Page 65 of A Conflict of Interest

“I mean, of course they’re in their office. They’ve probably been there since six in the morning.” I headed out across the office, pausing to greet everyone on the way, gush about how things had been, and it took me a minute to get all the way to where I knocked on the door of the executive office, and Lucy’s voice called out from inside.

“Kelce, come in.”

I pushed open the door, poking my head in. “How’d you know it was me?” I said, and Lucy looked back from where she was pinning up an ornament on a little Christmas tree on Anna’s desk that was new since the last time I’d been in. Knowing them, Lucy had probably snuck it onto her desk while Anna wasn’t looking, and Anna complained but secretly loved it.

Anna was the one who answered the question, not looking up from her computer. “Nobody knocks as cheerfully as you do,” she said lightly.

“Jeez. I didn’t realize the office instituted, like, happiness laws while I was out. That joy and merriment were contraband substances now.”

Anna hung her head, a smile slipping onto her features, while Lucy finished putting up the ornament and turned back to me. “If they were, you’d be the one breaking the law to bring joy to the world, Kelce. The videos are good work. We’re impressed, to put it lightly.”

“Ah, well, um.” I shrugged, looking away. “I had good help at ECR.”

Anna gave me ahmmand a dry smile. “Probably my first time hearing someone describe Veronica as agood help.”

“Hey.” I put my hands on my hips. “Veronica is amazing. Don’t pigeonhole her.”

She laughed. “Trust me, I’ve noticed how she’s turned a new leaf for you. I’ve been talking to her and not even recognizing her with the way she talks about you. It’s cute. And I’m happy for you… happy to have you back, too. At least, hoping it all goes well.”

I nodded, chewing my cheek. “Berg is kinda scary…”

“I’m sure it’ll go fine. Just don’t say anything about how it was your girlfriend at ECR helping you out…”

“Oh, um—she’s not really—I mean, we haven’t—er—” I put my hands up, fumbling awkwardly. “It’s still… um…”

Lucy smiled widely at me, folding her arms. “Whatever you two are calling it right now… don’t tell Berg about it. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. The rest of the office doesn’t know either, so… just talk about how you’re very sorry for the incident and that you did the best you could with the project remotely to show how much you’ve grown and learned from this and how much you’re committed to it. And Veronica’s name doesn’t leave your mouth.”

“Or my mind.” I clasped my hands at my waist. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

But I managed to keep it to myself, once I went with Anna and Lucy to take the elevator up to the floor I’d only been to on my first day here, and into a classical, warm-toned office with an ornate mahogany desk and maps on the walls, Michael Berg’s classical design sense making it look like some kind of Victorian parlor. I sat down across from where Berg sat at his desk giving me a look that was more impatient than anything else—a good sign, I figured, that he just wanted to wrap this up as quickly and cleanly as possible.

“Huntington, make yourself comfortable,” he said. “I hear you’ve gone and made a point.”

I nodded. “I know my mistake at the holiday party caused problems for everyone involved, so I’ve committed to demonstrating my work ethic with this project.”

He looked me over. “Preston and Masters stood up for you, said it wasn’t your fault. What do you have to say?”

“That… I appreciate their vouching for me, but at this point it isn’t about fault, it’s about responsibility. No matter whose fault it is, it’s my responsibility to show my commitment to the work.”

It worked—he nodded slowly, thinking it over, before he went back to his tablet, tapping something down. “We’ll have to consider carefully your attendance at… high-stakes events.”

“Of course,” I said, not giving him anything more than that. Veronica had helped me practice this thing—told me not to rise to his prodding and just let him get bored. And he got bored, setting his tablet down.

“Well, good work on your project,” he said. “I trust Preston and Masters. Conditional on future review, we’re happy to return you to your regular workload.”

“Thank you, Boss. Sir. Boss Sir.” It was getting away from me a little. I smiled politely and waited out the arched-eyebrow look he gave me, and after a second, he waved me off.

“You’re… very welcome. Anything else while we’re here?”

“No, sir.”

We’d barely gotten back to the elevator before Lucy snorted, leaning back against the wall as the doors shut. “Guy was disappointed,” she said, and I looked horrified at her.

“What—really? Do you think he’s going to kick me out again?”

“Nah, I don’t think he’s going to bother,” she said. “Only disappointed because he was obviously just bringing you in because he wanted to see you kneel and beg and feel powerful.”

“Oh.” I scrunched up my face. “Should I have knelt and begged?”

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