Make Your Move

by Laura Heffernan

  Holly hesitated. “I’m not sure how to put this delicately.”

  “This isn’t about Megan and Tyler.” Well, probably not. If she broke into my computer to steal my ideas, he absolutely was going to finally hear about what a snake his girlfriend was. The only reason I’d been waiting to speak up was lack of proof.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive. This is about my career, which is way more important.”

  “Okay.” She didn’t sound like she believed me, but we had more important things to talk about. “Does your company have an IT department?”

  “Sort of,” I said. “It’s two guys who install updates and tell us to restart when things freeze. They’re not even full-time; they also work for the app development company upstairs and a couple other places.”

  “In that case, I’m going to say no. The big boss wouldn’t have any ability to see passwords. That sort of thing is handled by the IT guys, even part-timers, and they don’t maintain lists.”

  “Could the IT guys see my password? Or could they go to the password generator site where I found it and use my history to retrieve it?”

  “Unlikely. I mean, yes, they could see you went to that site by checking your browser history. They shouldn’t be able to see your results, though, not if it’s a reputable site. If they went back, it would reload and produce a new, totally random password. Unless you took a screenshot and saved it on your desktop.”

  “Well, that’s a relief,” I said. “Except I still don’t know what happened.”

  “Did you share your ideas with anyone else? I hate to ask, but did Tyler know?”

  Pain lanced my heart at the thought, but no, it wasn’t possible for him to have sold me out like that. “No. I kept all the data on my work computer, and we never discussed it. He’s been helping me with a solo project.”

  Across the lot, Dennis and Megan left the building and snuck around the corner. Probably to celebrate their victory. If only I could somehow get them to admit what they’d done. As if of their own volition, my feet carried me back toward the building, slowly and quietly.

  Holly sighed. “I don’t really know what to tell you. Unless you wrote down your password and left it lying around, they shouldn’t have been able to get in. But if you give me the name of the site you used, I’ll do some research.”

  Something she said rang a bell. “Hold on a sec. What did you say again?”

  “Oh, no.” Disbelief filled her voice. “Tell me you didn’t write down your password.”

  “It was like fifteen characters, half random symbols!” The excuse sounded weak, even to my own ears. “But it should’ve been fine. At work, since most of my dresses don’t have pockets, I carried it in my bra. At home, there’s no way…”

  My voice trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence. There was a way for Dennis to have gotten my password at home. More specifically, there was a way for Megan to have given it to him. That explained why she showed up at our apartment yesterday morning. It would’ve only taken her a second to take a picture of the slip of paper with her phone; no need to even touch it and risk me noticing anything out of place, like with the chair.

  “Holly, I have to go,” I said.

  “Tell me you don’t think Tyler had anything to do with this,” she said.

  “Not directly. I’ll call you later.” Not giving her a chance to respond, I hung up.

  The wind carried voices around the corner. I sidled between the hedges and the building, hoping to sneak through the shadows. My ears strained, but by the time I got into a good position, they’d gone silent. I fumed. What now?

  Then I realized that while Megan and Dennis weren’t speaking, they weren’t exactly being silent. Noises absolutely came from their direction; noises I recognized. Ducking slightly, I peeked through a gap in the hedges. A soft gasp escaped me, and my hand went to my mouth as if to pull the sound back.

  It didn’t matter. They weren’t paying any attention to anything but each other. Megan stood with her arms wrapped around Dennis’s neck. He held her off the ground, and they were kissing like the act was about to be outlawed.

  The sight of Megan and Dennis locked in an embrace shouldn’t have filled me with glee. My reaction made me a horrible friend; Tyler was going to be crushed when he found out Megan was cheating on him. At the same time, he needed to know the truth about her, and this was something concrete I could share with him. It was one thing to tell Tyler that Megan and I didn’t get along. But her cheating on him was on an entirely different level.

  A picture was worth a thousand words, right? As much as I didn’t want to hurt Tyler, he needed to know about this. Finally, I had proof that his girlfriend wasn’t who he thought. Lifting my phone toward the opening, I double-checked that it was on silent and snapped a couple of pictures. Sliding the device back into my pocket, I turned to sneak back into the office.

  Halfway there, my heel caught on a root, and I stumbled. My hands shot out, steadying me against the wall. I only prayed that Dennis and Megan remained too wrapped up in each other to hear the quiet thud of the impact and my soft grunt of surprise. It took me a minute to steady myself and disentangle my shoes. At the corner, there was no sign of either of them, so I shot through the lobby and into the single-stall restroom by the elevators to clean up.

  First things first. They’d invaded my technology before, and they apparently knew at least one of my passwords. I texted the picture to Ryan, as a backup in case they somehow got to my phone. Tyler needed to see it, and he would, but I wanted to think up a nicer way to break the news to him than a texted picture while he was at work.

  In the mirror, a wild woman looked back at me. The hedges had caught my long hair, giving me a bird’s nest on my head. I knew I shouldn’t have grown it out. Redness tinged my cheeks. If I walked back into the office now, everyone would know something was wrong.

  With a deep breath, I washed my hands and splashed cool water on my face, savoring the sensation on such a humid day. With wet hands, I smoothed my hair into something resembling where it belonged. Then I forced myself to count to one hundred before leaving the room, hoping Dennis and Megan would have already gone back to work.

  No such luck. When I opened the door, Megan stood directly outside, hands clasped primly in front of her. With not a hair out of place, she looked as fresh as if she’d just stepped off of Instagram. No idea how she did it.

  “Hi,” I said awkwardly.

  “Nice dress,” she replied.

  “Thanks!” It was on the tip of my tongue to add, “It has pockets!” but Megan wasn’t a friend who would get excited for me, and I didn’t see any reason to prolong this conversation. I needed to get back upstairs and tell Jameson what I’d figured out. And I needed to decide what to say to Tyler when I got home.

  “What were you doing back behind the hedges?”

  “I, uh, lost an earring last week, and thought it might have fallen when I was out walking.”

  “Riiiiiiiiight.”

  Silently, I cursed myself for being such a terrible liar. Moving to walk around her, I said, “I’ll see you later.”

  “Actually, I think we should chat now,” Megan said. “Come with me.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to refuse, but what if I could get her to admit something? My phone was in my pocket, maybe I could record her. I didn’t know if it was legal, but that was the least of my concerns. I made a sweeping gesture with one hand. “After you.”

  As she turned and walked back around the corner, I reached into my pocket and pulled out enough of my phone to see the screen. A few quick taps and it started to record a voice memo. Now I just needed to keep my right hip pointed at Megan and hope she said something incriminating.

  When we got to where I’d seen her with Dennis, Megan spun around to face me. “Look, I know you’re not stupid and you know I’m not stupid,
so let’s not mince words.”

  “Great!” I said. “I don’t like you.”

  “That’s cool, I don’t like you, either,” she said. “But I do like my life right now, and I can’t have you messing with it.”

  I blinked at her. “What are you talking about?”

  “I thought we agreed not to play dumb.”

  “Look, if you’re happy with Dennis, I’m happy for you. I certainly have no intention of standing in the way.” After all, if she broke up with Tyler to see someone else, I didn’t have to be the one to break his heart.

  “Of course I’m not happy with Dennis!” Her voice sounded harsh, ragged. “He’s a means to an end. Daddy wanted to give one of you the executive designer job. Dennis told me that if I helped him get it, he’d have my back.”

  “What do you even do here?”

  “Listen, I’m going to cut to the chase,” she said, ignoring my question. “I know you saw me kissing Dennis. He means nothing to me, yet I doubt Tyler would understand.”

  I shrugged. “Plenty of people have open relationships. I don’t judge.”

  She gave me a look of derision so strong, I almost laughed. “You’re not going to tell Tyler what you saw. And you’re not going to tell Daddy how Dennis and I came up with the idea for our kids’ social deduction product line.”

  “Oh, really?” I arched an eyebrow and looked down at her, enjoying our height difference. I rarely used my size to intimidate people, but that’s because it usually wasn’t necessary to keep the upper hand. “‘Came up with’ is quite a euphemism for ‘stole.’”

  But Megan’s next words took the wind right out of my sails. “That’s right. Because if you do, I’ll tell everyone about your trans friend. Things could get very uncomfortable for her if people find out the truth.”

  Chapter 17

  “It’s all well and good to be nice, but don’t let anyone take advantage of you.” —Holly

  I simply stared at Megan, letting her threat sink in. This couldn’t be happening. After everything I’d worked for, putting in so many hours for this company, I had to sit back and watch someone else steal the credit for my idea. Not just the credit—the promotion. Dennis didn’t earn the executive game designer title; he stole it.

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “What do you get from any of this? You were never up for the promotion. What do you care who gets it?”

  “Dennis and I made certain agreements. The details are none of your business.”

  “You’re cheating on one of my closest friends. It’s a little my business.”

  “This has nothing to do with Tyler. I really do care about him.”

  “But you’re sleeping with Dennis.”

  “Whatever. Like you’re such an expert on relationships.” She rolled her eyes at me. “Look, before you came along, I was the only female working here. The guys latched on to my every word. They worshiped me. Then, suddenly there are two girls, and I have to split the attention.”

  “So, you’re sabotaging my career for… your ego?” A horrible thought occurred to me. “Is that why you’re dating my roommate? To prove that you’re somehow better than me?”

  “Oh, I don’t have to prove it, sweetheart. I am better than you. Look at this!” She swept her arms out to show off the greatness of her appearance. The gesture was largely lost on me. “That’s why Tyler is with me instead of you.”

  “Get out of my way,” I said, ignoring the jab of pain in my heart. “Some of us actually work around here. We can’t all depend on Daddy to cover up our incompetence.”

  By the time I made it up to my desk, I was shaking with rage. My phone held the proof of Megan’s deception. It should be enough to convince Jameson that she and Dennis stole my ideas. But I couldn’t use it if the result was outing Ryan to our entire company. I hated Megan for making me decide whether to be a terrible friend to him or Tyler, who both deserved better.

  I also couldn’t just sit here. I needed to get out, go for a walk, clear my head. Watching people parade over to Dennis’s desk to congratulate him all day, while Megan smirked at me from her desk in the corner, made me want to throw up. What sadist invented open office plans, anyway?

  Without meeting anyone’s eyes, I pulled up a blank email and sent a quick message to Jameson. Without elaborating, I told him I felt sick and needed to take the rest of the day off. He should assume women’s troubles, which I supposed it was in a way. The troublesome woman just happened to be his daughter.

  Then I held my head high and walked out. Waiting for the elevator took too long, and the thought of making forced small talk with anyone on the way down gave me a headache. Down the stairs I went, through the lobby, and straight out the front door. I made it about ten steps beyond the building toward the parking lot before my legs collapsed. There was no way I could make it to the T in my current state. Not knowing what else to do, I picked up the phone and called Tyler’s work number. His office was only a few miles away, so while I could have called Gwen or Holly, no one else could make it here as quickly.

  I needed to get out of here before Megan or Dennis came outside to gloat.

  Tyler picked up instantly. “What’s wrong?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Well, you’ve never called me at work before, for a start. And the only time you’ve ever called instead of texting was when Ryan canceled the presentation at the last minute.”

  “Oh.” The fact that he paid attention to that stuff touched me. “I can’t go into detail right now, but would you come pick me up?”

  “Right now?”

  “Yeah.”

  He didn’t hesitate. “No problem. You okay?”

  I thought about lying, but he was a pretty smart guy. “No. I’ll tell you on the way home.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  “No problem. See you soon.” He hung up before I could say anything else.

  While we spoke, it seemed like everything might be okay. Until I heard his voice, I’d felt like someone had dunked me in ice water. But Tyler’s deep voice comforted me, like sipping a mug of chamomile while soaking in a hot bath.

  Before I could evaluate that feeling, Ryan appeared in front of me. “Okay, what just happened? I know you don’t want to work for Dennis, but storming out dramatically is not your style. And what was with that picture?”

  The story came spilling out. Ryan knew Dennis had been in my work computer—he was the one who’d suggested the random password generator—and that I’d been working on a new social deduction game with Tyler, but not everything else. By the time I got to Megan and Dennis kissing in the bushes, steam practically poured from his ears.

  “Okay, you’re pissed,” he said. “I get it. But if you walk away, they’ve won. Why not tell Jameson?”

  I couldn’t tell him the truth. Ryan was already so upset on my behalf. Instead, I grasped for the easy answer. “I can’t prove Dennis did anything wrong without implicating Megan. Who’s Jameson going to believe? Me or his sweet, innocent daughter?”

  Ryan sat heavily on the bench beside me. “You’ve got a point there. This sucks. It sucks so hard. Why do the bad guys always win?”

  “Because life isn’t an action movie?”

  “You’ve got that right,” he said.

  Tyler’s car turned into the parking lot, effectively ending our conversation. Even if I’d been inclined to tell Ryan about my chat with Megan, I couldn’t get the story out in the next fifteen seconds. I stood and slung my bag over my shoulder. “That’s my ride.”

  “You called Megan’s boyfriend to pick you up?”

  “He’s my roommate.”

  “I know, but giiirrrrrrl.” He shook his head. “What a tangled web, I guess. I can’t believe you’re leaving.”

  “I’ll be back,” I said.

  “Yo
u better. We’re not going to let Dennis get away with this. We’ll figure something out.”

  Tyler’s car pulled to a stop at the curb, so I said good-bye to Ryan, keeping my face bland in case anyone else watched through the windows. Neither of us spoke until his car turned out of the parking lot and down the street.

  The shoulders I’d been holding so stiffly collapsed. I let out a sigh that filled the car, swirling around us both.

  “That bad, huh?” Tyler asked, shooting me a look.

  “I can’t even,” I said.

  He got a carefully edited version of the story, ending before I called Holly.

  “I get why you’re so upset,” he said, “especially after what happened with Construct Me. Can you prove Dennis was in your computer?”

  “I can prove the contents of the file were on my desktop on the day Dennis accessed my computer, thanks to my dated backups.”

  “But you can’t prove he accessed it.”

  “Nope. Not without a witness,” I said. There was a witness, of course, but she wasn’t about to tell anyone what she knew. What a mess. How had all this office romance drama come to affect me, of all people? I wasn’t dating anyone! With a frustrated groan, I dropped my head into my hands.

  A moment later, Tyler’s warm hand touched my back, tentatively at first. When I didn’t shrug him away, he rubbed a small circle on my back. I let out a small sound of appreciation, and the circle grew larger. Mmm. His touch relaxed me, eased some of the tension of the morning.

  It also made me crave more. Which I couldn’t have. Instead, I needed to tell him about Megan, but I didn’t know how to do it without risking Ryan. Reluctantly, I sat up.

  “Is there anything I can do?” he asked. “Want to stop by Game On! instead of going straight home?”

  Ordinarily, walking the rows of my favorite store and chatting with John and Carla made me feel much better. But the morning had sapped all my energy. “Thanks, but no. Just take me home?”