Page 94 of Saved By the CEO

He’s talking about me.

“Dude,” the other guy says. “Drop it.”

Josh lets out a laugh that doesn’t sound like him. Or maybe it does.

“I’m just saying. Must be nice, right?” he says. “Luxury trips, days off whenever she wants, and now Communications suddenly seems interested?”

The water bottle slips a little in my hand.

“Josh,” the other IT guy says again, sharper this time.

But Josh keeps going.

“Guess we should all get on our backs and spread for upper management if we want a promotion.”

The whole cafeteria blurs around the edges. I stand there with my stupid salad and my stupid water and forget how to move.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

The voice comes from my left.

Megan is standing a few feet away with a coffee cup in one hand and a container of soup in the other. She looks frozen at first, like she can’t quite believe he actually said it out loud. Then her face hardens.

Josh turns toward her, and the color drains from his cheeks. “I was just joking.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Come on, Megan.” He gives a weak laugh and lifts both hands. “Don’t make it a thing. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

He takes a step toward her, which suddenly puts me in his line of sight.

For one horrible second, our eyes meet.

He looks startled. Then guilty. Then, somehow, annoyed, likeI’mthe one who embarrassedhim.

“Carly,” he starts.

I don’t answer.

I can’t.

Megan looks between us, and something in her expression changes. She sets her coffee down on the nearest table. “No,” she says to Josh. “You don’t get to talk to her right now.”

“Megan—”

“I’m going to HR.”

The words land hard enough that even the nearby conversations seem to quiet. People are going to talk about this confrontation for weeks, I can already tell. This is the most dramatic thing that has ever happened inside these walls, andBenCo once had a Christmas party end with a senior analyst crying with her hand in a chocolate fountain.

Josh laughs once, short and nervous. “Seriously?”

“Yes,” she says. “Seriously.”

Then she turns and walks away, soup still in hand, shoulders stiff with purpose.

Josh stares after her.

I keep my eyes on the floor.