Page 12 of Protected By Him

"Well, I recently finished the gas station story, and I’m almost done with the one about kids and house plants..." I trailed away as it became clear he wasn’t really interested.

"So, a column story and an opinion piece," he noted.

I nodded and waited.

"Well, it sounds to me like you’ve had too much time on your hands. I suppose that explains why you’ve been harassing the staff in the accounting department," he said with a sudden sharp edge to his voice.

My heart jumped to my throat. Did he know that I had been looking intohim? Had Jon told him about our conversation? Deciding to play dumb for now, I said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Harvey? I’m not sure what you mean. It isn’t unusual for me help out in accounting when I don’t have a pending assignment.”

Mr. Harvey narrowed his eyes and studied me for a moment before speaking. “It has come to my attention that you’ve been inserting yourself where you haven’t been invited. It’s become apparent that you are incapable of staying on task and are a distraction to your coworkers. As for the accounting staff member who was apparently unable to do his job without your assistance, he has been dismissed as well.”

I blinked and looked at Mr. Harvey who meet my gaze with an intense glare. I looked around, unsure what to do. Was hefiring me? Had he fired Jon? I felt sick to my stomach as I realized I might have cost someone their job.

"I don't understand, Mr. Harvey," I said, with a nervous little chuckle.

"What is there to not understand?" he asked, his voice harsher now.

"Are you firing me? I haven’t done anything wrong. I only offered my help, which I’ve done, or been asked to do, several times over the years. I’ve worked for Prime Media for years with no complaints.” I was a nauseating mix of anger and panic. I was certain that Mr. Harvey was involved in something devious, but I also couldn’t afford to lose my job.

"Miss Anderson," Harvey said, his voice cold and formal, "You are relieved of your duties and will no longer be working for Prime Media, effective immediately."

I glanced down at my hands without seeing anything. My body felt numb, my ears rang, my heart was feeling a range of emotions from anger to frustration, pain to the sting of rejection. Without a word, I stood and moved to the door. As I was about to pass through the doorway, Mr. Harvey spoke, his voice low and threatening.

"Perhaps, this will teach you an important lesson, Ms. Anderson." Mr. Harvey was sneering now. "It is unwise to stick your nose where it does not belong."

Was that why I was suddenly being fired? Had he somehow found out what I’d discovered? And he’d fired Jon too. The poor guy hadn’t even realized what he’d stumbled onto.

The anger that had been slowly seeping through my veins bubbled. Turning back around, I met Mr. Harvey’s gaze with a cold look of my own. “As you said, Mr. Harvey, I’m a journalist. Uncovering the truth is what I do best, and I won’t rest until I’ve found it.” With that, I turned on my heel and left, pulling the door shut behind me with a forceful slam.

"So, I’ve been found out," I chuckled lowly to myself.

If Harvey thought taking my job would stop me from digging into his secrets, then he had another thing coming. When I got back to my desk, I found Emily relaxing in her chair, a cup of coffee on her own desk and a second cup on mine.

"How did it go?" Emily turned toward me. "I had a feeling you were going to be promoted. You have been long overdue for that. Has it happened? Give me the news." Emily's eyes were wide with excitement.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony. Instead of a promotion, I’d been fired. And not because I’d done anything wrong, but because I’d dared to pursue a truth that Mr. James Harvey did not want revealed.

"Um, I have not been promoted." I glanced at her with a half-smile. Emily's face morphed into confusion.

"What did he call you in there for then?"

I sat down at my cubicle and put my head in my hands as the full impact of the news began to hit me. I was out of a job, my rent was due, and I had very little in my savings, since I’d recently paid off the last of my student loans.

Everything had happened so suddenly, and I needed to think fast. I felt like I’d hit rock bottom, and I fought the urge to cry when Emily's hands rubbed my back tenderly. "Is everything alright?"

I shook my head. "There is no promotion. There's never going to be one. At least not here."

"Oh my God,” Emily muttered in a shocked tone of voice. She had finally understood. "I'm so sorry, Laura. What happened? You’re a great journalist!"

I shook my head again. It wasn't a good idea to tell Emily. Not when it could get her into trouble too.

"I can't say." I tried to wipe away the tears that had slipped through despite my valiant effort to keep them in.

“What do you mean, you can't?”

I turned to Emily. "I will not get you in trouble. Let's just say I got too close to something. We can leave it at that."

"Tell me what the hell Harvey did to make you this distraught. Talking to me won't cost me my job," Emily argued.

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