Page 15 of Havoc and Humor
“I don’t know anything,” I said. The words rang true. Mark had said he wanted to date, and I hadn’t questioned how that would all work. I just assumed he would talk to me about it first. “And how do we even know this is happening? What do you mean Mark’s leaving the department?” He would have told me, right? He wouldn’t move jobs without letting me know. Evan would give me a heads-up if there was a big re-org. I couldn’t be so in the dark about this, right?
“Someone printed out a copy of an email and left it on the printer. Alex found it. They’ve been circling it around. I just assumed you would know since you’re Mark’s right-hand man.”
Yeah, right. We hadn’t even spoken much last week. And this weekend we had spent time together, but had we really talked? I’d assumed it was because he was busy, but maybe it was something else? Was he avoiding me? He never mentioned anything about this change on Friday.
I knew that wasn’t possible. If we were changing up the org structure and I wouldn’t be reporting to Mark anymore, he would have told me. Unless this was a sudden change? He had plenty of opportunity to tell me on Friday. He would have.
I made a beeline for his office. I went inside and shut the door. He looked a little bit like he’d had a rough morning, and it wasn’t even nine o’clock. His tie was crooked and his suit jacket wrinkled.
“I can’t answer any questions, Sawyer. I know there are a lot of them. We’ll be having a meeting at ten to go over it all. You and I can talk after work. I’m sorry.”
“Okay, so it’s true. You’re changing things up? Since when?”
“Yes, but no one’s job is in jeopardy.” He still hadn’t looked up from his laptop.
“When did you know about this?”
He sighed. “Marissa and I finalized the details last week.” He grimaced as he said the words. He knew. He knew that keeping this from me was going to piss me off.
“What? This was your idea? And you didn’t tell me any of it?”
He finally looked up. He pushed away from his desk and walked closer to me. I took a step back. “I couldn’t, Sawyer. I’m sorry… I wasn’t supposed to tell you until the rest of the executive team approved everything. I can’t give you special treatment.”
“You haven’t given me any treatment, Mark. We hardly spoke last week, and on Friday… You didn’t mention any of this. So what? We’re just not gonna work together anymore?”
“Sawyer, this is a good thing. It means that—”
“A good thing? That you’ve kept this from me? That I show up to work and my whole position is just different?”
Mark ran a hand through his hair. “This is why office romances are a terrible idea and why there are policies in place to prevent them.”
The wind released from my lungs like I’d just taken a sucker punch to the gut.
“Right,” I said. “They are best to be avoided. Good call.”
“Sawyer, that is not what I meant. Wait—”
I didn’t wait. I refused to hear any more. “If you need anything else from me, Mr. Blake, don’t hesitate to reach out. Okay? I’ll be at my desk.”
“Fuck,” Mark said.
I closed his office door and went to my desk. Plenty of people were watching me now. They all knew I was close with Mark. I could pretend that the two of us acted like co-workers, but we had long since crossed that line. We crossed it emotionally long before we ever crossed it physically.
Apparently now we were paying the price.
“I’m sorry,” Cynthia said. “I thought you knew. That’s why I asked you about it right when you came in.”
“I didn’t know, but that’s okay. And really, it’s not as big a deal as everyone’s making it out to be. Our department’s staying mostly the same. It’s Mark who’s moving to a different one—something directly under the CEO and more up his alley. It’s great. Good for him. I wish him well in his endeavors.”
“So this wasn’t a move so the two of you could date openly?”
“No. Mark and I are not dating. There’s nothing between us.” People who dated talked with each other. Shared things. They didn’t keep secrets.
I said it loudly enough that people near us could overhear. Whether or not anyone believed me, I didn’t fucking care. I had work to do.
Chapter 9
Mark
