“But that’s ridiculous. This case is exactly what the countermeasures were designed for.” I could feel myself become indignant. “Mark must be lying.”
William’s jaw clenched. “I already spoke to Tara about it. She confirmed his allegations, saying it was what you had told her.”
“You have got to be kidding. I wasn’t even responsible for those plans.” I glared at William, resenting him for treating me like this in front of my peers.
“I didn’t say that I believed her,” William clarified, but he was equally hostile. “We had specific discussions yesterday about who would be responsible for the various aspects of the EPA, and Dan confirms that Tara was in charge of researching this area.”
“Then what is the purpose of this meeting?” I was still angry, but the rush of heat was fading.
“I wanted to let you all know that as of this morning, Tara has been let go. She was asked to empty her office. I refuse to employ someone that lies to me and refuses to take accountability for their mistakes.” William turned to Dan. “You will be taking over her responsibilities on the Palmoil case.”
We sat in stunned silence. None of us had seen this coming. William cleared his throat. “That’s all. You are dismissed.”
It was the most he had ever sounded like an ordinary boss, barking orders. I didn’t like this side of him. We avoided eye contact as I left the room, and I hurried to my office. As I rounded the corner, I ran directly into Tara. If looks could kill, I would have died instantly.
“Thanks a lot,” she growled, her arms carrying a box filled with her possessions.
“Tara, I didn’t have anything to do with this.”
She didn’t listen to my protest. “I saw you.”
“Saw me? Saw me where?” Tara wasn’t making any sense.
“I saw you after the holiday party, getting into the cab with Connor. And I saw the two of you duck into my bedroom on New Year’s Eve.” She continued to glare at me and if her arms hadn’t been full, I’m certain she would’ve slapped me.
“Tara, it’s not what you think.” But in a way, it was exactly what she thought. I was sleeping with the boss.
“You told him to fire me, didn’t you? And of course, he listened.” She smirked. “I guess you don’t have to worry about job security as long as you continue to spread your legs.”
“Tara, I didn’t. I would never do that to you.”
She shook her head furiously. “Just stop. Stop pretending you aren’t a back-stabbing slut. Don’t worry, when Connor is tired of screwing you, you’ll get what’s coming to you.”
I watched her storm away and my chest tightened painfully. The thing that I had feared most since becoming involved with William was now a reality. Someone we worked with had found out.
I needed to talk to someone about it, and I couldn’t go to William. In this case, he was my boss first and my lover second. I needed an impartial party, so I called Thomas. We had been friends for half our lives, and in addition to being a good listener, he had no problem letting me know when I was being an idiot. We met after work at the bar downstairs and it didn’t take long for him to scold me.
“You didn’t really think you could sleep with your boss and not have it come back and slap you in the face, did you?” Thomas flashed his teeth. He was always smiling, even when he was calling me stupid. It was part of his charm.
“No, I didn’t think that. I knew something like this would happen.”
“You just didn’t care?” He ran a hand through his blond hair.
I sighed and took a long drink from my beer. “I cared, I just didn’t care enough.”
My phone vibrated on the table and I glanced at it. I saw William’s name on the screen and despite still being angry with him, I felt myself smile.
“Uh oh. You like this guy,” Thomas observed. “You are totally smitten.”
I rolled my eyes at Thomas and checked the message. William wanted to talk. I let him know that I was downstairs having a drink with a friend.
“I’m not smitten,” I said without conviction.
“Lie to yourself all you want, Harris.” Thomas took my phone away. “I listened to your problems, now you get to listen to mine.”
“Trouble in paradise?” I asked. Thomas was always fighting with his fiancé, Sophia. I had only met her a handful of times because she didn’t approve of my friendship with Thomas.
“Always,” Thomas said. He launched into their latest drama, something about how Thomas spends too much time with his friends. I wanted to be as good of a listener for him as he was for me, but it was at least the fiftieth time I had heard a nearly identical story from him.