“Stay there,” I snap, and his face hardens at the order, which honestly improves my mood a little.
I snatch up the phone and answer. “Hello?”
“Lexie? This is Nina.”
My whole spine goes rigid.
Nina. My former boss.
I turn partly away from the door, pulse kicking hard. “Hi.”
There is a pause on the other end. Then, “I owe you an apology.”
I close my eyes.
Oh.
“Nina...”
“No, let me finish.” Her voice is tight, professional, embarrassed. “We completed the internal review this morning. The publishing error wasn’t yours. The file was altered after it left your queue. You were blamed for something that was not your fault.”
For one second, the room sways.
I grip the edge of the table.
Behind me, Darren is still standing on my porch.
Listening.
“We’d like to reinstate you,” Nina says. “Immediately, if you’re willing. Full back pay for the missed time, obviously. And Lexie... I’m sorry.”
I laugh once, short and disbelieving, because if I do not, I might cry.
“Okay,” I say, voice thin. “Thank you for telling me.”
We end the call two minutes later.
I lower the phone slowly.
And then I understand.
Every piece of it.
I turn back toward the door.
Darren is watching me too carefully now. Too intently.
Like he is waiting.
Like he already knows.
The disgust that rolls through me is so sharp it almost makes me dizzy.
“You found out, didn’t you?” I say.
His brows draw together in a bad attempt at innocence. “Found out what?”
“That I got the job back.”
