A Charitable Scandal

The Security Cameras

The next day felt a bit like a spy movie. I walked with a rigid step through the lobby, making sure to keep track of the reception security officer from the corner of my eye. At one point he looked my way and I diverted my attention to a potted palm tree with a painful snap of my neck. My hand jumped up to the side of my throat, massaging the pulled muscle while I rolled my eyes at my own ridiculousness. However, as I did, I caught sight of a camera tucked away in a dark corner of the lobby. There my eyes stayed, wondering if even then Tamara was staring back.

But that was silly and I knew it. Grumbling to myself and still massaging my neck, I skittered into an open elevator. Once I stepped out into the Pit, though, I was able to take a deep breath. I knew where all the cameras were. I'd worked in the Pit long enough to have spotted all the little black orbs sprinkled across the ceiling. I'd never really given them much notice, but every now and then, I had made it a habit to wave at them or pull a face in case it may bring some amusement to a bored security guard's day. However, it wasn't a faceless security guard anymore, now it was Tamara, watching over my shoulder and whispering her threats in my ear.

I tried to take some consolation in the fact that as long as I was in the Pit, there couldn't be much Tamara could derive from my interactions with Alec. I'd be surrounded by people constantly. Nothing flirtatious could possibly happen there. Even if Alec wasn't aware or concerned about Tamara, he still worried about his appearance in front of his subordinates. He wouldn't possibly get close to me in the open.

"Lex, glad to see you're in. I'd like to..."

"Give me a minute." I didn't even bother to turn and figure out where Alec's voice was coming from. I didn't even know if he was two steps or two yards away from me. All I needed to hear was his voice and that was enough to send me straight into panic mode. I dashed for my office with my eyes fixed on the floor. As I slipped in, I found Emily staring at me with wide-eyed wonderment.

"Is he following me?" I asked in a panicked whisper.

"Who?" she asked, her eyes widening as her eyebrows pinched together.

"Who do you think?" I hissed.

Emily gave me one last look of concern before shifting her weight and glancing past me. Her face was blank and contemplating.

"I don't see him."

I breathed a sigh of relief and started setting up my desk. Then with a grateful plop, I sat down and turned on my computer.

"I pity whatever man is foolish enough to fall for you if this is how you react whenever you get a bad kiss."

I spun around to find Emily just a couple feet from me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You have been acting weird ever since Alec kissed you. Clearly he wasn't any good and you are too nice to just tell him you aren't that into him."

I recalled the kiss, the strength of his grip as he pulled me into it, the pressure of his lips against mine, the tentative touch of the tip of his tongue. I felt a flush coat my cheeks and the hairs along my arms rise.

"It was not a bad kiss." The breathless words broke past my limp lips in order to defend Alec's honor, but then I saw the victorious grin on Emily's face.

"Oh really, do tell."

"You're the worst, Emi." I tried to turn back to my computer, but she put her foot out and blocked my legs from completing the rotation.

"Well, if the kiss was as good as that blush seems to say it was, then why are you acting like a frightened school girl? You're an adult. You two should talk this out like adults. Over a cup of coffee. Or better yet, over a glass of wine...at your apartment."

Emily readied herself for my retaliation, a gleeful smile shining upon her face, but I didn't have it in me. Instead, I looked around the office to see if there was a camera in there too. And if there was, was there audio?

Emily noticed my distant expression and anxious gaze. She dropped her mischievous smile and leaned in with sincerity on her face.

"I was just playing. I didn't realize you felt so seriously..."

"I got a phone call."

The confession just came out without warning. I felt like a bubble was expanding in my gut and if I didn't let out the air, I'd just explode. It felt good to release just that little bit and I found breathing came more easily.

"What?" asked Emily, snapping back. "A call from Alec? What did he say?"

She looked out to the Pit, but the shake of my head drew her back.

"No. It was that woman Tamara. She's threatening to get Alec and me fired if I don't back off from him."

"What...?"

I went on to tell Emily about Tamara's threat and her evidence against me. As I finished, Emily gave a sideways scan of the room, her eyes lingering on the ceiling as she searched for cameras.

"That's not right. You could go to HR..."

"And tell them what? To rat out Tamara is to rat out Alec and myself."

"Well, I think my original advice is still applicable here," she said with an exasperated shake of her head. "You can't just avoid him. You need to have a talk with him. You're not going to fix this by dodging him all the time. I mean, he's your boss and a rather active member of your team. If anything, you need to work this out so the project doesn't suffer."

"I know and you're right about...everything. But, to talk to him about this, I would need to get him alone and by doing that, I may end up destroying things anyway."

"Lex..." said Emily with unbridled pity.

"Lex."

Both of us jumped a little in our seats as Alec whipped the door open.

"Sorry," he said, stepping back a little. "I should have knocked, but it looked like you were chatting so I thought I'd..."

"Uh, it's okay Mr. Radcliffe," said Emily with an unconvincing smile. "I should get back to work anyway."

"Sorry, Lex, but it looked like you were done getting settled and we really need to go over our plans for the dinner. The rest of your team is working on their own tasks, so we should get on ours."

I recalled how only the day before he was telling me that everything was under control and how the two of us should try to rest up for the sprint next week. Either he had lied to me in order to get me to stop asking him about the day in the supply closet or he was now making a desperate effort to get me alone so he could talk to me about whatever it was he needed to confess to the previous evening. Part of me thought it was a mixture of both and my resolve to talk to him like two civilized adults started to diminish.

"Okay. Right," I said, clearing my throat and rising from my seat. "Should we do that here? Or would you..."

"I was thinking the conference room, it's empty right now."

"Okay." I swallowed down my fear and looked over to my desk. "Well, I'll just grab my tablet and we can go."

"It's all right, I'm sorry I tried to grab you the second you walked into the door. If you need more time to get settled..."

"You don't need to apologize," I said, shaking my hair off my shoulders, straightening my back and focusing my eyes on my office door. "You're just eager to do your job, just as I'm eager to do mine. No need to get personal with anything here."

I didn't see his reaction, I just walked past him and out to the Pit. I headed to the conference room without looking back.

***

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