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“Long story short, it turned out he was a jerk.”
“Okay, spill. I want all the juicy details.”
We moved to the break room to continue our conversation over morning tea. Brooke set down two mugs of hot tea on a table opposite the window. I pulled out a chair.
“So, what happened?” Brooke asked.
I recounted the story of the date with Leon up to the text message he accidentally sent me this morning, and the realisation he was seeing someone else.
Brooke grimaced. “Yikes. What a douche.”
“I shouldn’t have got my hopes up. Think I’m ready to swear off dating apps for good.”
“How old was the guy?”
“Twenty-seven. Same age as me.”
“Maybe that’s your problem. Boys in their twenties are too immature. Why don’t you age up a little?”
“Most guys in their thirties are already taken, and the ones that aren’t… well, they seem to be single for a good reason.”
“Oof. I know what you mean. But there are some decent men out there. You just have to?—”
Something in the background caught my attention and drowned out the rest of what Brooke was saying. My focus shifted to the window behind her.
The world slowed down. All I could hear was the blood rushing in my ears and my beating heart.
Something was falling. No… someone. A body soaring straight down outside the building.
My mug slipped from my grasp and hit the table, splashing the remnants of my tea. I shrieked.
Chapter Two
Amonth had passed since the CEO jumped from the roof, but the haunting image lingered in my mind. I avoided the fifth-floor break room, opting to use the kitchen facilities on the sixth floor instead. No one questioned my change of routine.
I came back downstairs after putting my lunch in the fridge. As soon as I pulled out my chair, Brooke descended. “Have you seen the latest article in the Herald?” she asked.
“No. What article?”
“Well, apparently, Alex was being audited for financial discrepancies in the business at the time of his death. That’s why the police closed the case, ruling it as suicide.”
I let her words sink in, mulling over their implications. Something didn’t sit right. “Why steal money from the company? He was already rich enough.”
Brooke rolled her eyes. “Duh. Greed, of course.”
Ellen stuck her head through the gap between our monitors from the other side, joining our conversation. “I wonder if that means the other rumours aren’t true.”
“You mean that he was having an affair with an employee?” Brooke asked.
“Yeah. And the one about the rickety railing up on the roof—that maybe someone had tampered with it.”
I threw up my hands. “I’m sure what the police have concluded is based on solid evidence. They would have noticed a so-called rickety railing if there was one.”
Ellen and Brooke exchanged unconvinced glances. I was about to turn my focus back to work when Brooke changed the subject to a related tangent. “I wonder when there’s going to be an announcement about who’s going to replace Alex as CEO. It’s been a month already.”
Mike, who had evidently been listening in on our conversation from the row of desks behind ours, rolled up in his office chair. “You guys are way behind. Catch up.”
Brooke narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
