Free One Look At You by Sofie Hartwell Page B

you’re acting so weird, but okay. I’ll meet you at the Hawaiian Grill in one hour. Are you happy now?”
    I smile my thanks and then he hugs me again. I hug him back lightly until I hear someone clearing his throat. No! I slowly turn around to see Tony staring intently at Mark and myself. His eyes are a smoldering gray. My reprieve is over. He must recognize Mark. He saw us dancing and now he’s putting the pieces together. He knows.
    “Go! Go now!” I whisper urgently. Mark looks at me like he wants to say more, but with a curt nod at Tony and then myself, he walks toward the elevators.
    “Olivia, a word.”
    I bite my lip and steel myself for what’s to come.
    Once inside his office, he closes the door and my pulse starts to race, beating at what I can only imagine is five hundred beats per minute. He moves very slowly towards me, never taking his eyes off my face. He wants to see me squirm.
    He takes off my glasses and puts them on his desk. He gazes at me for the longest time and I do my best not to flinch. Then his hands go to my hair, pulling off the pins and allowing it to fall down freely to my shoulders. I know I should object, but I’m so filled with fear that I do absolutely nothing to stop him.
    “I…” I want to end the silent torture, but I can’t think of anything to say.
    “You what?” He asks softly.
    I shake my head.
    “So, tell me, Olivia, where do we go from here?” he asks.
    “I don’t know,” I murmur. I’ll just tell you what you want to hear. “I’ll clear my desk first thing in the morning.” I am close to tears as I realize that I can’t work here anymore.
    “Taking the coward’s way out? I don’t think that’s your style,” he says with confidence.
    “It’s the right thing to do,” I say, unable to look at him.
    “And how do you figure?”
    “Please, I really don’t know what to say anymore.”
    “No one’s asking for your resignation, Livie,” he says my name like he wants to soften the blow.
    “But it’s expected, isn’t it? How can I possibly work here now?”
    “What happened at the party is personal. This is professional. I do hope you have the sense to make a distinction between the two.”
    “I’m sorry, but I would feel very uncomfortable working here with you. I’ve been in constant fear and uneasiness just waiting for you to put two and two together.”
    “Why?”
    “What do you mean, why?” I openly stare at him for being deliberately obtuse.
    He sighs and goes behind his desk. “Alright, if you want to leave, I won’t stop you. But please don’t expect any references from this office. If you leave me in the lurch in the middle of a transition, I would have every right not to give you a letter of recommendation. Good luck finding a new job in that case,” he says brusquely.
    “That’s unfair! I’ve always been a good employee,” I argue with him.
    “Maybe before. But, as I said, if you leave now, you are effectively making it difficult for me to do my job,” he says firmly.
    “There are at least half a dozen assistants who can do my job,” I protest again.
    “Not the way I see fit.” He turns to his laptop and starts typing.
    “You can’t just do that,” I plead with him.
    “Think it over, Olivia. You can give me your decision tomorrow. Now, I have some work to do so, if you please…” Oh, he is so polite and proper, like he’s talking about my choice of coffee for breakfast. I grit my teeth and go to my desk to pack up for the night. I remember that I haven’t given him the revised report. Screw it! He can just have his damn report tomorrow.
    ***
    Mark stands up as I approach his table by the corner. But his gentlemanly manners don’t last very long as he bombards me with questions. “What was that about?”
    “What are you talking about?” I feign incomprehension since I don’t want to talk about what transpired at the office.
    “You practically pushed me out the door. And your boss was looking at me like I was