Office Affairs (+18) | Completed

CHAPTER 6

Jane POV

My next day at work was slightly less busy. I gathered that whatever had been going on with the acquisition was beginning to wind down, and that there would be a cause for great jubilation soon.

Not quite yet though.

Alana was still unavailable to train me, so I looked through more of the book and took my time getting to know the various platforms we used and what was expected of me.

Around noon, I went to grab another cup of coffee. Alana was in the kitchen microwaving her lunch.

"Hey Alana," I greeted happily. "How's it going?"

She gave me a look that told me everything I needed to know. "How's it going with you?" she asked. "I'm sorry I haven't been around."

"It's fine," I replied. "Actually, Peter came in and introduced himself yesterday. That was really nice."

She had been gazing at the timer on the microwave, but in an instant her eyes snapped over to me. "Peter as in the CEO, Peter?" she asked. I could see a hint of irritation on her face, though I wasn't sure why.

"Yeah," I said slowly, testing the waters. "He just came to say hi."

She closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep inhale. "Great," she said, plastering on a fake cheery smile. "That's great." The microwave beeped and she pulled her container of spaghetti out of it. "I've got to head back to my office," she said before disappearing down the hallway.

I was stunned. What did that interaction mean?

"Don't worry about Alana," a male voice piped up from behind me. I turned to the table in the corner, where a man around my age, with glasses and dark curly hair, was eating a sandwich. "She's just really stressed out cause she's having to do all of Amanda's work."

I tilted my head in confusion. "Shouldn't I be doing Amanda's work? I'm the new Communications Coordinator."

He shrugged. "I think there were projects that Amanda was right in the middle of when Peter fired her," he explained. "I gather it wasn't the kind of stuff she could pass off to someone who was brand new."

Wait, so Peter fired Amanda? Nobody had said anything about what had happened to the girl before me. I supposed I hadn't asked. Everyone looked so busy, and I hadn't wanted to disturb them just to glean what office gossip I could.

"Amanda got fired?" I asked. "Do you know what for?"

It seemed odd, to me, that the CEO would fire someone right in the middle of one of the office's most stressful times. She must have done something pretty bad for that to happen.

The man stopped chewing his sandwich. "Uh—I didn't know her," he said. "Sorry."

That was odd as well. It seemed like he was lying to me. I decided to brush that off, and try and make a new friend.

"I'm Jane," I said, walking over to shake his hand.

He looked from my hand to the his own, which was clutching his sandwich, and put it down on the plate in front of him hesitantly. Damnit. Why did I have to be so awkward? Couldn't I let the man eat his sandwich without being disturbed?

After he shook my hand, I noticed that he didn't pick the sandwich back up with the same hand. I guessed he was a bit of a germaphobe. A polite one, at least.

"I'm Dave," he said. "I'm in accounting."

"It's nice to meet you," I replied. "I haven't really gotten a chance to get to know anyone around here yet."

He took a bite of his sandwich and nodded. After swallowing, he said, "Yeah, we'll get together after this deal goes through, but until then it's kind of all hands on deck."

I shrugged. "I'm just happy to be here."

"People will be friendlier then, don't worry," he said. "And don't worry about Alana either. It's not you."

I hadn't thought it was me. I just thought she was stressed out. Was there something that I didn't know about? And, if it wasn't me, then who was it?