Page 3 of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
“Tell you what?” I muttered.
She rolled her big brown eyes at me as her fingers combed through the vivid magenta streak that ran through the soft mass of her hair. “You’re upset about something. You fell into your depressed slump rather than your tired slump or yourReal Housewivesslump.”
One of the many things I loved about Amira was how well she knew me. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, because I really didn’t.
She hip-checked me to make some room on the sofa and then flung herself down at my side. “Did something happen at work?” she asked with her usual tenacity. Very little could dissuade her when she wanted an answer.
I have one week to live.But of course, I couldn’t tell her that. According to the NDA I’d signed with my own blood, anyone who learned about Dark Enterprises from me would suffer a swift and violent disappearance. As far as Amira knew, I worked at the New York office of a multinational bank.
“I had a rough day,” I sighed at last.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured as she leaned into me.
“I just…I don’t know what I’m doing there. You know? I’ve worked so hard, and no one seems to care.”
“Maybe this is the universe telling you to find another job,” Amira said, grabbing my hand in both of hers. “Weird things keep happening to you there. Remember when you came home twice in as many weeks with bloodstains on your cardigan?”
I shifted uncomfortably. “I told you, those were from workplace accidents. People were careless with the paper shredder.”
“What about the tooth that fell out of your pocket a couple of months ago?”
Those things really did go everywhere once the technicians got to work. “That was a prank,” I insisted weakly.
“You won’t even let me see where you work.”
“There’s nothing to see! It’s boring!”
“Colin.”
“Look, I’m not going to quit. I believe in our company and the work they do.” That was true, but so was the fact that Dark Enterprises enforced a stringent noncompete agreement that ruled out all other forms of employment for the rest of time. Once you were part of the DE family, you were in for life. “It doesn’t matter anyhow,” I added dully, “because they’re going to fire me.”
Amira peered at me. “What makes you think you’re going to be fired?”
I paused for a long moment before saying a single word: “Sunil.”
Pushing herself off me, she asked with a faint frown, “He’s still bothering you?”
“He’s sabotaging me.”
“What? That asshole!” Amira’s heart-shaped face squinched up into an angry expression. “You have to do something! Talk to someone!”
Slowly, I let my head fall back onto the sofa. “It doesn’t matter. No one will care.”
“Of course they will! He sexually assaulted you and now he’s trying to get you fired!”
“You don’t understand,” I muttered at the ceiling. “Everyone there loves Sunil, including my boss. And I’m—” I gesturedhelplessly. “I’m me. Nobody there would notice if I disappeared tomorrow.”
“That’s not true,” she insisted.
“Yes, it is!” I snapped. “Look at me, Amira! I wearcardigansto work!” Sitting up, I tore at the offending garment, one of a dozen that I owned, struggling to rip it off as I kept talking at a feverish pace. “I’m adata analyst! That’s just another way of saying ‘loser’!”
“Hey, hey,” she said softly, placing her hands over mine as I kept trying to remove my cardigan. “Stop that. Please. You’re not a loser. You’re smart and funny and sweet.”
“Beingsmartdoesn’t stop people from bullying you,” I snarled. “Beingsweetdoesn’t earn respect.”
Amira wrapped her arms around me and hugged me close, curving her smaller body against mine. “I believe in you,” she murmured. “I really do. It’s not your fault if other people can’t see how amazing you are. That’stheirproblem.”
The rage drained out of me, leaving me exhausted. Of course it was my problem. I’d been overlooked, brushed aside, my entire life. I thought I’d finally found the answer when I started working at Dark Enterprises—a path to genuine power, a way to punish anyone who wronged me. But it hadn’t worked out the way I’d hoped.
