A Charitable Scandal

The Closet Interlude

Bursting into my office was like tearing open the veil between heaven and hell. Shutting the door behind me, closed off all the noise and manic energy buzzing around outside, granting me calm and serenity in the warm embrace of the security within.

I threw my things down on my desk and fell into my seat with a grateful sigh. The creak of Emily's chair though picked me out of my slouch and to my surprise I found my officemate stock still and staring straight into her computer screen, likely occupied with some important task. She'd been so busy running around, looking at venue options, that I'd grown used to a solitary office. However, a friendly ear was exactly what I needed and I felt that some fortune was finally rolling my way. I needed to vent about that morning, and then, of course, there was also my rather confusing interlude with Alec from the night before that needed some analysis as well.

I shivered at the memory. With everything going on, that quiet, peaceful — even something like wonderful — moment on the patio seemed long ago. At that point it almost felt like a dream rapidly slipping through my fingers the harder I tried to hold on to it. And to my surprise, I really was trying desperately hard to keep it within my grip.

I kept telling myself I just enjoyed the one-on-one attention and the personal compliments, but something kindled inside of me whenever I thought of how Alec pressed himself against me. Bosses didn't do that. Nor did good, upstanding employees. Falling for my superior was not in my plan, in fact, it would seriously derail my plan. Yet, there I was, reliving that moment in an endless time loop and lamenting how the resolution of that memory was getting fuzzier and fuzzier with each iteration.

I shook my head and rubbed my fingers against my temples, making quick, tight circles in order to massage away my dangerous line of thinking. It was all very unprofessional and that really made me realize that this all had to be one sided. Alec always carried himself with a fierce work ethic and unwavering dedication to his job. There's no way he'd allow himself to go down this road.

I needed someone to talk reason into me and the only person I could trust with the sort of information that could potentially put careers in danger was Emily. Once I got this all out, I knew I'd feel better and I'd put the feelings behind me. I just needed to get Emily's attention so I could vent and I figured she likely needed a break from her tireless quest to prove herself anyway. So, I rolled my chair over and moved in next to her. She didn't immediately turn to acknowledge my presence, but I was no stranger to the oddly hypnotic effect reading long texts on a computer screen could have.

"Emi," I finally said, clearing my throat in hopes of gaining her attention, "you will not believe the day I am having. And last night, well..."

I looked over at Emily to see if I'd managed to pull her interest away from work, but she stared forward with her lips slightly parted and her brow pinched. That's when I noticed her arms limp at her side with her hands clamped around the edge of her seat instead of poised over the keyboard while a screen saver of colorful bursting flowers played out on her monitor.

"Emi," I said, leaning forward in an attempt to make eye contact, "is everything okay?"

"I..." She cocked her head slightly, shifting her thoughts around so she could proceed. "I think I had something...something like a moment." She finally looked my way, confusion etched on her face.

"A moment?"

"You know," she said, waving her hand around as if to pull the words she was looking for out of the air, "a...a moment. When, something like, um..." She then threw her hands to her face, pulling them down her cheeks as she groaned. Her eyes darted to the glass wall that faced the Pit and I tried to pinpoint the target of her gaze, but she turned back around before I could make anything close to an educated guess as to who she may be worried about. She then, continued on in a low voice.