She was unable to believe that the man who had been so gentle with her and the children could just up and leave without even a goodbye to them.
“Oh, Raina, I’m so sorry,” Kelly commiserated.
Raina did not seem to hear her. She thought of Christopher and was beginning to wonder if she had known him at all.
“If I was in his shoes, I would give myself a chance to explain,” Raina said with feeling.
Kelly raised an eyebrow. “Really, Raina?”
Raina sighed. “Okay. Okay, maybe not.” She sighed again, her shoulders slumping. “I know it looked bad, Kelly. Pervy Roger on my neck, his hands up my skirt—but! But Christopher could at least have waited to hear what I had to say before jumping to conclusions! He clearly thought the worst about me, and never gave me a chance!”
“Some people react differently to situations. You said so yourself, he had a bad experience with a betrayal from a friend. He must have seen you and Roger as a betrayal.”
Raina groaned. “What am I going to do?”
“Can’t you try and explain to him in an email? He can’t walk away from email.”
“I don’t have his email address, or a phone number other than his cell for that matter.”
“A past reference? Maybe they could tell you where he is.” Kelly said.
“Maybe.” Raina was doubtful. She recalled his resume had been filled with a lot of random odd jobs.
“I have no way of contacting him and he seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. I went to the homeless shelter on the third and fifth street; you know the last place he lived in. They had never heard of Christopher Smith.”
“He might have gone by other names,” Kelly said. “I mean, ‘Christopher Smith’ is about as unique as John Doe. Are you sure that was even his name?”
Raina was stricken at the thought, but she sensed some truth to what Kelly was saying. She was starting to wonder if she had ever really known Christopher at all.
Kelly looked into Raina’s eyes and said softly, “You know, you may have to accept that it’s truly over.”
Raina slumped into her chair. She knew that Kelly spoke the truth. How would she cope with not having Christopher in her life? He had been a part of it for such a short time, but it had felt so good to be loved. It had felt amazing to have a partner who was there for her and the kids. Her life had acquired color and a purpose with him in her life.
Worst of all, the kids had really taken to Christopher and now they were constantly asking her when he would return. “What will I tell the kids?” Raina said.
“They’ll forget him soon enough … and so will you,” Kelly said in a gentle voice. She opened her mouth to speak again, but they were interrupted before she could get out a word.
The door to the office swung open. “I knew you’d be here, you little bitch.” Roger sauntered in with a huge grin on his face. “But you won’t be here much longer.”
He kept his eyes on Raina and the moment she met his cold ones, she knew it was the news she’d been expecting. He was sacking her.
He held a big, shiny, white envelope in his hand which was marked “Confidential” and had her name emblazoned on the front. He waved it around like a trophy.
“Your day of reckoning is finally here. This is your letter of termination Raina McMillan. And you’ll be getting no severance from us.” He said her name like it was a dirty word. She had expected this but the reality was still a cold shock. “You’re getting fired.”
“I’m being fired? On what grounds?” Raina said, thrusting out her chin. She wanted to hear what he would make up, since legally “not sleeping with your boss” was not a good reason to put in writing, so she assumed he wasn’t stupid enough to have done that.
“Theft.”
The word hung in the air for several moments. Raina’s gasp was audible.
He grinned wider at her look of genuine shock.
“Yes, that’s right. Stealing money from the company is a punishable offense under the law, dearie. And this little bit of larceny could land you 10 to 20 years of hard time.” His oily voice took on a sinister edge, and for the first time Raina felt genuinely afraid of him.
Roger snarled. “Lucky little whore though, aren’t you? The company has decided not to press charges as long as you sign a statement owning up to your misdeeds and returning the funds. If it were up to me, I would have you locked away for 50 years.”
Raina gaped at him. “Theft?”