by Tara Brent
Kurt said to her, “Yeah, have fun down there. If they have those jelly doughnuts, bring me one back, would you?”
Chapter 7
Catalina rode the elevator all the way back down to the first floor. She had to wait for it to come up. Once on it, though, the machine went straight down without any interruption. People were still filing in, reporting for work. She opened the glass door, suddenly self-conscious that she was underdressed. She decided that there were just too many rules, written and unwritten, to follow in the workplace. She bit her fingernails briefly- until she considered that Daniel might not like that.
The woman who came to see her was a thirty-something middle manager with blonde hair and a friendly smile. She said, “Good morning! How can I help you?”
Catalina looked around, as if she was being watched. That was obvious, of course, given that there was a surveillance camera pointed at the desk. Somewhere, a security officer could see what they were doing.
She said, “Yes, I’m Catalina Price. I was told that you all might want to see me.”
The woman’s expression didn’t change. The smile suddenly seemed forced, even painted upon her face. She replied, “Yes, Miss Price. Gloria wants to see you. Could you wait here please? Thank you.”
Catalina had no choice but to sit and wait. She saw several trashy magazines in front of her. She picked one up, scanned the cover. One of the headlines read, “10 Ways to Make Him Love You.” She put the magazine down, feeling that they only stayed in print because every office needed a waiting area somewhere. She glanced at another one with a headline that read, “Have Better Sex Now!”-
She was on the point of picking that magazine up when a woman she didn’t recognize, this one with graying hair, came up to her. The woman extended a hand and said, “Miss Price? I’m Gloria Respedes. How do you do?”
Catalina stood and shook the woman’s hand, the magazines and their headlines forgotten. She shook the other woman’s hand and said, “Thanks, you too.”
Then she kicked herself internally for being distracted to the point where she couldn’t even make a proper greeting. Gloria didn’t seem to notice or care. The other woman gestured toward a hallway that opened up before them. She said, “Good, good. This way please.”
Catalina followed Gloria into an office. She sat down in a comfortable chair, and then took a moment to study the various assortment of papers on the desk in front of her. Gloria closed the door, then sat down behind the desk.
Her tone suddenly became businesslike, authoritative. She said, “Catalina, I’m going to come right to the point here. You’ve been censured.”
Catalina felt her entire body stop for half a moment. She had the sense that someone had punched her in the stomach. She gulped, wondering what would come next. She asked, “Censured? What does that mean?”
“Think of it as an advisory warning. Your name has been passed along to us because you have done or said something inappropriate on company time.”
Even though she didn’t have to be told what she had done, Catalina asked anyway. “What is it that I’m supposed to have done?”
“I can’t get into details with you at this time. The person who reported you will remain anonymous for privacy reasons.”
Catalina crossed her arms over chest. She said, “If you don’t tell me what I did, how am I supposed to know what I’m not supposed to do in the future?”
Gloria cleared her throat into a single clenched fist. She said, “Hmm, yes. Well, I can tell you that it was...rather conspicuous in nature? I believe you should know what I’m talking about here.”
“Why are you telling me this now? Why didn’t anyone pull me aside yesterday directly after it happened?”
Gloria’s voice became soft, reassuring. She said, “Catalina, please don’t take this as a personal attack or slight against you. You are not being singled out. We just like to do this in a private, comfortable setting.”
Catalina couldn’t remember ever having been censured before in her career. She wondered what it meant exactly. If someone did report her for having sex with the boss, then she should have been fired on the spot. The only explanation that made any sense to her was that she had done or said something else to which someone had found offensive or inappropriate. She couldn’t think what that might be- there certainly wasn’t anything except the sex itself that she would define as conspicuous.
She said, “So, what exactly is going on here? I’m really confused about all this.”
Gloria repeated, “As I’ve said, you’ve been censured. A censure is like a strike. The first time, like this, you get a verbal warning. The second time you are censured, you’ll get a written warning. The third time, regardless of the circumstances, will result in your termination from the company.”
Catalina let out an exasperated sigh. She said, “I just can’t figure out what I was doing wrong. Could you at least tell me that?”
“I apologize, but as I’ve told you, that information will remain confidential.”
“So I’m supposed to have done something wrong. But you can’t tell me what it is. So I don’t know what behaviors I’m supposed to avoid in the future.”
Gloria’s kind words withered slowly. She said, “Catalina, do I really have to spell it out for you? What you did, honestly- there are companies that would have not only fired you but initiated a civil suit against you. Consider yourself lucky.”
With the word lawsuit in her mind, Catalina decided not to admit anything. There had been no witnesses in the room to report on what had happened. She couldn’t remember seeing any security cameras in Daniel’s office- for the time that she had been able to see, that was. Someone outside might have been able to infer or speculate on what had happened, yet without actually seeing it, they had no way of making a verifiable report.
She said to the other woman, “Well, I’m sorry that you feel the need to take disciplinary action here. I wish you’d be more open with me, but if you’re not, then I guess my only choice is to keep doing what I’ve been doing the whole time that I’ve been here.”
Gloria replied, “I really...wouldn’t recommend that. I mean, not if you want to keep your job.”
Catalina closed up, not willing to admit to anything. She said, “I’m not worried about getting fired.”
“All right, fine. I have a paper for you to sign. This signifies that you met with me and have been made aware of the censure placed against you. Print your name at the bottom please.”
Chapter 8
Catalina was still internally livid about being censured without explanation while trying to focus in on her work. She found herself struggling, so she clicked over to YouTube to stream some music. She settled on listening to the music from Swan Lake. Feeling herself begin to soothe, Catalina had an easier time sinking into her work. For the duration of the soundtrack, she was productive, but once it ended she snapped right back into her smoldering frustration.
Catalina finally stood up and marched over to Kurt Myers’ office, knocking on the door. The musclebound math-wiz opened up. “Miss Price,” he grunted, “what brings you to my office?”
Catalina sighed. “Look, I know I shouldn’t be bothering you with things like this, but that HR rep, Gloria, well, she told me I was censured, but she wouldn’t explain why! And I can’t stand this, being in trouble when I don’t think I did anything wrong, and she won’t even tell me and UGH I’m just so annoyed!” She sighed, embarrassed. “I apologize, I’m being unprofessional. I just, well…”
“Step into my office,” said Kurt rather curtly. Catalina smiled to herself when she realized how unwittingly accurate his name was. As he closed the door behind her, she felt a chill down her spine. This was the second time she was invited into a Myers brother office; was Kurt expecting things to unfold as they did with his brother?
Before she could roll over the possibility in her mind, Kurt sat on his desk and said “take a seat, and keep your clothes on.”
“Excuse me?!”
she replied, but he simply cocked an eyebrow as if to say “did I stutter?” So, pouting, she took a seat.
Kurt wiped his nose. “When I was working my first job, back when I was sixteen, I worked for a friend of my dad. Very low level, very small fish in a massive lake kinda deal. One day, the printer ran out of paper. I was responsible for delivering the documents that were supposed to come out of the printer, so now I’m panicking, and I run off to my supervisor to tell him that we were out of paper. Want to guess what she said to me?”
“I’m… sorry, what does this have to do with—?”
“Catalina, tell me what my supervisor said to me.”
Catalina was rattled, but obeyed. “She told you where it was? I mean I guess that wouldn’t make sense in the story, though.”
“No, it would not. She told me, ‘go find more paper.’ Now, why might she have done that?”
“Because… she didn’t want to be bothered?”
“That’s half of it, sure. But the other half is even more important. So…?”
Catalina sat there, bewildered and puzzled, before conceding defeat. “I have no idea.”
“Mmm. Thought not.” Kurt scratched the back of his neck. “She wanted me to think, to take action, to figure it out. So I expect absolutely no less from you. Tell me, Miss Price, why might you be censured?”
She remained dumbfounded before finally attempting a guess. “Well… I did tell my roommate about what happened between Daniel and me…”
Kurt cocked his head to the side. “Yes. You are correct. The NDA was a test. While you were blindfolded, we bugged you, we bugged your bag so we could track your conversations. When you bragged to your roomie, we heard every word.”
Catalina’s face seemed to flicker, torn between going pale out of mortification or red out of fury, before settling on a violet hue of embarrassment and fear. “Really?”
“No. Not really. Seriously, how would that be the answer? Price, you were censured because before you even got started working, you immediate play 50 Shades of Dumbass with my idiot brother. Every woman and half the men who get promoted up here do the same damn thing, and it affects their work one hundred percent of the time. It was time to send a message.” He leaned forward. “I ordered the censure, Price.”
Catalina’s mouth fell agape. “What—you…?!”
“You’re damn right. And I forbade Gloria from telling you why. My hope is that you would figure it out for yourself, take a step back and realize that such behavior ain’t gonna fly around here. So tell me, did he ask you ‘Where have you been all my life?’ Because he lifted that line directly from EL James. Or maybe ‘Nobody’s asked me to do that before’ or some other malarkey? Christ Price, do you know how many of the dudes working out there thought they were the first guy Daniel’s ever been with? How many of the girls out there think that while he must do this with all of them, that somehow they will be special and unique and maybe even marry him someday?” He shook his head. “You’ve got a ton of potential, Price. I pay more attention than I let on when we first met. The real reason I didn’t want your damn life story is because I already know it inside and out. But if you get swept up in my brother’s bullshit, your performance will be impacted. That will, in turn, affect the company negatively. So forget my brother ever worked his parlor tricks on you, find a way to screw him without it affecting your work, or find a way to get him to put a ring on it so I won’t have to waste any more company funds dealing with sexual harassment lawsuits. And speaking of company time, I recommend we both get back to work.” With that, he hopped off his desk and opened the door to his office. Speechless, Catalina trudged outside. While he certainly didn’t slam the door, Catalina felt that he closed it harder than she would have preferred.
Her feet led her to the bathroom, where she locked the door behind her. She stared into the mirror, shell-shocked. Then, she burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. After five or ten minutes, she gathered herself, wiped away the streaks of mascara, reapplied her makeup, and made her way back to her computer. An email was waiting for her. It was from Kurt.
Hi Catalina,
Get it together. Not paying you to cry. Grow up or get out.
Best,
Kurt.
PS: I’m rooting for you. For real.
PPS: Daniel’s never been with a dude. I was messing with you.
PPS: The bug in your bag has been removed.
Catalina gritted her teeth. She refused to be a chess piece in whatever nonsense sibling rivalry she found herself in the middle of. All right Kurt, you challenge me to get my work done and get your player-brother to put a ring on it? Get ready to watch me now that I’m on a mission. You better be rooting for me “for real” because I’m here to conquer and no matter the size of your salary or your biceps or your beard, I will destroy anything and everyone in my way!
And with newfound determination, Catalina began her quest for domination.
Chapter 9
Catalina showed up to work the next day in a bright red dress that hugged her body tight and cut off at her upper thighs. She wore no bra and woke up extra early to perfect her hair and makeup. Heads turned in either horror or arousal or both as she made her way through the halls, into the elevator to the thirtieth floor, and over to her workspace. Eyes popped forth from heads then quickly returned to focus on their tasks. Suppressing a triumphant grin, she got to work herself, putting headphones on and listening to Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone. Daniel Myers came in fashionably late and strolled toward Catalina. He paused, doing a double-take once he saw her dazzling appearance. “You’ve certainly dressed up today,” he said.
Catalina looked up at him, puzzled, and pulled her headphones out. “Hmm?” she asked.
Daniel bristled slightly. “I was complimenting your outfit.”
“Ah. Thank you so much,” she said, putting her headphones back in. “Oh!” she pulled her headphones out yet again. “I almost forgot.” Catalina stood up and reached under her dress, working her hips as she slid her flimsy I.D. Sarriery thong down her freshly waxed legs. Daniel’s mouth fell open and the rest of the employees desperately pretended not to notice the scandalous display. Catalina kicked her foot up, sending the thong flying end over end up to her eye level. She caught it, and looking Daniel dead in his emerald-green eyes, placed the thong into his mouth. “Thanks, I’m much more comfortable now. Back to the grind!” And with that, she took her seat and popped her headphones back into her ears, promptly returning to the project she was working on.
Daniel stood stunned for what was likely less than a second after she sat back down sans-underwear but which felt like an eternity for him and everybody else in the room, and then he power-walked toward his office, closing the door firmly behind him. Catalina quietly whistled along to her music.
An email popped up less than ten minutes later:
My office.
-Kurt
Sighing listlessly, she stood and made her way to Kurt’s office. He held a glass of whiskey in his hand. “Haven’t drank on the job in six years,” he said. “Come to think of it, haven’t had much liquor at all in the past two.”
“Avoiding bad decisions?” queried Catalina.
“Nah. Just kind of a health nut. But man oh man Price, right now the anxiety you’re causing me makes this Jack Daniels Sinatra Select medicinal.” He took another swig, downing the rest of it. “What are you playing at? Were you not paying attention when we spoke yesterday?”
“Oh I paid very close attention,” she said.
“Then what’s your game?”
“Your brother’s my game. And I’m going to win that game. He’s used to being the player but I’m going to break the wheel.”
“Stop mixing metaphors and pretending to be Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Balls, and the Pain in my Ass. You’re not the first woman—hell, you’re not even the first employee—to try and make Daniel a one-woman-man. It’s always messy, and I always end up ha
ving to pick up the pieces. Do not play a game that you can’t win.”
“I was frazzled and weepy yesterday so I will forgive you for underestimating me. But you’re going to need to stay out of my way on this. Unless you want to fire me, which would be a pretty bad idea given your brother’s ‘interviews’.
Kurt snorted. “You signed a non-disclosure agreement. One that you’ve already violated, I might add.” He shook his head. “Christ Price, I should fire you just for that!”
“Oh feel free,” said Catalina. “But under the National Labor Relations Act, employers aren’t actually allowed to bar employees from talking about sexual harassment or other gender or sex-based issues that may arise at work.” She stood just in front of him and leaned in to whisper into his ear. “You and I have three things in common. We both are dedicated to this company, we both care immensely for Daniel Myers, and we are both way smarter than we look.”
With that, she winked and spun around to leave. Despite himself, Kurt chuckled, crossing his arms as a smile cracked across his face. “Maybe this chick will break the wheel after all. Unburnt indeed…”
Once back at her desk, Catalina noticed that she had yet another email:
My office.
-Daniel
This time she laughed. “Brother like brother,” she murmured inwardly, sashaying over to Daniel’s office. She entered and left the door wide open.
“Close the door,” he said.
“Nah,” she replied.
Daniel stared her down and then burst out laughing. “Okay, fine, checkmate. What’s your game, kid?”
“You know, you and your brother may not look too similar, but you’re quite alike in other ways. You both sent me the exact same email, and you both asked me the same painfully obvious question.”
Daniel nodded knowingly. “I see. So I'm your game.”