“So, you said you had news…” I started, eager to get answers.
“I do. I think you’ll find it interesting that the two things you asked me to look into are tied.”
I furrowed my brow, trying to understand what he was telling me. Reading my troubled expression, he laid his briefcase out on the chair next to him and clicked the locks. He lifted the worn leather and pulled out a stack of glossy photos. He slid one across my desk. I looked down at the photo of some hotel bar with two people deep in conversation. The realization hit when I looked closer at their faces. Anderson and Tanya.
“You have a spy, Mr. Mason,” said John, placing more photos on my desk.
I sifted through them in disbelief as John placed another stack of papers on my desk.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Emails between the two. I did a little digging. It looks as if Anderson hired Tanya to keep a close eye on you for the past couple months.”
I let out a long breath as my eyes scanned over the emails. I had never thought that Anderson played any part in the rumors in the office, but now, knowing he had infiltrated my place of work by using my own front desk clerk, it sounded exactly like something he would do. I just didn’t understand why now. He’d had years to come after me for whatever revenge he felt he was entitled to.
I looked at another photo from another time, seeing Tanya’s mischievous smile as she divulged whatever her findings were for that week. I gritted my teeth. I wondered how much he was paying her, and if it was worth hurting her friend. That was what she and Sadie were. Friends. I knew they had worked together for years. This would kill Sadie. But money made people do shitty things. I knew that all too well.
“What do you think Anderson is trying to do?” I asked, the pictures and emails blurring together before me. I was too angry to piece any of it together. I needed John to just spell it out for me in his expert opinion.
He took a deep breath and settled his hands across his stomach as he looked up at me.
“It looks like a takedown to me, Mr. Mason. I’ve seen it before. My guess is he wants to push you out of your CEO position, which was why he hired someone on the inside to gather anything of value that could hurt your reputation. Based on the emails, it looks like he got in contact with Tanya just before you took on your new role here. He had his snake in place before you even settled in your office.”
“Now, if the rumors are true, which any PI could figure out easily, Anderson could use this kind of thing and take it to the board. They’ll see it as a scandal. They’ll make you answer for your actions. Possibly push you out.”
It was what I had feared, but worse because Anderson was behind it. This was why I had pushed Sadie to keep the wholething a secret. Now knowing that she had, I felt guilty for ever blaming her for letting it get out. It hadn’t been her after all. It had been Anderson trying to dig up dirt. He just happened to be digging at the most opportune time.
Even if I explained to the board that what happened between me and Sadie was consensual and we were planning on going through with starting a family, it still wouldn’t look good. Shareholders wouldn’t be keen on the idea of the CEO impregnating an employee, even if it somehow ended in a happy ending. The press would catch wind, and the deterioration of my reputation would begin, along with losing faith from clients. And just when I had landed our biggest one yet. Vincent James was still in his rights to walk from his fresh contract.
“It’s not the most well-oiled takedown I’ve ever seen, but that’s what it is. And I think I know why…” said John, rummaging through his briefcase.
I looked at him curiously, wondering how far he had dug into Anderson and if our messy past from our twenties had come up. He slid another document across my desk. I picked it up, noticing the familiar letterhead of the firm. My eyes fell on a sentence that stuck out to me as if it were highlighted in neon yellow.
At this time, we are considering other candidates for the CEO position.
Anderson had been vying for the CEO position. I had no idea. In the past, I had reveled in going after what he wanted mostand winning it. But eventually I moved on from the pettiness and began solely focusing on business for the sake of my empire, not some stupid revenge. He probably saw me garnering the position as another purposeful slight against him.
“Looks like you pissed this guy off when you took the job,” said John with a shrug. “Seems like a hell of a lot of trouble to go through just because he didn’t get it.”
If only he knew…
I heard footsteps coming down the hall, signs of life that the work morning was starting. As if realizing it too, John closed his briefcase with a click and stood from his chair. I stood and rounded my desk to walk him out.
“Thank you, John. You really did your work. Timely, too,” I said with a satisfied nod.
I shook his hand firmly before we headed out the doors.
“If you need me again, you know how to reach me,” he said at the elevators before disappearing behind the gold doors. I hoped I wouldn’t, but he was good to have in my back pocket.
I strode back to my office, nodding at the few employees who were now settling in at their desks. At my own desk, I began gathering the glossy photos and emails, creating neat stacks before placing them in the bottom drawer of my desk. All the answers I wanted were right here. I found my anger rising, knowing how low people would stoop, even if it meant hurtingtheir friends. I didn’t revel in the fact I had to tell Sadie what Tanya had been up to for the past couple of months.
I began pacing around the office, waiting for Sadie. For Tanya.
Moments later, I heard Sadie’s laugh bouncing down the hallway softly as she approached her desk. If only I was in the mood to hear it. She wasn’t alone. I heard Tanya’s voice intertwined with hers. They were talking about a first date Tanya had been on, or something like that. I was too irritated to pay attention to anything that was coming out of the rat’s mouth.
I caught sight of the two of them as they walked past my office. Sadie looked fresh-faced as she settled in at her desk in one of my favorite dresses of hers, clutching her usual peppermint tea. She avoided looking in my direction. I could tell she was holding back her usual smile. It was the same beautiful look she often had on her face when we were around each other in the office.
She set her purse down as Tanya perched on her desk talking animatedly while clutching a caramel-colored iced coffee. Seeing the two of them together made my stomach turn, knowing the betrayal that had gone on. I couldn’t stand it any longer. I strode out my office door and faced Tanya. As I towered over her, she looked up in surprise, her body cowering slightly.
