Chapter Twelve
Brittany smiled like a Cheshire cat as she held the door open to Rita’s office, and it took every ounce of self-control I had to resist the urge to throttle her. Luckily, for her, she disappeared as soon as Bryce and I stepped inside. Bryce’s whole demeanor changed as soon as the door closed. He spun towards Rita, “What is the nature of this meeting, Rita?” His lip was curled back into a snarl-like expression. I was taken aback simply because I had never seen Bryce so much as roll his eyes before. He was always jovial and patient with everyone around him. No matter what information he might share with me off the record, he treated everyone the same, even if he actually disliked them.
“I called you here to discuss your employee,” she started, gesturing at me but not bothering to even look my way. “Please sit, both of you.”
Bryce looked like he wanted to argue, but after a beat, he rounded the chair and sat down and I followed along and sat in the chair next to him.
“I have some upsetting news, Miss Rand.” She turned my way and folded her hands on the desk in front of her as she spoke. “I have received undeniable proof of your affair with Mr. Brighton and that, combined with your less than forthcoming behavior, is enough for me to be granted the power to fire you. Your services will no longer be needed here at Spotlight.”
“Rita, this is outrageous! You should have consulted with me long before it got to this point. I’m her manager. This is way out of line!”
“Oh, that should be the least of your concerns. You aren’t completely innocent in this whole fiasco. If I were you, I would be a little more worried about myself than some girl you barely know.”
“Really? And what authority do you have over me? We are both managers, you’re not my boss. I think you might be slightly confused on that point. In fact, I think you’ve always been confused by how our structure works here. You have always tried to pull rank on me, but this is the most outlandish thing you have done, to be sure. You need to remember your place.”
I silently cheered for Bryce. Glad someone got to talk back to this horrible beast of a woman.
She laughed a humorless laugh, her eyes boring into him. “We will see about my place, or rank, whatever you want to say. I’ve already had a conference call with Todd and Rich, and let’s just say they are not at all happy with this latest development and want to contain the situation in any way possible. And if that means doing a little housecleaning…” She let her voice trail off, leaving the insinuation to do the rest.
My heart dropped, remembering the threats she had made during our first meeting about Bryce’s fate being tied to mine. I didn’t yet know what she had on me, but it couldn’t be good if she felt bold enough to speak to a fellow manager this way.
I looked over at Bryce and his face was rapidly turning a beet red, his fingertips gripping the armrests, his knuckles turning white.
“What about the meeting like half an hour ago? Did that mean nothing to you? I’m pretty sure we cleared this all up. Mr. Brighton was just here, sitting right there,” I started, before Bryce could explode. “He made it very clear that nothing unprofessional was going on between us. So, I’m confused. What exactly is the problem?”
She smiled and a chill went down my back and traveled down my arms, leaving icy goose bumps in its wake. Whatever was coming next, I already knew I didn’t want to hear it.
“I guess you weren’t listening before. As I said, I have just been given tangible proof that you are lying to me. Here, let me show you.”
She reached into a folder on her desk and pulled out a few pages. She set them one at a time on the desk, turning them around so they were facing Bryce and me.
I gasped and clasped a hand to my mouth, unable to contain my horror. The pages were each a full-sized image of Cooper and me in the dim hallway from the launch party. The first few were innocent enough. We just looked like we were talking, but then as they went on, it was clear that whoever the photographer was had waited around and caught the whole scene on their camera.
Cooper pressed against me, his head bent down, his lips on my neck, hands lost in my hair. My dress hem pushed up as I crushed my body to his.
The last picture showed me leaving the hallway and there was no mistaking it was me in the full frontal shot.
There was no room for reasonable doubt. The pictures were me and they were Cooper. No one would argue otherwise.
I searched my memory but for the life of me, couldn’t remember even seeing anyone the whole time I was in the hallway. I knew there had been photographers at the party. Lots of them. But none of them would have been looking in dark, bathroom hallways. Right?
I was starting to get a headache as I stared at the pictures in front of me. I wanted to reach out and grab them all away from Rita. Rip them into little pieces. Burn them. Anything! But my hands stayed glued to my lap as I desperately tried to maintain some appearance of professionalism.
“Is this really necessary?” Bryce asked as he began to gather all the pictures, setting the pile face down on the desk. He glanced at me and then back at the bitch.
“Apparently so. I spoke with Miss Rand earlier this afternoon and she was less than truthful with me in regards to this very situation.”
“Where did those even come from?” I asked, figuring I had nothing to lose. My job was already gone at this point.
“Does it really matter? The source is not the issue. The actions are. These pictures very clearly display your blatant disregard for the policies and procedures that are required of our employees. So, as I said before, I will have to ask you to gather your belongings and leave the building immediately. HR will ensure that your final check is deposited by the end of the business day.”
“Rita, come on, be reasonable. It’s not like this is the first time this has happened,” Bryce pleaded.
My eyes darted to him, wondering what he meant by that. Not the first time? Did he mean with Cooper? Or just in general?
“It’s a done deal. Miss Rand, you are excused. Bryce and I have further business so we won’t be able to walk you out. Brittany will be waiting to escort you.”
“Rita, please, you don’t understand. It was a mistake, and trust me, it will not happen again. Not with anyone! Especially not Coop—Mr. Brighton.”
As soon as the outburst escaped from my mouth, I wished I could take it back. Giving that bitch the satisfaction of watching me beg was only adding to my nausea.
“The decision has been made. You’re done here,” she answered.
I got up and stalked from the room, shooting a final sympathetic glance at Bryce before turning to leave. All I could do was hope that it wasn’t too late for him, and that Rita was just bluffing to get rid of me and hopefully stifle any tantrum.
Brittany was waiting for me outside the door with a stupid smirk on her face. “Please follow me.”
I spun on my heel and glared at her. “Don’t speak to me. I know all about you and Cooper and I have half a mind to go back in there and spill your dirty little secrets. Leave me alone.”
She laughed in my face. “It wouldn’t matter even if you did. I was never stupid enough to get caught on camera,” she hissed back at me.
I was stunned. For a moment it seemed like I had my answer as to who sent the pictures in the first place. It had to be her. How else would she have known of their existence? But then again, she was Rita’s closest assistant, always half a step behind her and probably had access to all of her files and paperwork. She’d probably seen them on Rita’s desk prior to the meeting. I also realized that if she’d been the one trying to get me fired, she wouldn’t have gone out of her way to warn Cooper of what was going on here in the first place. Unless she was just trying to get on his good side. Possibly she wasn’t over him. Maybe she wanted him back.
“Ugh, whatever!” I said out loud, more to myself and my insane mental argument than to her.
She backed off of me and picked up her phone. “Get me security.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m leaving. You don’t need to call security.”
I couldn’t tell if she was pretending or not, so to be safe, I stormed off to round up my few belonging from my cubicle and then made my way out of the building, openly glaring at anyone who dared to look my way as I flew through the office. There was absolutely no point in trying to blend in, not make waves, or stay inconspicuous anymore. Let them talk. I no longer cared.