Chapter Twenty Eight
Christopher
I stand in the soup aisle, poring over the multitude of options. I want to get Hannah exactly what she wants.
It’s so endearing that she even wants soup at all, that she’d rather have that than a home cooked meal.
I suppose she thinks her nausea might be quelled with something simple like chicken noodle soup.
It tells me so much about her childhood, and I can see Little Hannah now, sick and slurping noodles. Finally, I decide she might want more than the one kind of soup, so I decide to just grab one of each kind to be on the safe side.
Last minute, I grab every kind of pregnancy test they have, too. My cart looks like that of a madman.
Before I go back home, I decide to stop by the gym to check up on things. I hadn’t expected the outing with Hannah to take up my entire day, and this reality check from her has me thinking, again, about the missing money from the gym.
When I started the gym, it was to have a legacy for the future.
And while I didn’t know exactly where the future would lead, I knew I wanted to leave my mark on the world. For who, I didn’t really know.
It seemed to be less important as time went on and I failed to find someone significant to share my life with.
But now, the possibility of two someones, three if I count Lucy, has me thinking I need to fix this business problem so we can both rest easy.
The soup cans roll around my floorboard, spilling out of their bags, the result of my hurried packing at the check stand. In the final analysis, only one got dinged when it dropped to the ground in the parking lot.
Once at the gym, I get to the office just as Sarah takes her break.
She nods primly at me as she picks up her purse, a small silver number with fringe hanging from the bottom. “Sarah, you getting out of here early?”
“Just taking my break,” she replies, squeezing past me to leave. “I’ll be back in thirty.”
“Okay, I might have a question or two for you when you get back.”
“What about?”
“You’re off the clock. You go take your break,” I respond, smiling broadly at her, the cans in my car on my mind, the insides heating up even as the LA sun sets.
Once Sarah leaves, I begin my secret mission.
I sit down at the desk and look through the financial statements for the gym.
Not the ones that Hannah showed me – that I had provided to her -- but the ones that she originally wanted me to provide.
These documents show the individual transactions that I’d been too afraid to face.
Without Hanna’s accountant eyes, I feel lost at sea, my eyes on numbers swimming in front of me, the sea of transactions dark and stormy.
Scanning through the records, lists of number after number, something catches my eye.
I see a transaction that doesn”t quite match up to what I know of our inventory. It”s not a huge discrepancy, but it”s there, undeniably there.
I furrow my brow, tapping my pen against the desk as I try to make sense of it.
It could be a mistake. It could so easily be a mistake.
My heart sinks as I notice another irregularity. And another.
And only one person has control over this. And she’s just left the building.
Anger simmers beneath the surface as I continue to sift through the spreadsheets.
I start to realize what Hannah meant about it being dangerous to put one person in charge of all of this, without any checks and balances.
Despite my fear of betrayal, I’ve set myself up perfectly to be betrayed.
How could Sarah do this to me? I’ve always treated her fairly and paid her well. I’ve been fair to her. I’ve trusted her.
And she’s been here for years, working her way up. How long has she operated under the radar, a trustworthy face with backstabbing behaviors?
I take a deep breath, steeling myself for what comes next.
I text Hannah where I am and that I have her soup. Then, I turn over my phone, sit, and wait.
Once Sarah gets back, my feet are asleep, and I shake them under the table as she opens the door.
“Oh,” she says, letting out a little gasp of surprise. “Hey, Chris. I didn’t expect you to still be here.”
I force a smile, trying to keep my emotions in check. ”I said I wanted to talk.”
“I guess you did,” she mumbles from the doorway, her hand poised on the doorknob as though she might run at any point.
“So. Can I talk to you?”
Her smile falters slightly, but she nods and closes the door behind her.
”What”s up?” she asks, taking a seat across from me.
I take a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts. ”Sarah, you know I hired a CPA to expand the gym, right?”
“Sure, of course. I think that’s a good call. You’ve got a lot of business here. It just makes sense.”
Her words and tone are both cool, her body language relaxed even as she lies to my face. The only perceptible change in her is her compulsory hair twirling. Her silken jet-black hair spins round and round her index finger, sliding over and under it.
I inhale and consider my options. With Sarah in front of me, I don’t feel as angry as I did earlier, only sad.
“Sarah.” I sit up straighter. “Are you happy here?”
Her eyebrows fold toward each other. “Yes…why?”
“You’re sure I didn’t do something to you? Offend you in some way? You can tell me.”
She smiles, her fuchsia lipstick opening to reveal her straight white teeth.
“I’m sure. Chris.” She chuckles lightly, “I would leave if I wasn’t happy. Why? Are you okay?”
She crosses one leg over the other and leans back against her chair. She notices herself twirling her hair and stops, flipping it behind her back. She folds her hands into her lap, holding one down with the other.
I look at my fingers, inspecting my nails, and then meet her eyes, a sharp grey that lingers for just a moment before she breaks eye contact.
“The CPA noticed some discrepancies.”
Her brow furrows in confusion. ”Discrepancies? What do you mean?”
I turn the monitor to her and point at a line. ”I mean transactions that don”t add up, expenses that don”t match our actual business activity or are grossly inflated.”
“Oh.”
“And I have reason to believe that you”re responsible.”
Sarah”s eyes widen in shock, and her mouth falls open. ”What? No.”
I drum my fingers on the desk. ”Sarah.”
I find her eyes again and sigh. “The facts don’t lie. And…there’s only you. You”ve been stealing from the business. From me.”
Her expression shifts from shock to panic, and she opens her mouth to protest, but I cut her off as the anger switches to indignation.
”I”m giving you two options, Sarah” I say, my voice firm.
”You can either resign and leave quietly, making restitution, in which case I won’t notify the authorities or press charges. If you choose not to do so, I”ll call them right now and have you arrested for embezzlement.”
Sarah”s face drains of color, and she swallows hard.
”I... I can”t pay it back, Chris. It”s over $300,000.”
Anger and shock surge through me, and I grit my teeth to keep from raising my voice.
“$300,000? My God, Sarah.” She nods silently, tears welling up in her eyes. “Why?”
“I don’t…I don’t know. I’m sorry. I could write you a check for $20,000 if that helps.”
“Then write it and get out.”
She stands up and fishes in her purse for a checkbook.
I watch her write me a check in the swirly handwriting I’ve come to know so well She then begins packing the personal items on her desk, random things – a pen with feathers on the end, a framed photo of her and her boyfriend.
“I’m sorry, Chris.”
“You’re sorry you got caught,” I tell her coldly as I print out the remaining pages proving her crime.
“Oh!” I call out before she closes the door. “Leave your keys. Who knows what else you would take if you had the chance? We don’t have much nailed to the floor these days.”
She opens her mouth to respond, a cool reply on her tongue, but I watch her gain control, offsetting the fear in her eyes with a smile as she pulls her key off the ring and slaps it on the table.
Once she”s gone, I slump back in my chair, feeling exhausted and defeated.
I can”t believe I let this happen. That I was this stupid.
I trusted her, and she took advantage of that trust. But as angry as I am, I also feel a sense of relief.
The truth is out now, I know who the culprit was and I can start to rectify things.
I’ll have to hire someone new and, with Hannah’s help, install some sort of system of checks and balances. I’m sure she’ll have some ideas of the best way to go about designing a new system of accounting for the business.
Never again will I allow one person that kind of control over my business. I won’t let one person”s betrayal destroy everythingng I”ve worked so hard to build.
I’ve rebuilt my life before, after a stinging stab to the back, and I can do it again.
How could I have been so blind? She seemed so loyal. But now, I can see I missed so many red flags.
The extra cash she always seemed to have on hand, the lavish purchases she made despite her modest salary. It all makes sense now.
I shake my head, trying to push the thoughts aside as I stand up. This can all be dealt with tomorrow.
For now, I have someone sick at home who needs soup, and no matter what betrayals life hands me, I will never be the one who does the betraying.