Page 3 of Not Safe For Work

I really hate this habit of mine. I’m horrible at concealing my emotions, and even worse, I tend to mouth the thoughts in my head way too often. Just a lovely symptom of my anxiety.

“Hey.” I look up and flash him a dazzling smile. He mirrors my expression and I think once again about how much easier it would be to hate him if he didn’t look likethat. “So, I got a message back from the CMO at Surf and Stream. He wants a meeting.”

Gavin’s eyes flash and his mouth goes slack. I start to nibble the inside of my cheek.Please, please,pleasedon’t say you’re taking it back.

To my shock, his smile turns genuine, but he hides it quickly with his usual look of indifference. “Cool. You still good to run the deal?”

I eye him with a bit too much skepticism. He’s really letting me keep it?

“It’s yours,” he clarifies. “But since you haven’t run a meeting before you might want to have someone sit in, or just help you prep.” I would kill for someone as good as Gavin to help me prepare, but I can’t tell if he’s offering.

“Do you mean you would?—?”

“I’m way too busy,” he scoffs. “Just get Ian to make someone help you.”

Yeah, right. Even if we hadn’t broken up a couple months ago, he’d never offer to help me with work. I feel a little awkward not correcting Gavin, but I’ve yet to tell 99 percent of my co-workers that Ian and I broke up. I’m still not ready for the aftermath.

I was never prepared for the rumors when Istarteddating Sizzl’s biggest investor. I have no idea what to expect once I go public with our breakup.

“Sorry for bothering—” I start to respond, but he’s already put his headphones on. I guess I shouldn’t have expected one moment of kindness to turn into an actual conversation.

I respond to a few more emails and LinkedIn messages as the rest of the team starts to filter in. It’s still early for other departments, but the sales team is always in first.

Except for the surprisingly empty desk to my left. Curious.

“Hey, Scottie?” I bravely ask a few minutes later.

He hears me but just points to his headphones, like he can’t be bothered. Not sure why I expected any differently.

I turn to Eduardo this time, who sits diagonal to me. “Hey. Do you know what’s going on here?” I gesture to the desk next to mine where Paul sits. His normally cluttered desk full of papers and fidget toys is completely empty other than an unplugged monitor and a few pens.

“Oh, umm.” He leans over his desk to whisper, “Fired. On Friday.” Eduardo’s eyebrows shoot up, letting me know there’s more to the story. I don’t bother asking him for more information since I doubt he’d tell me. He’s definitely not an office gossip.

Luckily for me, my best friend, Andie very muchis.

SLACK DIRECT MESSAGE

Olivia Diamond:

Hey! I just heard about Paul. Do you know what happened?

Andie Oh:

Morning! Yes, but NSFW – I’ll text you!

Andie Oh:

OK! I can’t believe I forgot to tell you this weekend! He was fired on Friday at the end of the day for “lewd behavior”

Me:

Didn’t he get caught having sex in the stairwell last month? That wasn’t lewd enough for HR?

Andie Oh:

Right!? Honestly, I thought the same thing. But IT saw the sex tape and kept it somewhat under wraps. This time, he had no such luck. He was caught doing coke in the bathroom

Me:

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