Free Shut Out (Just This Once #2) by Cee Smith Page B

time I’d been that busy was finals junior year, first semester. I didn’t even remember eating or sleeping for days, but somehow I managed, just like I managed to make it through the work that seemed to keep me glued to my desk for most of Friday.
    When I looked at the clock, it read 5:30, and surprisingly, I didn’t hear any tapping of keys or over-exaggerated sighs, signaling that everyone would have rather have been home at that point instead of working another Friday night.
    Just when I was thinking I was completely alone, Henderson emerged from around the corner, his shoes drumming the floor in an ominous sound.
    “Blaire, great, you’re still here. Do you have a minute?”
    “Yes.”
    Henderson stood over me without making eye contact. In the silence, I garnered he didn’t want to have the conversation out there, next to the elevator, where anyone could hear us. So I stood up, waiting for him to lead the way to his office. I wasn’t used to this sign of hesitancy or indecision from Henderson. It wasn’t like him. He was most often bold, succinct, to the point in almost an Asperger kind of way. Henderson turned and headed back to his office without even giving me a second glance, and instead of thinking about all of the things that I still needed to get done, I was starting to feel somewhat nervous. It wasn’t unusual to be called back to his office, but something about the way no one was around on a Friday evening felt very eerie.
    The door to his office was open, and he stepped to the side, allowing me to enter first. I moved to the seat opposite his desk while he turned to shut the door.
    “Mr. Henderson, is there something wrong?” My impatience was getting the better of me. If it was bad news, I would have rather him just get it out and over with. There was nothing worse than delay.
    He didn’t answer me until he took his seat across a desk that up until that point had never made me feel intimidated or ostracized, but at that very moment that’s exactly what I felt. Maybe it was the amount of guilt that had been weighing heavily on me. Maybe it was disappointment for the things I had given up for the strides I made. Joel wasn’t the first one I’d let slip by in lieu of a stellar career, and he wouldn’t be the last.
    “ Ms. Banks, you know we would never wrongfully accuse any of our employees of misconduct or unprofessional behavior without merit.”
    “I’m sorry, ‘unprofessional behavior’? I don’t understand.”
    He blinked a few times, nodding his head as if to settle my excitement. “Yes, we have reason to believe that you may have a non-professional relationship with the defense, E.J. Trevaunt, of the Farrows case—”
    “Yes, but—”
    “Now, you’re an amazing asset to our team, and this case was really only supposed to—”
    “Wait, you’re not firing me, are you?”
    My mind was scrambling for purchase while I thought over every fear that assaulted me from the moment I learned of Joel’s identity. Why did it surprise me that they would learn the truth? That Lara wouldn’t move forward with whatever evidence she had garnered. It wasn’t that I didn’t take her seriously. I expected she would do this, but maybe I just hoped that it wouldn’t come to this—being let go with no one around to say good luck, or— who was I kidding? If anything, most of the office probably had already known what I had done and why I was being let go by the time I was seated in Henderson’s office chair. Had anyone from the office still been there, I wouldn’t be leaving with uneasy smiles and a quiet send-off. They’d probably stand to the side in silence with smug looks of disdain .
    “As of right now, we’re putting you on administrative leave while we figure out how to proceed. You understand we can’t have you working on or around this case. As I said, we really enjoy you working here, and we don’t want to make any hasty decisions.”
    “I understand. I apologize for any