He was hidden from view when I first opened the door, but now that I see him, I know this is ominous.
The chair beside him is empty. I take a seat. The three of us form a perfect triangle of doom.
“Thank you for coming, Annie,” Carrie says, straightening her shoulders and folding her hands in front ofher.
“What’s going on?” I ask, looking from her to Connor, who is carefully avoiding eye contact. He is stone-faced, a hand gripping each of his knees. Unbelievable. Is he so pissed off that he’s reported me toHR?
Carrie takes a deep breath. “After a serious breach of confidential information on Monday, you’re found to be in violation of company practices. After consultation with your line manager”—she waves a hand toward Connor—“the company has made the difficult decision to terminate your employment contract, effective immediately.”
Carrie’s words hit me like an anvil. I stare at her in shock.
“Access to your emails and any shared company drives has been revoked as of five minutes ago. We ask that you arrange to return any company property you may currently hold off-site within thirty days.
“You can of course return to your desk to gather your personal belongings, but due to the nature of the policy violation, a member of HR will escort you there and then off the premises.”
This is like a nightmare playing out in slow motion: themost humiliating moment of my life unfolding in front of two of the people I’d least like to seeit.
Connor is staring at the floor like he’s trying to drill a hole in it with his eyes.
I chance a look at Carrie, who gives me such a pained expression I almost can’t bearit.
“OK,” I say, standing. My legs feel like putty. My voice sounds like shards of glass. “You don’t need to escort me. I just need to get my coat.”
“It’s company policy,” she says, rising from her desk and gesturing toward the door.
I look back over my shoulder one last time. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Connor was a waxwork. He is completely and utterly motionless. Good. I have nothing to say to him anyway.
Carrie and I walk down the hall in silence. She reaches for myarm.
“Don’t,” I say sharply. “What the fuck was that?”
“I’m really sorry, Annie. I hated having to do that.”
“Some warning would have been nice, Carrie.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Oh fuck off,” I snap.
When we get to my floor she hangs back by the elevators. “I’ll wait for you here.”
—
Ben notices me first, his eyes flicking up briefly when I’m in his peripheral vision and then doing a double take when he sees the shell-shocked look on my face. He gets up from his desk immediately. I must look an absolute fright.
“What’s goingon?”
“I got fired.”
His eyes bug out. “You’re not serious.”
“I’m literally being escorted out.”
“We need to find Connor. Does he know?”
“He’s the one who firedme.”
“What?” Ben says, completely incredulous. “I don’t understand.”
