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“Yes, actually. I want to talk to you.”
Something akin to fear flashed across Vivian’s face, but she quickly composed herself and nodded. “Come in.”
Emma sat down opposite Vivian, who took a few sheets of paper out of a drawer and handed them to her. “I have the forms for you to lay a complaint with HR here. If you should decide on legal action, I will, of course, settle with you for any amount you want. Rest assured that your job here is safe no matter which course of action you decide on. If you do decide to stay, know that I will never abuse my power like that again. I feel utterly sick with myself. I am the worst—”
“Vivian, stop!” Emma’s mind was reeling, trying to wrap her head around what Vivian was saying. The words were all in English, but they made no sense. “What are you talking about?”
Vivian frowned at her. “I’m talking about what happened yesterday.”
Emma frantically went over the encounter in her mind, trying to pinpoint where Vivian had abused her power. She was coming up blank.
“Vivian, what exactly do you think happened yesterday?”
Vivian closed her eyes. She looked like she might throw up. “I did what I swore to myself I’d never do,” she said in a low voice. “I used my position of power over one of my employees to exploit and abuse them. I have no excuse. I will entirely support whatever course of action you choose to take.”
“What are you talking about? When did you ever abuse your power? You never threatened my job, or even hinted at it. At no point did I feel like I had to have sex with you because you’re my boss. I wanted it, Vivian. I wanted you. I still do. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Vivian was gaping at her as though Emma had just grown another head. “B-but I’m your boss! It’s wrong!”
“It’s only wrong if I didn’t really want you, which isn’t the case, you ninny. Not stop being silly and kiss me.”
Vivian backed away from Emma as though Emma was advancing on her with a knife. “No!”
Emma stared at her. “What’s the problem now? I’ve told you; you’re not coercing me in any way. So unless you didn’t actually enjoy it as much as you thought you did at the time…”
“That’s not it,” Vivian said quickly. “That was… It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, Emma. But it was still a mistake. It can’t happen again.”
“May I ask why not?”
“No,” Vivian said flatly. “Now, unless you have changed your mind about filing that case, I think we both have work to do.”
Emma did her best not to glare at Vivian. She knew that no one owed her an explanation about why they didn’t want to have sex with her, but it still hurt to be dismissed so sharply.
She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to compose herself. “Alright. I have those reports for you on my desk. Let me just get them.”
Emma used the short walk to her desk and back to Vivian’s office to wrench her head back into a working place. She could deal with all the personal drama later. Right now, she needed to get to work.
She was able to lose herself in work for the rest of the day. Things were always busy in the office, which was a nice distraction.
Emma walked past Vivian’s office after the day was over, hopeful to be able to talk to her again. Maybe after working hours, Vivian would be more amiable to having a personal conversation.
No such luck. Vivian was gone, as were a number of her papers. She must be continuing with work at home. Emma felt horrible about chasing Vivian out of her own office, as she was sure that she was the reason Vivian had chosen to go home rather than stay here.
Emma went home dejected. She had thought that Vivian was warming toward her, but it looked like all the progress she had made had merely been a prelude to an even icier relationship. She understood why everyone called Vivian the Ice Queen. Emma thought that she’d been melting Vivian’s walls, but now she’d gotten too close and burned herself on the cold, hard surface.
Well, she could be professional about this. She still loved her job, and Vivian had made it clear that this didn’t affect their working relationship in any way.
There were plenty of other women out there. Emma would simply have to move on.
She had a feeling, though, that this time, moving on would be harder than she hoped.
5
Vivian
“Good morning, Vivian!” Emma bounced into the room, her usual sunny self. “I brought you some coffee.”
“I told you, Emma, you don’t have to keep bringing me coffee. It’s not your job.”
