Page 69 of Small Sacrifices

"I'm so sorry," he says when he can't think of anything better. What else is he meant to say? In the end, he just asks what he can do—because surely, if there is something, she knows it better than him.

"Plug a chili pepper up his ass and launch him into the sun," Marisol says grimly.

"I don't think I've quite got the equipment for space travel," Reid replies weakly. "But uhm... he'd deserve it?"

"Oh, he deserves a lot more." Marisol sounds downright dangerous. "The fucking gall of that man. He has a four-year-old at home!"

It's not the ultimate argument, but Reid doesn't point it out. He hesitates to say anything at all. Because... what does thismean?What will the consequences be? They can tell the head of staff, but would that help?

In the end, he doesn't need to say anything. Marisol seems to have a similar train of thought. "Fuck. I can't tell anyone, can I?"

"You can tell me," Reid says. But that doesn't seem to be as comforting as he wishes it were. She's already tugging at her hair.

"This building is full of men like him. I mean, the amount of comments I've gotten about my nails or my makeup or the way I dress being inappropriate. They're all going to think I was asking for it!"

Reid swallows painfully. "But you—"

"And then what do I do? Once I've made a complaint, I'm a pariah. But if I stay quiet, then he'll think he can get away with this shit. And I'll never get ahead if I don't do what he wants!"

The words send a cold shiver down his back.No, please.But she doesn't seem to be seriously considering it.

"So I'll need to leave, then." She crosses her arms, breathing heavily. There are tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. But Reid doesn't think they're tears of sadness. Marisol doesn't look sad. She looks furious.

"Can't you tell someone else—find an ally? Mr. Swayne, maybe? Or Ms. Coleman? You could tell her. I'm sure she'd want to know."

The shiver returns, and Reid realizes that he's just generally cold. Even hugging himself won't ward off the chill. But this is the place Marisol chose, so he'll just have to cope.

Marisol sighs. "Lieutenant Governor Coleman has bigger problems right now. If this thing gets out about Mackenzie, she'll have to face the shitstorm right along with him."

Somehow, Reid thinks that's unlikely. The woman seems much too stringent and intelligent to play along with this kind of thing. She'd distance herself at the first opportunity she got. And she might appreciate a warning so that she can do it before all hell breaks loose. But this is Marisol's decision. He can't make it for her.

"So you're just going to... quit?" he asks. It feels wrong to say it like that, but he doesn't know how else to phrase it.

"Well," Marisol says, "I'm certainly going to leave right now. And I'll talk this through with my fiancé and my ma, and all my sisters. And then we'll see on Monday."

Reid's first thought is that he didn't know she was engaged. His second thought, guiltily, is that he's glad she has other people who can help her with this. And that she'll go see themright now.He's barely ever felt this unprepared for anything.

So he checks if Mr. Wright is back before Marisol re-enters their office, and he helps her gather her most important things, just in case she won't be coming back. He hugs her again. He watches her leave. And then he pretends he doesn't know what happened when Mr. Wright comes back and asks where she is. It's probably not very convincing.

Chapter 24: Fuck you

For the last hour Reid is working, he's so distracted that he even resorts to checking his phone to see if he can find something that'll distract him from his distraction so he'll be able to work again. It's a mistake. The text Everett sent early in the morning has been deleted. In its wake, there are many more, scattered over the course of the day.

omg Reid im so sorry. i never should have said that. that was out of line.

im officially never drinking again. this is so embarrassing.

can u forgive me? i promise it wont happen again. i just really want to stay friends.

Reid? everything ok?

i mean are we ok? m really really sorry.

i kno ur prbly just working and not actively ignoring me. but could u please say something as soon as u read this? i just need to know how badly i messed this up.

ok last text for today. i swear. but i wanted to ask if we could meet up after u get off work? id like to apologize in person if ur comfortable with that. feel free to tell me to leave you alone tho

Well, shit. Reid had forgotten about that text. Immediately, he exits his messaging app again. There's a reason he set the thing up so that people can't know that he's already looked at their messages. Though this isn't the scenario he was imagining when he did that.

---