but I’m sure Catherine doesn’t want to ever see me again.” I didn’t want to worry him by giving him any indication that this was bothering me so much, but I couldn’t help sounding so distressed.

“I took care of it,” he said matter-of-factly and then looked at me a little guiltily. “I hope you don’t mind.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, needing clarification. “What do you mean?”

He took a deep breath and then exhaled before continuing. “I asked Catherine for a favor. I asked her not to penalize you for something you didn’t know about.”

I looked at him blankly, waiting for more details. I was touched by the fact that the future of my career had been a concern for him too.

“She agreed to let you find another job. She won’t tell the team what happened. You guys will have to agree on what to say publicly.”

I looked at him with shock, blinking several times; I was completely stunned that he went out on a limb like that for me. “Catherine doesn’t owe me anything,” I protested. “I’m surprised that she cooperated with your request.”

“She might be scorned right now, but she’s not a mean or vindictive person,” Ryan said in her defense.

I nodded in acceptance and understanding. “Thank you, Ryan.” I could appreciate the favor that Catherine was doing for me. No, she wasn’t doing this for me; she was doing it for Ryan. I felt a wave of relief and gratitude to the both of them, mixed with guilt for the pain that she must be going through. I can’t say that I would have been as congenial if our positions had been reversed.

“I also spoke to Stephanie Wheeler,” he continued.

“You spoke to her?! What?” I asked with wide eyes. I was mortified. “What did she say?”

His expression was grim. “I had to. She was disappointed; with me, not you. We’ve worked together for a long time. We’ve been peers, as well as healthy adversaries, for a large part of both our careers at MS. I would even go as far as calling her a friend. She gave her two cents on the situation,” he rolled his eyes, “but she agrees this is the best thing for everyone involved. HR will be engaged here of course, since it’s an exception to the normal policy. Remember that technically, you did nothing wrong. You don’t report to me, so this shouldn’t impact your future career at MS. However, it will show that you’ve changed jobs for personal reasons, which will show as being approved by Stephanie.”

I racked my brain for what I might say to explain to my future managers what those personal reasons were. Nothing believable came to mind.

Ryan looked a little irritated as he discussed Stephanie’s reaction and the necessary engagement of HR. “MS policy dictates that you have to stay in your position for a minimum of one year before you’re allowed to switch jobs internally and it also requires manager approval to do so. Anything prior to a year requires GM level approval. There was no way for you to change jobs without Stephanie being informed.”

“She probably thinks I’m a twit now, doesn’t she?” I was embarrassed by all of this somehow, even though I shouldn’t be. I think, in part, it was probably because I was the most junior person involved. I didn’t want Stephanie thinking I was that girl who was stupid enough to have a fling with a senior manager. I knew that Ryan and I were different, but my guess was that Stephanie thought otherwise.

He gave me a scornful look that said I shouldn’t be insulting myself. “She doesn’t understand our situation and she doesn’t need to. It’s none of her business.” His tone was dismissive, but he didn’t deny it.