Page 49 of Plot Twist

I expected her to continue with ‘you do not have to say anything but anything you do say will be given in evidence’. What was she talking about, a disciplinary hearing? I felt my blood pressure rising.

‘Your hearing,’ she repeated. ‘It will be hosted tomorrow. . . In the office. In person.’

‘You’re kidding,’ I said.

‘I can assure you, I’m not.’

‘Well, I can assure you, I’m not coming to any disciplinary hearing,’ I said.

‘You have to come,’ she said. ‘As per your contract agreement, if—’

‘I would need more notice,’ I said.

‘You wouldn’t if you were in the country,’ she replied, frowning sternly.

‘I can’t come into the office,’ I said.

‘You have to,’ she demanded, her face screwing up. ‘As per your contract. . .’

‘Screw the contract. In fact, screw you. I’m not coming to the hearing because I fucking quit.’

Her eyes darted up to meet mine on the screen and her mouth curled at the edges into a small smile. ‘I’m sorry?’

But I didn’t let her finish. I clicked the button to finish the call. Her resting bitch face that took up the whole screen disappeared and I exhaled.

I sat for a moment in silence before putting my head in my hands. Sudden huge sobs escaped, my body shaking with the shock of it all. I should have gone to the doctor for a sick line. How stupid was that? I should have declined the call or asked for a union rep to accompany me. I should have joined the union in the first place, rather than just looking at the forms sitting on my desk.

I should have told Rae to come the following week, like we’d planned. Stick to the original plan, Becca. Be a plotter and stick with it.

The door flew open.

‘Becca, what happened?’ Riley said, kneeling in front of me, taking my hands in his. He leaned forward and wiped away one of the tears.

‘I. . . I. . .’ another huge sob escaped.

‘Sshh,’ he said, pulling me into his chest, making the soothing noises I’d heard him offer up to Ivy when she hurt herself. ‘You’re OK. Everything’s OK.’

I nestled into the crook of his neck. His green sweatshirt smelled of his aftershave. I muttered muffled apologies and he rubbed my back, saying it was fine. It was all fine.

I pulled away from him and looked at my hands as I told him all about the call. He sat in the office chair beside me before rolling over to be closer to me, sitting forward in his seat.

‘So you told her you fucking quit?’

He repeated it. Once he said it out loud, it sounded even worse. I’d just told my boss that I fucking quit on a conference call that she was recording. How could I have done that? I looked at Riley. His bottom lip shook a little and I realised he was trying not to smile.

And through the tears that were still glistening in my eyes, I whacked him on the knee and burst out laughing. He followed suit, offering up a loud cackle.

‘Ahh, I can’t believe you told her you fucking quit, that is legendary,’ he said, still laughing. ‘Good for you, sounds like the bitch had it coming.’

‘It’s not funny, Riley,’ I protested, but I let out a laugh again too, wiping the tears from my eyes.

‘We could call your friend Zander and ask him for some hints on taking revenge. He’d know just what to do.’ Riley smirked.

‘Or we could call Eimear and get her to help me deep breathe my way through my career crisis.’

‘Do you know, that’s not a bad idea,’ Riley mused.

I rolled my eyes.