Cari’s eyes grew impossibly wider, clearly shocked at this transformation in the typically joking, devil-may-care CFO. She glanced quickly from him to me and back again. “Oh…well, maybe you misheard that. I wasn’t—”
“Yes, you were. I know exactly what I heard.”
Her mouth dropped. She turned her gaze on me, as if expecting me to intervene. “I wasn’t threatening you, was I, April?”
I opened my mouth to answer, hesitating because I knew I had to play this carefully so that Cari wouldn’t fly off the handle.
“Don’t answer her, Weiss,” Jordan interrupted. “Now Miss…” When Cari opened her mouth to supply her last name, he waved her off. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I don’t tolerate that sort of behavior in this office. Especially from an intern.”
Cari’s features went scarlet and she shot me a look of pure fury. “What if I knew who the person was responsible for that video? I’m sure Adam would really want to know that little bit of information, wouldn’t he?”
“Despite what he may have said in there, he already knows. And so do I. So you have no leg to stand on. The only thing you’d accomplish by denouncing a colleague is to make yourself—and this company—look bad. So unless you’d like me to pick up my phone and make a call to Dr. Tretham—that’s your advisor at the university, right? I have his number on my on my phone right here. We speak regularly about the intern exchange between the university and this company.” I detected a movement behind me, presumably Jordan producing his cell phone and holding it up.
Cari’s jaw dropped. “Please don’t do that….”
“Why shouldn’t I? Were you not standing here blackmailing my assistant with some bullshit accusation?”
Cari sent me a pleading look but I said nothing, folding my arms tightly across my chest. I was shaking so hard I was certain she could see it. He probably could, too.
“Now, if I hear one word that you are speaking to anybody—anybody—about this matter, I will have security escort you out of here so quickly it will make your head spin. Do you understand?”
Cari shook her massive amounts of hair. “But—”
“Do. You. Understand?” he repeated between clenched teeth.
She visibly swallowed. “Y—yes.”
“I can assure you that if you speak of this to anyone or go to any of the other officers with this, you will wish you never set foot in this building. You signed an NDA when you came to work here, and if you violate it, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Is that clear?”
Cari’s lips disappeared inside her mouth, and she looked as if she was about to start crying.
“Weiss,” Jordan said.
I cocked my head toward him, but I couldn’t meet his eyes. “You are to stay away from this young woman, do you hear me? And she’s not allowed near you either. If you see her in the atrium, phone security and have her escorted out of the building. Now get back to your desk.”
“Yes, sir,” I croaked, and without looking at Cari, I turned and fled.
***
I have no idea what else he said to Cari after I left, but Jordan didn’t show up at the atrium for another ten minutes. Ten minutes that I tried valiantly to keep it together and not cry. I sniffed. I blinked. Susan pretended not to notice. I kept my face down and attempted—and failed—to continue with my work.
I was proofreading a document that someone on Jordan’s team had prepared for him, penciling in corrections through blurry vision, when a shadow appeared across my desk. I jumped even though I knew who it was. I didn’t look up and was well aware that I looked hunched and miserable.
“Weiss,” he began in a low voice. “I need to speak to you in my office. Now, please.” Where had the “please” come from?
I swallowed, and without a word, I got up and preceded him into the office. Susan cast a concerned glance at me, but I didn’t hold her gaze for longer than a second. The minute I walked through the door, the tears sprang from my eyes so instead of stopping to face him, I headed straight for his private bathroom. He followed me in, despite the fact that I was certain he knew I was upset. I turned toward the wall, away from the mirror’s reflection. It was the second time in two days that he’d caught me losing it. Just great.
When I’d regained control of myself, I squared my shoulders and then turned to face him. It was time to inform him that I was ready to end this now.
It was time for me to take my lumps. I almost felt relieved about it.