“Oh yeah?” I ask with vague curiosity. I didn’t realize he was having her help him with anything.
Rob leans in closer to me. “Yeah… think I’m going to ask her out. She looks like she’d be an amazing f**k, don’t you think?”
He laughs at his own crude statement and I have to curl my fingers into the palms of my hands, digging my nails in, so I don’t punch the motherfucker.
And since I can’t beat the shit out of him, I decide to use real power instead.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warn him. “You get me sued for a hostile work environment or some shit like that, I’ll have to fire your ass. You know there’s no fraternizing among superiors and subordinates, and you, Rob, are her superior. ”
Rob’s eyebrows shoot high, and disappointment etches all over his face. “But she doesn’t work underneath me. How am I her superior?”
“You’re in litigation and one of the senior associates. She’s in litigation and is at the bottom of the rung. You’re her superior. ”
Blinking at me for a few moments, he says quietly, “I didn’t think of it that way. Sorry. You’re right… that wouldn’t be good. ”
I nod my head at him curtly, because I still want to kick his ass, and start to move past him. I don’t feel a shred of remorse for placing a standard on Rob that I myself am not willing to abide by. Truth be told, if Mac weren’t involved with me, there really wouldn’t be anything wrong with them having a relationship. But Mac is involved with me and there’s no way I’m sharing her.
“Hey, Matt?” Rob asks and I turn halfway to look at him, raising my chin in question. “You all right? You seem a little on edge. ”
I try to relax my face, so he doesn’t see that I still want to pound him into the dirt. “I’m fine. Just a lot on my plate today. ”
“All right. I’ll see you around. ”
I don’t respond and walk away.
When I get to my office, I flop in my chair and boot up my laptop. My mind starts thinking about the work I need to do today, but then gets sidetracked by thinking about Mac. This is happening more and more lately, and it’s kind of a pain in the ass. One of the things that makes me so f**king great at what I do… why I’m a litigation god… is because I have tremendous focus and determination.
Not so much “post-Mac”.
When my computer fully boots, I note I have a meeting this afternoon with a doctor that’s going to testify in a nursing home abuse case for me. I quickly send an email to my paralegal and ask her to pull the medical records on that case so I can review them this morning.
I start going through my other email, nothing in the subject lines standing out as urgent. When I get to one from my HR director, Karen Anders, that simply says “Employee Emergency,” I almost bypass it because it’s not marked urgent and I’m sure it’s just informational. Karen has been with me from the day I opened the doors to this firm, is well equipped to handle 99. 9% of the human resource matters, and usually just tells me what she did so I can put that away in my memory under the file entitled “Useless Knowledge”.
I almost hit the delete button without even reading it, but something makes me pause. Mac isn’t in yet… what if the emergency is about her?
My palms immediately get sweaty, and my heart starts madly tripping. I open the email, and my eyes immediately focus on the words McKayla Dawson.
My heart beat pulses so hard that it feels like it will jump out of my chest.
The message is simple.
Matt,
McKayla Dawson’s roommate called me a bit ago and advised me that Miss Dawson has a family emergency and had to leave for Nashville last night. Her roommate said she expects she’ll be out several days.
FYI, so you can make sure someone can cover her cases for her. I’ll update you if I find anything else out.
Karen
Bolting out of my chair, I walk—practically run—to Karen’s office. She’s thankfully alone when I barge through the door and looks up at me from her computer with a smile.
“Good morning,” she says cheerfully.
“What happened with Mac?”
Karen blinks at me, because yeah… the way I asked it was urgent and blunt, and it was rude I didn’t acknowledge her greeting.
“Um… I’m not sure. Her roommate just said it was a family emergency. I’m sorry… I didn’t think to ask other details. I just took her word that it truly was an emergency. ”
Breathing out a huge sigh of frustration, I rake my hands through my hair and try to think of what to do.
“You don’t think this is made up so she could take time off?” Karen asks, her eyes now narrowed in suspicion.
My head snaps in her direction. “No way. Mac’s not like that. ”
Karen’s jaw sort of drops because she heard it. Heard the tone of my voice. Heard that I know Mac on a bit of a deeper level than just a new employee.
“Give me her roommate’s number,” I demand, trying to keep my voice at a polite decibel but I think… ultimately… failing. Good thing Karen’s seen all of my moods, even the worst, so she doesn’t even bat an eye at that.
Typing a few keystrokes on her computer, she pulls something up on her screen. Her eyes search back and forth and when she finds what she wants, she writes it down on yellow sticky note for me.
“Thanks,” I manage to say as I take the paper and head out her door. Pulling my cell phone from my jacket pocket, I dial the number Karen just gave me and head back toward my office. As it rings, I pass a few people in the hall who make eye contact with me and then drop their gaze quickly. I know what my face is saying. It’s saying, I’m upset and if you know what’s good for you, don’t say a f**king word to me.
Macy answers on the second ring. “Hello. ”
“What the hell is going on with Mac and why am I just hearing about it from my human resources director?” I demand.
Macy does something that stuns me. She starts crying.
Loud.
“Macy,” I try to get her attention as I make it back to my office. “You need to calm down and tell me what’s going on. You’re freaking me the f**k out. ”
I can hear her take a deep breath in and let it out. “I’m sorry. I’m just so worried. Mac’s mom was in a bad car accident, and she tore out of here last night. She’s driving to Nashville, and I haven’t heard from her. I’ve been calling all night and this morning, and nothing. What if something happened to her?”