Page 52 of Breaking All The Rules

“Thanks, I was trying to find that in the report but must have skimmed right over it,” I said to Eva, loud enough for Regina to hear. I turned my full attention to Regina and attempted to smile.

“Hello, Regina. What can I do for you?” I asked cautiously. She looked between us, a look of concern on her face mixed in with the stoic expression I was used to seeing from her when wewere meeting with an employee that we had to let go. The last time I saw that look was when we met with Cora.

“I need to speak with you—both of you, in my office.” She turned on her heel and walked out, leaving us in stunned silence.

“Do you think she knows what just happened?” Eva whispered with panic laced in her voice.

“No. It must be something else. She wasn’t close when you were coming on my face, so she didn’t see or hear anything,” I said to reassure her, only to get a jab in the ribs with her elbow. “What? You can’t say that didn’t happen.”

“You’re impossible,” she said and shook her head. At least her mood seemed a little less tense as we made our way to Regina’s office.

When we got there, she was already sitting at her desk, looking over the rim of her glasses to read something on her computer. She briefly looked up when she saw us before returning her attention to the computer.

“Come in and close the door,” she instructed sharply.

Eva walked in before me and took the seat closest to the wall while I closed the door and took the other seat. Regina’s fingers typed quickly before she moved her mouse and turned her attention to us. There was a look of anger and disappointment on her face, which made me question what had happened with Kate and, more importantly, why we were there.

“It has been brought to my attention that the two of you have been engaging in activities that are not permitted at work. With that being said, I’ve also received a formal complaint about it.”

She reached over and picked up a piece of paper, then slid it across the desk to Eva and me. I quickly scanned the document, unable to believe what I was reading.

“You’ve got to fucking be kidding me,” I muttered before looking up at Regina. “Are you serious?”

Eva continued reading, absorbing every word as I had stopped halfway through. I had seen enough.

“No, unfortunately, this is not a joke. Kate has filed a sexual harassment complaint against you and Eva due to the unprofessional and sexually inappropriate work environment you have created,” Regina said, looking down to read her copy in front of her. She set it down, leaned back in her chair, and looked at us.

“Just give it to me straight, you guys. What’s going on?” she asked.

I swallowed hard and looked at Eva who looked pale as she stared at Regina. I couldn’t believe this was happening, let alone with Kate. She was the only personal assistant who had been with me for over ten years and never once had an issue with me. All this time, I trusted her to do her job and mind her fucking business.

“Look—whatever you guys are doing on your own time, that’s none of my business. But this complaint claims that you’re doing this on company time, which, unfortunately, makes it my business. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on. So please, let me help you.”

I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes. This was going to turn into another fucking nightmare that I didn’t need.

“Eva and I have been dating. Unofficially until last night, I guess?” I said bitterly. I hated talking about my personal business, and I hated even more that, thanks to Kate, Eva was now being forced to discuss hers.

“When did it start?” Regina asked, grabbing her notepad and pen from the end of her desk. Her hand was lifted above the paper while she waited for an answer.

“It’s complicated. I don’t know that there was an actual start date,” I blew out.

“I get that this is hard, and it’s very personal. But given what’s happening with Cora...” She gave me a look and raised her eyebrows as she refrained from saying anything further in front of Eva.

“She knows about Cora and the sexual harassment lawsuit,” I confirmed. “Eva and I first hooked up a few weeks before she started working here. It was a random encounter at a nightclub, and neither of us thought that we would see each other again. We didn’t exchange information and had no contact until the day she started working here.”

“Okay, what else,” Regina said as she wrote the information down. Eva sat quietly in the chair beside me as she chewed on her fingernail.

“We’ve been trying to keep our relationship professional, especially with everything going on with Cora. Unfortunately, we found it impossible to stay away from each other. This connection is too strong for us to fight it.”

“Have you had sex at work?”

Her question was asked so nonchalantly, like asking someone if they wanted ketchup on their burger. Eva looked like she was on fire, given how red her face and neck were from embarrassment.

“Yes,” I bit out.

“I’m sorry. I know these questions are hard to answer. Trust me, I don’t want to ask them any more than you want to answer them. But with everything else going on, I need all of the facts you can give me. Otherwise, it’s going to turn into hearsay, and we don’t need that right now. Can you tell me how many times and where?”

“Is that really fucking necessary?” I shouted, slamming my hands down on the desk and startling everyone.

---