“Is anyone else coming?”
“No. Just you and me.”
I left his office confused.
By itself, the conversation probably wouldn’t have bothered me.
But then Tuesday happened.
I was walking toward accounting when I saw the department head leaving Richard’s office.
She was carrying several folders.
One of them was mine.
I recognized my full name printed on the label.
She noticed me looking at it and immediately shifted the folder underneath the others.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Of course.”
Her answer came too quickly.
That was the first moment I seriously wondered whether something was wrong.
On Wednesday, Richard called the company’s lawyer twice.
That was unusual.
The second conversation lasted nearly an hour behind a closed door.
When the lawyer finally left, he saw me sitting at my desk.
For a second, I thought he might say something.
Instead, he simply nodded.
By Wednesday night, my imagination was running wild.
