And yet, I had to, because no one else was going to. I took another deep breath and decided to venture out into the lobby. In case he had taken the elevator down and was waiting for me, I decided the best course of action was to push open the door and make a beeline across the lobby and out the front door. Once I made it to my car, I'd be safe, and then I could decide what to do next. Call human resources? Or should I call Cassius? Or maybe I should just... no, I wasn't going to quit or let that jerk fire me. I was going to fight this! Maybe he'd tell the whole company about me and Cassius, and I'd get fired anyway. But if I went down, I was taking him with me.
I shook my head. I could strategize later. The first thing to do was get out away from him, so I could breathe and think clearly.
I pushed open the stairwell door and immediately locked my eyes on the exit. I wasn't running, but I was walking fast, taking deep strides. I'm sure it looked strange to anyone who was watching, but hopefully anyone who saw me just thought I was in a hurry for work reasons.
I was so focused on making it to the door that I didn't even notice Cassius standing over in the corner of the lobby.
"Deira," I heard him call my name and glanced over my shoulder, but I didn't stop walking. He caught up with me and reached for my hand, but I pulled it away.
"Hey," he said, stepping in front of me. When he looked at my face, he frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked.
I finally stopped walking and looked up at him. Some of my anger against Mr. White spilled over onto him. After all, if he'd just let me interview for the job in the first place, then Mr. White wouldn't have gotten suspicious. And he wouldn't have been able to use our relationship to try to force me to have sex with him.
"Ask Mr. White," I spat out. "I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you." And I pushed past him and out the door.
TWENTY-FOUR
CASSIUS
I was stunned by the anger in Deira's voice, and I stared after her as she stormed out of the lobby. I knew she was probably still mad at me about the Michelle incident, but I hadn't expected her to behave that way at work. What could have happened to make her so upset?
I went into the elevator and was headed for my floor when I remembered the last thing she had said before leaving. "Ask Mr. White. I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you." Mr. White... he was the head of the PR department. Deira's position wasn't directly under him, but he was technically her boss. Whatever she was mad about seemed to have to do with work, not me. I went into my office and, after thinking about it for a moment, asked my assistant if I had any free time that afternoon. I knew I had several back-to-back meetings that were happening soon.
"You're free at four o'clock, Mr. Reade," she told me. “But you had told me you were leaving early today."
I had planned to leave early, but this seemed more important. I had my assistant contact Mr. White and schedule him to come see me at four. It was difficult to attend the meetings with this weighing on my mind. I made myself get a grip, though, and focus on the business at hand. After all, if the CEO wasn't paying attention, what kind of example was that?
Finally, the meetings ended, and I returned to my office. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and when I answered, my assistant showed Mr. White in. He seemed slightly nervous, but that was to be expected, being called to the CEO's office out of the blue. I asked him to sit, and got right down to business.
"Mr. White, I just wanted to ask you about one of the employees in your department, Deira Wilson. You know Deira, right?"
He seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes. The new girl."
"That's right," I said. "I ran into her in the lobby earlier and was surprised to see that she was leaving in the middle of the work day. I asked her about it, and she told me that it would be best to inquire about the matter with you. Do you know what she might be referring to?"
"Ah," Mr. White said, nodding, "I thought this might come up. Actually, we did have a bit of an unpleasant interaction earlier. You see, I had been reviewing some of her work, and felt that it wasn't up to par. Of course, knowing how much you personally care about the company, Mr. Reade, we take the quality of our work pretty seriously. I'm afraid I had to criticize her a bit today, and she just... well, she didn't take it very well." Mr. White said all this confidently, and if I hadn't seen Deira earlier, I would have found it very believable. But something seemed a bit off.
"I see," I said, leaning forward and putting my weight on the desk in a way I knew people found intimidating. "It's quite extreme for someone to leave work early just because they've received criticism. Even if your review of her work was quite harsh, I would expect her to stay and continue working." I didn't mention that I had actually been quietly keeping tabs on Deira's work, and thought she was doing an excellent job. "Unless there was something more that happened?" I asked.
"Yes, I knew she had left, but I assumed she would return. I wasn't aware that she hadn't, as I don't supervise her directly. She did have quite an emotional response, though I've worked with many women, so I know that happens sometimes. I'm afraid I might have made it worse by asking that she react more appropriately. That seemed to make her mad, and she ended up yelling at me and running out. It was quite a scene."
I was certainly familiar with making Deira mad and having her run out on me. But would she do that at work? With someone she had no personal relationship with? I asked myself those questions and realized I didn't really know Deira well enough to answer them.
"I understand. Thank you for your time, Mr. White."
"No problem," he said, giving me a little nod as he got up and left. He closed the door on the way out and I pondered the situation for a while.
On one hand, I knew Mr. White had worked for the company for years. He'd slowly been promoted until he got to be head of the department, and as far as I knew, his work had always been exemplary. As I'd just realized, I had no idea what Deira was actually like in a work situation. I knew she was smart, and capable, and creative, but I'd never worked with her. I did know she had a temper. Thinking about it logically, I could almost believe Mr. White's story.
On the other hand, though, something in my gut told me there was more to the tale, and I always trusted my gut. It had never steered me wrong. I decided I needed to hear Deira's full side of the story. I picked up my phone and texted her, asking if she could meet me to talk about what happened.
She replied, "Just picked Makayla up from school. Let me see if Dani can watch her for a bit."
I said, “Okay,” and a few minutes later she texted again.
"Dropping Makayla off at Dani's. Meet me there." She sent an address.