Chapter 3 - For Now #2
"You don't get to decide a mistake doesn't matter because nothing happened!"
"I didn't say it didn't matter."
"You just stood there and told me it was one mistake!"
"I'm trying to say I know I was wrong."
"Then act like it!"
"I am!"
His eyes flashed.
"ANGELICA!"
I stopped.
Completely.
So did the office.
My name seemed to hang there between us.
Not Ms. Stone.
Angelica.
He'd screamed it.
And somehow that was more startling than everything else.
Adrian didn't appear to notice.
Or maybe he didn't care.
He was too angry.
"Do not stand there and argue with me when you know you screwed up."
My voice was quieter when I answered.
"I'm not arguing."
"Then stop talking and fix it."
I nodded.
"Okay."
"Now."
"Okay."
He stared at me for another second.
Then turned and walked away.
Nobody said a word.
Not one.
I looked at my computer.
My correction email was still sitting there.
Ready.
Waiting.
I checked the attachment again.
Correct.
I hit send.
Then sat back.
My hands were shaking.
Just slightly.
I tucked them under my desk.
I wasn't crying.
I wasn't going to cry.
I was embarrassed.
Angry.
And, if I was being completely truthful, a little scared.
Mostly, I wanted everyone to stop looking at me.
Slowly, the office began making noise again.
Quiet conversations.
Keyboards.
Phones.
Nobody near me spoke.
For once, even Ben seemed to understand that this wasn't the moment for a joke.
About thirty seconds passed.
Then Maya's chair rolled quietly toward mine.
"Angel?"
"Don't."
Her voice softened.
"I'm not going to make fun of you."
"That somehow makes it worse."
She stopped beside me.
"You okay?"
"Yep."
"You're lying."
"I sent the wrong attachment."
"I know."
"He had a right to be angry."
"I know."
"So."
Maya stared at me.
"So what?"
"So I'm not going to sit here pretending he yelled at me for nothing."
"I didn't say he yelled at you for nothing."
I finally looked at her.
She wasn't smiling.
Neither was Ben.
Maya lowered her voice.
"You made a mistake."
"Yes."
"A fixable mistake."
"Yes."
"Nobody died."
"No."
"The client didn't even respond before you corrected it."
"No."
She glanced toward the corridor Adrian had disappeared into.
"That was fucking insane."
I looked down.
Ben spoke from the other side of the partition.
"He yelled at Mark this morning."
I looked at him.
"So?"
"Mark nearly sent an unapproved package out for construction."
Ah.
So that was what the morning execution had been about.
Ben continued.
"He yelled at you worse."
I frowned.
"No, he didn't."
"Yes, he did."
Maya nodded.
"He did."
I leaned back in my chair.
"Great."
Nobody spoke for a moment.
Then a voice came from two desks away.
Nicole.
"What the hell does Vale have against you?"
I looked over.
She looked genuinely confused.
Daniel had stopped working too.
So had two other people nearby.
Fantastic.
Apparently we were having a departmental discussion about Adrian Vale's hatred of me.
"I don't know."
Nicole frowned.
"I've worked here three years. I've seen him pissed plenty of times."
"Apparently I'm special."
Nobody laughed.
That bothered me more than if they had.
Daniel leaned back in his chair.
"Did something happen between you two?"
"No."
"Before Solara?"
"No."
"Ever?"
"I had never spoken to the man before Tuesday."
He looked baffled.
"So why does he act like that with you?"
"I. Don't. Know."
Maya looked toward Adrian's side of the building.
Then back at me.
Yesterday, when she'd said he hated me, there had still been humor in it.
Not anymore.
"Angel."
"What?"
"I really think you should consider asking to come off Solara."
I stared at her.
That surprised me.
"I'm not leaving a major project because my boss yelled at me."
"He doesn't just yell at you."
"Apparently he does."
"You know what I mean."
I did.
I looked at my screen.
The corrected email sat at the top of my sent folder.
My mistake.
My responsibility.
And I wasn't going to pretend otherwise.
But somewhere between you attached the wrong file and Adrian Vale screaming my first name across an entire office, something had gone completely off the rails.
I sighed.
"I'm not leaving Solara."
Maya studied me.
"Okay."
"I'm serious."
"I know."
"I like the project."
"I know."
"And I'm not letting him scare me off it."
Ben raised one eyebrow.
"Are you scared of him?"
I looked toward the corridor.
Remembered Adrian's palm hitting the conference table that morning.
His voice filling the office.
Then his face above my desk.
ANGELICA.
I looked back at Ben.
"No."
He stared at me.
I sighed.
"Fine. A little."
"A little?"
"Shut up."
That finally made Maya smile.
Just barely.
I turned back to my computer.
Around me, everyone slowly returned to work.
But something had changed.
I could feel it.
Yesterday, Maya and Ben thought Adrian hated me.
Today, everyone did.
And the worst part?
I was starting to think they were right.