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“Yes.” Luke’s reply came without hesitation. “I’m really okay with it.”
I flexed my fingers on my knee, twitching for something to grasp. Needing to ground myself. When Luke tangled his fingers with mine, a shock of warmth and surprise raced through me. I could pull away, but this was comforting. It was right. I didn’t want to resist.
How long would it take us to get back to normal? Did I even want to?
We kept the conversation to work-related topics for most of the flight, planning cleanup, laying out next steps, and daring to dream about when we were finally done with this game. I appreciated both that Luke stayed away from personal topics and that he rarely let go of my hand until we landed.
Compulsion and experience meant we checked our work email while waiting for our luggage. The world didn’t stop turning because we were in the air. Most of the messages I had would wait until I was back at my desk, but the meeting request from Human Resources made me frown.
“I’ve got to meet with Scott.” Luke sounded as confused by his meeting as I was. “I can drop you off at home.”
I showed him my phone. “I’m heading straight to the office, if you don’t mind me hitching a ride that way.”
“That’s fine.” Luke’s frown deepened. “Any idea what it’s about?”
“I was going to ask you.”
We could toss all sorts of speculation around, but we’d have answers when we were done with our meetings.
Dana, the Human Resources Director, led me into her office moments after I arrived, though I was early. She closed the door behind me, gestured for me to sit, and did the same. The concern etched on her face made me uneasy.
“How are you doing?” she asked kindly.
It didn’t sound like a casual greeting—not with that tone—but I didn’t have any other context. “Good. A little jetlagged. Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.”
“I understand.” Her chuckle sounded forced, and her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s always nice to come home.”
“Yup. Sure is.” I was a master at awkward silences by now, but she had a reason for calling this meeting. “What can I do for you?”
Dana leaned in, eyeing me with sympathy. “You’re familiar with our company’s sexual-harassment policies? And you know that you can always come directly to me, if you’re not comfortable going to your manager? I don’t want you to ever feel like you don’t have a voice.”
Super weird. Tension cranked through me. “I realize.” It would have to be a fairly significant level of harassment, for me to something like that, but I didn’t really deal with it in this job. Mike was the worst, and he was gone.
Dana looked less comfortable with each passing second. “The employee that was terminated the other day, Mike Mejia, was apparently guilty of more than you realize. He forwarded me some information this morning, and while I don’t know how he obtained it, the content has me concerned for your wellbeing and happiness.”
“Okay...? I don’t know what you’re looking for, so you need to tell me what you’re concerned about.”
She leaned back to look at her monitor, and clicked her mouse.
“If there was a lock on the conference room door, I’d bend you over the table right now, and find out if you’re as tight as I imagine.”Luke’s voice was hollow, coming from her speakers, as if recorded on a poor quality mic.
All the blood drained from my head, leaving my thoughts spinning and my skin cold. I’d never fainted before. Would this be a first?
“Is there more?” My voice cracked on the question.
“No.” Dana’s face was bright red. “Was he talking to you? The company supports you. Rinslet is on your side, as am I. You don’t need to put up with this.”
“I’m not putting up with anything.” How much could I say? We’d broken the rules, and I had to admit that, to keep Luke from getting in trouble, but this could get us both fired.
Was she looking at me with pity? “There won’t be any repercussions for you if you want to come forward, but you don’t have to. He was completely out of line. He’s being dealt with.”
“Wait. As in, right now?” The words sank in, and my panic spiked.
“Yes.”
The meeting with Scott. Fuck. I wasn’t letting Luke get fired for sexual harassment. At least, if we went down, we’d do it together. “This isn’t right. It’s not what it looks like.” I stood and walked out of Dana’s office.
“Anne, come back. Please.”
I ignored her. I couldn’t think of anything, except that Luke was about to be punished for us having fun. The elevator up to the executives’ offices took an eternity. I cut a straight line to Scott’s office, and didn’t pause when his assistant tried to stop me. When I pushed into the room, Luke and Scott swiveled their heads to look at me.
“You can’t fire him,” I said.
