SEAN
I was looking for Kent. I needed his opinion on an investment. It was a professional sports team that one of our clients was interested in acquiring, and while I was aces at crunching the numbers for stocks and bonds, the statistics behind a sports team threw me off. I wasn’t the one who was going to handle the purchase; there were other players involved. But I wanted to be able to talk knowledgably about whether it was a good investment.
I thought about putting myself on Kent’s schedule, but since we were right across the hall, I decided to just go talk to him. Knocking on his door, I didn’t hear anything. I opened it up and found the room empty. I was about to return to my own desk when the door to the kitchenette opened and Kent stormed out.
He looked disheveled, his face was red, and his tie was crooked. Behind him, Meara came rushing out, almost in tears. “Kent!” she shouted, trying to get his attention.
“I told you.” Kent stalked back to stand right next to the intern.
At that point, I knew something was going on, and every instinct in my body told me to break it up. I hustled across the reception area, thankful there were no clients waiting. The receptionist stared unabashedly, astonished by the lack of decorum being displayed.
“Hey there.” I arrived on the scene not a moment too late. “Let’s finish this in my office.”
“I don’t need your help,” Kent snapped.
“No, you do,” I argued, pulling him toward my room.
Meara followed us unhappily. Damien heard the commotion and was out in force. He went straight for his girlfriend, taking her by the hand and asking if she was all right. She seemed happy to see him and sagged against him for a moment.
I held the door open to see if either of them wanted to come in. Damien shook his head, taking Meara back to his own office. I seriously hoped that nothing illegal had happened. I considered Kent a friend, but the firm was so new, and I hadn’t really known him for that long. I knew he was angry over the liberties Damien and I were taking with the shared object of our affection. Hopefully that didn’t mean he had acted inappropriately or touched Meara when she didn’t want to be touched. Even without an HR department, we could be sued. And even if she decided not to sue us, the fact that she was harmed would be too much for me to take.
“What the hell happened?” I turned on Kent the moment we were alone.
“Nothing,” he grumbled.
“It didn’t look like nothing,” I said.
“None of your business.”
“I make it my business when you’re threatening the interns.”
“I’m not threatening anyone!” He lashed out, coming at me in a big way.
“That’s definitely not threatening,” I chided.
I wasn’t worried that Kent would attack me. I knew him well enough to know that he was mostly hot air. What bothered me was that he was worked up and couldn’t seem to calm down. That was a dangerous combination and one not conducive to getting work done. We were lucky that there were no clients in the office, but the day was young. Surely one of us had an appointment at some time in the not-too-distant future. We had to clean this mess up before anyone saw it.
Damien burst into the room, bringing Meara with him. They both looked angry. I was sure that Damien knew what had happened and that I was the only one still in the dark. I would have to put two and two together on my own because no one was talking.
“How dare you?” Damien snapped, pointing a finger.
“You didn’t seem so outraged when I told you what I was about to do,” Kent challenged.
Meara gasped, turning to face her lover.
“I didn’t think he was serious,” Damien defended himself.
“You knew damned well that I was serious,” Kent snapped.
“I couldn’t possibly think that he would go through with it.”
“With what?!” I demanded.
“Kent kissed me,” Meara finally disclosed.
I couldn’t help but laugh. It was about as bad as I thought. Kent had taken liberties that he was not supposed to take, but no real harm had been done. He saw what Damien and I got away with, and he wanted some for himself. He’d said as much several times over the past few days.
I shook my head. “You can’t just kiss a woman because your friends did.”