I remained motionless, still not completely certain what the hell I was doing. Without turning my head to look, I traced Melissa’s shadow with my eyes as she moved from one stall to the next until at last she reached mine. She seemed to linger there much longer than the others, or perhaps it was just my paranoia getting the better of me. Either way, I continued to remain stone still and dead quiet.
“Okay,” she began, after another second or so. “No one’s here.”
Her shadow grew thin and lengthy as she walked away from the stall. I repositioned myself a bit, tugging my hair behind my ears as I did. The sickening sweet smell of pine-scented cleaning products filled my nostrils as I waited for them to speak.
“Mmm, ‘kay.” Amanda said with a hint of trepidation in her voice. “I’m still not comfortable talking about this in the office.”
“Bah,” Melissa grunted. “There’s nothing to worry about. She’s probably upstairs in Gabe’s office sucking his cock right now.”
My suspicions confirmed, I thinned my lips as I fought to restrain myself from lashing out at them.
Stay calm Fiona. Stay calm.
Amanda chuckled at Melissa’s crudeness. “Yeah. Lucky slut.”
Around that time, I heard the distinctive thud of a heavy purse being placed on the sink. As I did, Amanda picked up an apparent conversation thread they’d had going before they entered the bathroom a minute or so ago.
“Well…” she said over the course of lengthy exhale. “What else can we do? She’s in charge now. No matter what, she’s Gabe’s pick.”
“Mmm, hmm,” Melissa muttered in apparent agreement.
Amanda continued. “Did you see the way he touched her when she went up to the front of the conference room? Not to mention when he leaned into her as well. What the hell is that all about?”
“I know.”
“It’s so annoying. We’ve been here so much longer than she has.”
“Well, we underestimated her, Amanda. But that’s okay. There’s still time to remedy it.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“It’s too risky to talk about right now, but we’ll discuss it later. Fiona already doesn’t trust us. The last thing we need to do right now is make that any worse.”
“True.” Amanda said, after a moment or two.
“And besides, we may not even need to put our plans into motion. Chances are Gabe will lose interest in her in no time. You know how he is.”
“Also, true. There’s always that, isn’t there.”
As she finished her thought, they both cackled with laughter. I chewed my lip. In that moment, I couldn’t figure out who I was angrier with—them, for conspiring to harm me yet again even though I’d never done anything to either of them, or myself, for getting into this situation in the first place. The warning signs were there with them. What the hell was I thinking, sleeping with him? How could I have been such a fool? Reaching up, I thrust my hands into my hair, squeezing it in two tight fistfuls right at my scalp as their laughter subsided.
“In a way, I kind of feel bad for her,” Amanda said.
“You do? Why?” Melissa snapped. Hostility and frustration laced her tone as she continued, “She got the promotion we wanted and she’s fucking him at the same time.”
Amanda hummed as she contemplated Melissa’s reply. “Do you… really… think he’s fucking her?”
“You don’t?”
“I don’t know.” Amanda said with deep exhale. “Seems like a big step down for him.”
Melissa let loose with a sinister chuckle. “Yeah, big is the right word isn’t it?”
“Haha,” Amanda snorted in agreement. “I didn’t even think of it that way, but you’re right.”
Melissa added to her insult. “Anyway, she doesn’t have the stomach for it. If we mess up a test here or botch a report there, that’s all it will take. There’s no way Gabe is going to tolerate that from her.”
“Well, what if she complains to him and says that we did it deliberately? He could fire us also.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t have to go to such an extreme. You’re giving her way too much credit, Amanda.”
“I don’t know.” Amanda replied with a rising tone. “She caught us by surprise once already. What’s to say she won’t do it again? And if…”
“I’ll tell you why,” Melissa said, interrupting her. “Once I explain it to you, you’ll understand. Just trust me. We have nothing to worry about.”
“Okay,” Amanda began. “I’m all ears.”