Page 26 of Collin: Episodes 10-12
“This one is for you.” Ash pointed at the monitor.
“Thanks.” Collin glanced around the room. Only two women were there, one in her fifties and one looking closer to her twenties. The older one held out her hand. “I’m Eliza. We saw you last week, briefly, when you were running around with Ash. We know you have class in the morning, so we’ll catch you up afterwards.”
“Thanks.” Collin shook both their hands and grabbed Ash, pulling him along. “I can fix the cords myself. We’re late!”
Mandarin class left Collin’s head throbbing, as always, but Ms. Zhou smiled at both of them as she packed up her supplies. Ash bounced on his toes as he closed his notepad, chanting the day’s vocabulary to himself.
“You study hard.” Ms. Zhou nodded.
Collin gave her a tight smile. “I try. I don’t think I’m any good, but I’ll keep trying.”
She held her fingers together. “Try little bit every day. In one year, you have three hundred and sixty-five little bits of try. It is a lot of try. And a lot of learning.” She nodded and took her leave.
“Ash, did you eat?” Collin checked his phone for the time.
Ash grunted. “Yes, no. Coffee, yes, food, no.”
Collin slid a granola bar out of his pocket and held it out. “Eat. I have to run, but we’ll do lunch, okay?”
“Okay.” Ash tore into the wrapper with his teeth, giving Collin nightmares of him choking on plastic.
“Don’t…die.” Collin snagged the wrapper and took it off himself, handing Ash back the bar. “You’re giving me a heart attack.”
Ash blinked. “I always spit it out if it gets in my mouth.”
Collin shuddered. “How are you still alive?”
The universe, however, was not answering that question in that particular moment, and he was due back with his new team. He double-timed it down the hallway, wishing for coffee.
Sitting by his new monitor was a to-go cup with his name written on the side. Collin grabbed it and opened up the top. The smell of hot chocolate and coffee mixed together filled his nose. Bliss. His phone chimed, and he took a look.
It was from Damian:
Collin smirked. He sent back a heart and took a slow sip before turning to his new team. They were all sitting in tense silence, though, which he hadn’t noticed in his haste to get to his place.
“Apologies if I interrupted.”
Eliza shook her head, lips thin. “We’re having a situation. Someone else just quit and…”
“And I might have to.” A woman with blonde hair turned around in her chair, dashing tears away from her eyes. “I’m ruined. If I don’t quit, I’ll be fired.”
Collin put down his drink. “Mr. Reevesworth said you were all the best. Why would he fire you?”
“Yeah, but…somehow.” She put her hand to her face. “It doesn’t matter. Everyone’s going to know.” She shook herself and straightened up. “Someone’s spreading porn of me all over—and the fact I work here.” She crumpled in on herself, courage gone just like that. “I knew I shouldn’t have slept with that guy. I knew it! Alanna is so going to say ‘I told you so.’”
Collin frowned. Yes, porn was embarrassing when you didn’t want it spread around, but sex was legal. He couldn’t see Reevesworth Industries firing anyone over a home video. “Was he legal?”
Her forehead wrinkled up. “What?”
“Was he over eighteen?”
“Yeah, I mean, yes. He was totally legal. Like in his thirties.”
“As long as you weren’t doing anything illegal, I can’t imagine why you’d be fired for it.” Collin glanced around the office, looking for support. “I read the employee handbook. What we do outside the office is our own business.”
“Yes, but this is being linked to my job, to Reevesworth Industries.”
Collin picked up his phone. “We have lawyers for this. What’s your name?”
