Chapter 3 - For Now
By Thursday morning, I had developed a system for dealing with Adrian Vale.
Avoid him.
It was simple.
Elegant.
Highly effective.
Or it would've been, if we didn't work in the same building.
Still, I had rules.
If I saw him coming down a hallway, I suddenly remembered something extremely important in the opposite direction.
If he entered the break room, I no longer needed whatever I'd gone in there for.
If I heard his voice nearby, I became deeply committed to my computer.
It wasn't cowardice.
It was survival.
"You're hiding from him."
I looked at Maya.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You just waited four minutes to get water because Vale was near the kitchen."
"I wasn't thirsty yet."
"You were holding an empty water bottle."
"My hydration schedule is none of your business."
Ben leaned around his monitor.
"I support her."
"Thank you."
"Predators can't attack what they can't find."
I stared at him.
"Never mind."
Maya laughed.
I went back to my screen.
Honestly, things weren't that bad.
Yesterday's coffee incident had been humiliating, but I'd survived.
Adrian hadn't fired me.
He hadn't mentioned the shirt again.
And today, so far, he hadn't spoken to me once.
It was almost ten.
Maybe my luck was changing.
Then somebody screamed.
Not somebody.
Adrian.
"What the hell is this?"
The entire office went silent.
My fingers stopped over my keyboard.
Oh.
That sounded bad.
Really bad.
His voice had come from the open conference area on the other side of our section.
I shouldn't have looked.
Obviously, I looked.
Adrian stood beside the long conference table with several people around him.
His jacket was gone.
His sleeves were rolled up.
One hand held a set of drawings.
The other was planted flat against the table.
A man from one of the project teams was standing across from him.
"I thought those were the final-"
"You thought?"
Adrian's voice cracked through the office.
I flinched.
So did Maya.
The man tried again.
"I was told-"
"I don't give a damn what you were told. You check it!"
He threw the drawings onto the table.
Not at anyone.
But hard enough that the sound made me jump.
Holy shit.
I had seen Adrian angry.
I'd seen him yell.
I'd even been on the receiving end of it.
This was different.
This was Adrian Vale absolutely fucking furious.
"Do you have any idea what would've happened if this went out?"
"It didn't."
"Because I caught it!"
The man said something too quietly for me to hear.
Wrong thing, apparently.
Adrian's palm slammed against the table.
"THAT IS NOT AN EXCUSE!"
I immediately looked at my computer.
Nope.
Nope nope nope.
Whatever was happening over there was between Adrian, that poor man, and God.
I wanted no part of it.
Beside me, Maya whispered,
"Oh God."
"Don't look at him."
"You're looking at him."
"I stopped."
"You were staring."
"He's screaming."
Another burst of Adrian's voice carried across the office.
Both of us straightened.
Ben hadn't moved in approximately thirty seconds.
I whispered, "Is he always like this?"
Maya kept her eyes firmly on her monitor.
"I've seen him pissed."
"That's not what I asked."
"No."
Wonderful.
Adrian said something else.
I couldn't make out the words.
Didn't need to.
The tone was enough.
I suddenly felt very, very sorry for the person standing in front of him.
But underneath the sympathy was another emotion.
Relief.
Sweet, beautiful relief.
Because for once, Adrian Vale was furious-
and it had absolutely nothing to do with me.
I lowered my head and returned to work.
At least I was safe.
For now.
By eleven thirty, the hurricane had passed.
Adrian had disappeared.
The office had collectively remembered how to breathe.
And Maya had decided that what everyone needed after witnessing a workplace execution was lunch.
"I'm starving."
"You're always starving."
"That's because I'm alive."
Ben stood.
"Where?"
"Thai."
"No."
"Why?"
"You made me eat Thai Tuesday."
"And?"
"I have rights."
I grabbed my bag.
"You lost those when you stole my dessert yesterday."
"That was one bite."
"You ate half."
"Your definition of half is emotionally motivated."
Daniel appeared beside my desk.
"Are we fighting?"
"Always," Maya said.
"Lunch?"
"Yes."
Daniel looked at me.
"You coming, Angel?"
"Obviously."
"Good. I need somebody normal at the table."
Ben looked offended.
"You picked her?"
Daniel glanced at me.
I smiled sweetly.
He reconsidered.
"Fair point."
"Fuck all of you."
We headed toward the elevators.
And just like that, the morning became normal again.
No Adrian.
No screaming.
No terrifying CEO.
Just lunch.
Exactly how I liked it.
At 1:46, I made the mistake.
I didn't know I'd made it.
That was the problem.
I was finishing a small Solara update when an email came through asking me to send the revised reference package to the client's design contact.
Easy.
I had two nearly identical PDFs sitting in the project folder.
One was the current version.
One was an older working version we'd replaced that morning.
I attached the file.
Wrote a quick email.
Read the email once.
Hit send.
Done.
Then Nicole stopped by my desk.
Then Maya asked me a question.
Then I got pulled into something else.
Life continued.
At 2:17, my phone rang.
I picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Did you send the Solara package?"
Adrian.
My spine straightened automatically.
"Yes."
"Which one?"
I frowned.
"The revised one."
Silence.
Bad silence.
"Open your sent email."
My stomach tightened.
"Why?"
"Open it."
I clicked into my sent folder.
Found the email.
Opened the attachment.
And felt the blood drain from my face.
Oh God.
No.
Wrong PDF.
Not wildly wrong.
Not confidential.
Not catastrophic.
But wrong.
The previous version.
My previous version.
Fuck.
"Mr. Vale-"
"Don't."
The line went dead.
I stared at my phone.
Maya looked over.
"What?"
I slowly put it down.
"I sent the wrong attachment."
"To who?"
"The Solara client."
Her eyes widened.
"How wrong?"
"Old version."
"Can you fix it?"
"Yes."
"Then fix it."
I was already typing.
A correction email.
Correct attachment.
Simple.
Embarrassing, but simple.
Nobody had responded to the first email yet.
Maybe they hadn't even opened it.
I attached the correct file.
This time I checked it.
Twice.
Three times.
I was about to hit send when the office changed.
It was strange how that happened.
Nobody said anything.
People simply got quieter.
My stomach sank.
I knew.
I didn't even have to look.
I looked anyway.
Adrian was walking toward me.
Fast.
His expression-
Oh, fuck.
I was going to die.
Maya whispered,
"Good luck."
"Don't leave me."
"I'm right here."
"Emotionally."
"I'll attend your funeral."
"Bitch."
Adrian reached my desk.
He put a printed copy of my email down in front of me.
"Tell me you didn't send this."
There was absolutely no point lying.
"I did."
"Why?"
"I attached the wrong file."
His jaw tightened.
"To the client."
"Yes."
"You sent an outdated package directly to the client."
"Yes."
"I know what you did, Ms. Stone. I'm asking how."
Several conversations around us stopped.
I swallowed.
"I had both files open. I selected the wrong one."
"And you didn't check it?"
"I thought I did."
"You thought?"
His voice rose.
Here we go.
"I checked the email. I didn't reopen the attachment before I sent it."
He stared at me.
For one second, he said nothing.
Then-
"HOW DO YOU SEND SOMETHING TO A CLIENT WITHOUT CHECKING THE ATTACHMENT?"
Every muscle in my body tightened.
The office went completely silent.
"I made a mistake."
"A mistake?"
"Yes."
"You represent this company when you contact a client!"
"I know."
"Do you?"
His voice was getting louder.
I could feel people watching.
Nobody was pretending not to anymore.
My face burned.
Normally, this would've been the point where my mouth got me into trouble.
Unfortunately, my mouth had reviewed the evidence and decided not to represent me.
Because he was right.
I'd fucked up.
Not spectacularly.
Not pack-your-things-and-security-will-see-you-out spectacularly.
But I'd sent a client the wrong file.
That was mine.
I couldn't tell him he was wrong.
Which was deeply inconvenient, because he was being a fucking lunatic about it.
"I've already prepared the correction."
"I don't care what you've prepared!"
I flinched.
"Mr. Vale-"
"You should never have to correct something this careless in the first place!"
"I understand."
"Stop saying you understand!"
I closed my mouth.
His eyes were blazing.
"I should not have to stand over you and make sure you check an attachment before you send it!"
"I know."
"Apparently you don't!"
My hands curled beneath the desk.
He was right.
He was right.
He was right.
I repeated it to myself because the alternative was saying something that would probably end with me unemployed.
"I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
"You'll make sure?"
"Yes."
"That's supposed to reassure me?"
Okay.
That one pissed me off.
I looked up at him.
"It was one mistake."
Wrong.
His expression changed.
I immediately wished I could retrieve the sentence and shove it back into my mouth.
"One mistake?"
"I didn't mean-"
"ONE MISTAKE IS ALL IT TAKES!"
His voice exploded across the office.
I flinched again.
Harder this time.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian took a step closer to my desk.