“Hey, you,” Betsy greeted.“Would you like to come over for Christmas?No gifts needed.We’re just going to have an awesome dinner, watch holiday movies, and drink hot chocolate.”
“As yummy as that sounds, Hades asked me to celebrate with him.”
“Wait, what?”Betsy’s mouth dropped open.“Shut the front door.”
“I know, right?”Cora shook her head.“I couldn’t believe it myself.”
“What’s going on between you two?”
Cora sighed.“I wish I knew.He’s told me in not so many words to not get attached but then he asks me to celebrate Christmas with him and wants to see me on weekends.He’s always blowing hot and cold and it’s confusing.”
“Could he love you?”
“No,” she replied firmly.“We’re too different.I think he thinks I’m unique, but that’ll fade.”
Betsy laid a hand on her arm.“Doyoulove him?”
“Of course not,” Cora answered.“Flies live longer than the number of days I’ve known him.”
Was that really the truth?Not love, but something was there.Attraction?Fascination?
“I see,” Betsy said.“Well, I’m always here for you.”
“Thank you.”She took a deep breath.“Let’s get this day over.”
Betsy went to her floor, and Cora went to the mail room.The day was uneventful until lunch.Since she hadn’t brought anything to eat, she went to the vending machines and got a bag of cookies.As she was heading back to the bank of elevators, munching on chocolate chip goodness, she was shoved from behind and went flying.Since she was caught unaware, she didn’t get a chance to brace herself, and her cheek connected sharply with the ground.Pain exploded and tears immediately formed to run down her cheeks.Laughter erupted but she hurt too much to care, knowing who had been the one behind the push.Unable to move, she cupped her face, crying as Ranelle and her bitch squad walked past.
“Stop right there!”an angry male voice commanded, as he knelt beside her.
Cora glanced up and saw her supervisor, Mr.Lee.Instead of looking at her, however, he was glaring at Ranelle, who had halted and turned around, eyes wide with panic.
“I’ve warned you,” he told her, his voice cold and harsh.Mr.Lee helped her up, and for the first time, Cora saw that Ranelle was scared.“All of you, come with me.”
“To where?”Ranelle asked.
“This ends today,” Mr.Lee replied.“We’re heading upstairs to HR.All of you have no business working here.”
Ranelle shook her head, opening her mouth to argue, but Mr.Lee wasn’t budging.He pointed, then took hold of Cora’s arm, helping her as they all made their way to the human resources office.
****
“What happened?”Betsyasked, eyes wide with horror as she inspected Cora’s cheek.“This is one nasty bruise.”
“Ranelle and her friends were fired, effective immediately,” Cora told her, holding an ice pack to her face.“Mr.Lee really hammered in the nails to their coffins.”
“Good riddance,” Betsy said.“They should’ve been fired long ago.”
“Well, karma finally caught up with them.”
“Hey, now there’s a few admin positions available.You should apply.”
“Yeah, I think I will.”
They walked down the stairs from the building to the street.Hades’s driver arrived and Betsy escorted her to him, staying with her to make sure she didn’t have any side-effects from banging her head.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
Cora nodded.“See you tomorrow.”
