Chapter 2

By the time the bus pulled up outside the office, the sky had already gone dark.

Everyone got off. No one said a word to me.

Jessica was propped up between two female coworkers, head down the whole way, her shoulders jerking with each sob.

Victor got off and made three phone calls.

Every one of them in a lowered voice.

I caught his last line:

"It's not what you think... The stream's already off... Don't make trouble."

Monday morning.

I'd just badged in when the girl at the front desk looked at me all wrong.

"Pamela, HR wants you."

Merlin James sat at the head of the table in the HR office.

He was the VP over HR.

Early fifties, thinning hair, a kindly smile.

In my past life, he was the one who'd signed off on my resignation.

"Pamela, have a seat."

He pushed a cup of water toward me.

"The team-building thing blew up a little."

I didn't touch the water.

"Blew up how?"

Merlin sighed.

"That livestream got shut down, but somebody screen-recorded it. Over the weekend it spread across a few platforms."

"The company's image took a hit. A few clients called to ask about it."

He looked at me.

"Why did you do what you did back there?"

"She wanted to borrow something from me. I just asked around for her."

Merlin shook his head.

"Pamela, you're a smart woman. Don't play dumb when you know exactly what's going on."

"You yelled it through a bullhorn, and it happened to land right on a livestream. You tell me it wasn't on purpose. Who's going to believe that?"

He opened the folder in front of him.

"The company has decided to issue you a written warning. On top of that, your performance rating for this quarter is being dropped to a C."

"On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that you publicly humiliated a colleague and caused serious fallout."

I asked, "And Jessica? Is she getting any discipline?"

Merlin blinked.

"She's the victim."

"Victim of what? Did I make her pants wet?"

The kindliness on Merlin's face faded.

"Pamela, just sign it. Don't make this complicated."

I didn't sign.

At noon, the mood around my desk was ice cold.

No one asked me to lunch.

Passing the break room, I caught two women talking.

"I heard Pamela did it on purpose. She's had it out for Jessica for a while."

"Why?"

"Because Jessica came in first for the quarterly bonus last time. She's got a real shot at director, and Pamela can't stand it."

"Wow. Petty."

"And don't you think that line of hers was so vicious? All that 'it's all wet in there' stuff. She was clearly hinting at something."

"God, that's disgusting."

I walked in holding my cup.

Both of them shut up instantly.

I filled it with hot water and turned to leave.

The whispering started up again behind me at once.

At three in the afternoon, Jessica came in to work.

She'd changed into a plain long dress, no makeup, eyes faintly red.

The second she walked in, several people stood up.

"Jessie! Are you okay?"

"You didn't feel sick over the weekend, did you?"

"Don't pay any attention to someone like that."

Jessica shook her head, her voice very soft.

"I'm fine. I just feel... so humiliated."

She sat down at her desk, opened her computer, and suddenly covered her face.

"All I did was get my clothes wet... Why would she say something like that..."

The coworker beside her handed over a tissue.

"Stop crying. Everyone knows she went too far."

Someone shot me a look.

Sharp as a knife.

At four thirty, an announcement popped up in the company-wide group.

【Notice Regarding the Handling of the Recent Team-Building Incident】

【Following an investigation, employee Pamela Fox, during the team-building livestream, used public equipment to openly spread a colleague's private information, causing emotional harm to the party involved and damage to the company's reputation. She is hereby issued a written warning, and her entire performance bonus for this quarter is revoked.】

Below the announcement, nothing but a row of "Received."

My phone buzzed at the same moment.

A message from my fiancé, Anthony Dickerson.

【What are you doing at that company? Your coworkers sent me a video.】

【Have you lost your mind?】

【My mom saw it.】

I hadn't even had time to reply.

A second message popped up.

【She says I should think it over.】