Page 128 of Begin Again, Part 1

"No, I didn't!" Eden called after her with a calmness she didn't feel. "But whenever you're ready."

She watched the other woman through the glass wall make her way down the hall. When she was sure she was alone, she slammed her door and closed the blinds.

It took her some time to realise the loud, terrifying howl was from her. But she wasn't crying because she was sad and hurt. No, this cry, from the depths of her soul, was born out of fury. She wanted it to stop. But no matter how hard she tried to keep it together, she couldn't, and only the sound of her office phone ringing put an end to all her madness.

She blindly floated to her desk.

"Hello," she croaked into the phone and listened to the terse instructions on the other end. She'd been summoned to the 35th floor. Zara from HR wanted to see her.

There were many similarities between Eden and Zara Amod.

Like her, the head of HR wasn't the prettiest candle in the room. She also had a questionable dress sense. But superficial qualities aside, they still had plenty in common. Zara was also a young mom and single parent. They'd chatted a few times in the elevators and corridors about their babies, both nineteen months old, and had even attempted a play date or two, but nothing had panned out so far.

They weren't the best of friends, but other than Clara, Zara was probably the only other woman Eden was close to at work. Today though, sitting across from her in a sixteen-seater boardroom, the head of HR wasn't meeting with her as a friend and fellow member of the young moms' club. She had a tough message to deliver.

After the usual standard check-in and confirming her mental well-being was above average, and her sanity meter was in the green range, Zara got to the heart of their chit chat.

"We've received an assault complaint," she said, drumming her fingers on the personnel file.

"Let me guess, Lucy?"

Zara nodded. "She alleges you attacked her in your office. You threw your relationship with Mr Anderson in her face and couldn't stop bragging about your office renovations."

Eden couldn't sit still and listen to all this nonsense. She had a blazer and expensive art pieces and furniture to return, and maybe afterwards do a bit of paper-pushing so she could get paid month-end. She didn't have time for this.

"First of all," she said as she bit her lower lip and pushed her now very loose glasses, thanks to Lucy and her hot claps, up her nose. "I don't have a relationship with Mr Anderson. Secondly, Lucy came after me. I had to defend myself."

"I understand." Zara nodded, a solemn look on her small round face framed by dark curly hair. "However, physical violence cannot be tolerated."

She opened the personnel file and pulled out a serious-looking document. "Assault is a dismissible offence, Eden, but after chatting with Mr Anderson—I mean, Matthew—we agreed you should get a final warning."

Eden was mortified that her boss knew about her fight. But she was even more stunned by the idea of a final written warning.

She scratched her head. How did she get to a final written warning when she wasn't even at Anderson Logistics for more than two months, and she'd never been on the wrong side of the company law before?

"Final? I think there's been a mistake. I've never had a warning before; this should be my first."

Zara shook her head patiently. "Lucy's injuries were so severe she had to seek medical help. You're lucky she's not pressing charges."

"I only slapped her once on her face," Eden whispered, stunned by this revelation. "I didn't touch her anywhere else. You can ask all the other ladies. If anything, I should press assault charges and request compensation from her for damaging my glasses."

She took them off to prove she wasn't lying, and showed Zara the loose screw on her left temple. "I have to take them for tightening or get new glasses. But that's not even the worst. For the next few days, I'll have to wear contact lenses. Do you know how uncomfortable they are? Did you ask all the other ladies about this?"

"We did. Only Clara came forward and spoke on your behalf," Zara smiled as she pushed the two-page document across the table. "The others declined to get involved. It's yours and Clara's word against Lucy's."

Eden glanced at the document briefly, before pushing it away, refusing to be the fall guy for Lucy's bad behaviour. "I'm not signing this. I did nothing wrong. Why am I being punished?"

Zara pressed her lips together and handed her a shiny company branded pen. "You have to sign on the last page."

Eden reluctantly took it and paged through the document again, demanding before scribbling her million-dollar signature. "Did Lucy also get a warning?"

"Yes," Zara said. "Before one of the other assistants took her to the emergency room."

"Oh, wow!" Eden said as she signed the last page. "She truly deserves an Oscar for that performance."

"I'm sorry, in such cases—" Zara tried to say, but Eden didn't want to hear any of it.

She held up her hand, stopping her human resources speech. "I've never been assaulted before, but I'm pretty sure you have to listen to both sides before making a judgement. It would have been nice to be given a fair trial."

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