“Who is that?” I asked. “I don’t see a single calculator on him.”
Macey placed her chopsticks on her plate. She suddenly looked sick. “My coworker.”
An ID badge sat around his neck, like the one I wore, and as he grew closer, I noticed it saidRoamer’s Digest.
“I can’t believe it,” said Macey, stunned. “Victoria told me there weren’t any press events this week.”
“She lied to you?”
That was it.
I didn’t care that there wasn’t any proof that Victoria was behind one of the harassing Instagram accounts. I would confront her myself if I had to.
Calculator Cal looked for an ID on Macey, only to realize there wasn’t one. Plus-ones didn’t have IDs.
To his credit, instead of taking the empty seat at the end of the table, he beelined toward us, his expression tightening with every step.
“Macey?” His voice was high-pitched, panicked. “What are you doing here?”
She twisted in her seat to meet Calculator Cal’s eye. “I was going to ask you the same thing. You’re covering this for an article?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, smoothing a hand down his tie like it might help him recover some composure. “Honestly, I was surprised Victoria suggested me instead of you, but I figured…”
“Figured what?”
“Since your articles have been doing so well, and you started a blog, you’d quitRoamer’s Digest.”
Macey reared back, her waist colliding with the table. I instinctively scooted an inch closer. “I would never do that. And how did you know I started a blog?”
He scoffed, gripping the back of the nearest chair a little tootightly. “I do competitive intelligence, remember? I keep track of every blog that could be a competitor.”
Macey’s fingers clenched around her napkin, twisting the fabric as her breath hitched. “You didn’t tell Victoria, did you?”
“Of course not,” he said, lips pressing into a thin line. “But it seems like you need to figure out your priorities.”
The words landed hard, and I could see the way Macey swallowed them down, forcing herself not to react. Experience made her an expert at masking her emotions around coworkers, but I wasn’t a coworker—I could see the way her shoulders curled in, the way her jaw tensed, the way the light in her eyes flickered just a little dimmer.
This wasn’t just about Victoria giving the assignment to someone else. It was about Cal’s jealousy, his resentment wrapped in a smug, professional tone.
Calculator Cal gave us a tight smile, waved, and stalked off to claim the only empty seat on the far side of the table.
Macey exhaled slowly, staring at the untouched drink in front of her.
I leaned in, lowering my voice. “Hey.”
She blinked, looking up at me.
“Want me to ‘accidentally’ spill a drink on him?”
It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make her laugh, even if just for a second.
Macey let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“Me neither,” I said. “You can’t work for them anymore.”
“Ican’t?” She turned a lethal eye toward me.
Walk it back, Noah.“You can do whatever you want, of course,” I hastened to clarify. “But I don’t think you should. Your blog has real potential. Besides, your coworkers are jealous, your boss is trying to ruin your career, and you look miserable just thinking about it.”
