Page 74 of Phishing for Love
“This is so unlike you, Tess.”
I know, I think miserably. I’ve become a version of myself I don’t recognize. One I don’t like too much either.
He drums his fingers on the desk. “It seems to me you’re failing to grasp how important Aaron’s role is. According to him, sixty percent of small businesses fold after a cyberattack. An attack like that can be a death blow for us. I need you to take this more seriously.”
He’s working himself up again, his voice growing louder and louder. Although his office door is closed, I have no doubtanyone lurking outside can hear every angry word. More coals added to my bonfire of humiliation.
“I will try to take it more seriously,” I offer.
I know enough psychology to realize I need to agree with everything Calvin is throwing at me in an attempt to diffuse his anger. Any argument I put up will only further stoke the flames of his wrath.
“Try harder,” he orders, pointing an accusatory finger at me. “There are even rumors you think the training’s a waste of time.”
The sour taste of betrayal fills my mouth. I can’t believe it. Aaron ratted me out to Calvin. Funnily enough, I’d thought more of him. Yes, I admit I’ve been giving him unnecessary grief, but all this time I thought he was a man capable of handling his own problems without needing to run to the boss to sort them out for him.
Live and learn, I think, swallowing my disappointment.
“From now on,” Calvin continues, still riding his anger, “I want you to pay attention to every email you receive. You’re to attend all of Aaron’s training sessions. And you’re to stay awake in them!”
“Yes, Calvin,” I agree in a subdued tone.
He makes an abrupt motion of dismissal and I exit his office, my cheeks burning.
I don’t look at Dana. I don’t look at anyone as I make the long, lonely trek down the hallway toward my cubicle, Calvin’s words playing in my head like a background track to a horror movie.
The only people I want around me right now are Sofia and Kenzie, but they left for the afternoon to attend a training seminar.
I feel the weight of everyone’s stares as I weave my way through the maze of cubicles. Pressure wells inside my chest. Ican’t do it. I can’t sit at my desk until the close of day and endure the glances and the gossip.
Trying not to think of Calvin’s displeasure and how thin the ice is that I’m currently skating on, I veer away from my cubicle and head at a fast clip to the elevator, as if I can somehow outrun the memory of Calvin’s stinging words.
Mevia calls out my name. I draw in a jagged breath and pretend not to hear her. There’s no way I can talk to her right now. I’ll burst into tears if I do, and that’s the last thing I want. I’ll connect with her later.
I jab the Down button and step into the elevator when it opens.
The doors are closing when I spot a frowning Aaron striding purposefully toward me. “Tess, wait up.”
Not a chance. I press the button to close the doors, and they shut right in his face. I rest my back against the wall in relief. He’s the last person I want to see or speak to right now. There’s not a molecule inside me that can bear to endure his self-satisfied smirk or another tedious lecture on responsibility.
In the lobby, I hurry past Bob, offering him a little finger wave as he slouches half-asleep in the slant of the late-afternoon sun streaming through the building’s glass windows.
I stumble outside and head in the direction of the park across the street. There’s a blurred, unformed thought in my head that greenery and open space will help me to regather all the pieces of my shattered ego.
Main Street is humming with its regular midday crowd. I push my way blindly through the people milling around on the sidewalk.
All at once, I hear the harsh blare of a car horn and feel a strong arm circling my waist, pulling me out of the road and back against a solid body. A white van I didn’t see roars past, andI glimpse the irate face of a driver shouting at me to be careful. My pulse races at the close call.
“What do you think you’re doing?” demands a deep male voice in my ear.
Aaron. And here I thought I couldn’t descend any farther down the ladder of humiliation. He has no right to follow me out here, I think on a wave of resentment. I mean, it’s a democratic country, so yes, I guess he has the right to follow me, but this is yet another space in my life he’s invading.
I try to move out of his arms, but he tightens his hold. “Let me go.”
He turns me around so I face him, but he doesn’t release me. His face is pale. “You nearly got yourself killed!”
“Why do you care?”
He looks ready to shake me. “Because life is precious. And you can lose it in a second.”
