SETH DOESN’T SAY a word to me or give me any indication of what’s wrong as I march behind him to his office. Seth is the only employee at this branch who gets his own office. It used to bother me, but since I spend a lot of time out of the office, I try not to get too upset about working in a cube. But eventually, I’ll have to relocate to another company where I can get a decent workspace.
“Sit,” Seth says in a clipped tone.
He shuts the door behind me. He always used to shut the door like that when we were about to fool around, and like Pavlov’s dogs, I find myself getting a little turned on, despite everything. It’s completely inappropriate, given how my world is crumbling around me right now, but Seth just really does it for me. Too bad the circumstances didn’t work out between us.
I settle down into one of the chairs in front of his desk. “What’s going on?”
Seth sits in his own leather chair. His hands are clasped into fists. “That detective paid me a visit this morning.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?” His eyebrows shoot up. “Is that all you have to say?”
I shake my head. I don’t know what he’s all worked up about. He’s not the one lying about my alibi.
“Is there anything you want to tell me, Natalie?”
Seth always calls me Nat. The fact that he’s repeatedly calling me Natalie makes me think he’s pissed off at me. That and the way his face is red and his knuckles are white.
“No…”
He slams his palms flat on the desk. “Santoro said you stole money from the company. Dawn knew all about it, apparently.”
All the air seems to leave my body. I open my mouth, but no words come out. “I didn’t…” I manage.
“Dawn wrote all about it in an email, apparently,” he continues like I hadn’t spoken. “She was about to confront you about it. About the money you stole from me…”
“No,” I breathe. “I didn’t steal anything…”
“That huge house you have in Boston…” He shakes his head. “I never understood how you were able to afford it. Or all those fancy labels on your clothing… those insanely expensive shoes…”
“Seth…”
“I always noticed how flirty you were with the last accountant we had,” he muses. “Now I finally get it. And of course, it explains why you were so nice to me.”
“Seth!” My eyes bulge out. “You can’t possibly think that I would ever
—”
His eyes are filled with rage. “I know what you’re like, Natalie. I’ve
seen you bullshit customers. I’ve seen the way you do whatever you have to do to get what you want. I just… I never thought…” He heaves a breath. “I never thought you’d mess with me to get what you want.”
“Because I wouldn’t!” I cry. “Seth, please…”
He holds up his hand. “I don’t want to hear it. You’re on unpaid suspension. Since we don’t have an accountant right now, I’ll go through the accounts myself today. Figure out how much you ripped us off for.”
“I didn’t rip you off!” My eyes are swimming with tears. I’ve managed not to cry through this whole ordeal, but I’ve never seen Seth look at me this way. He’s always been kind to me—I could always count on that. “I swear to you, I wouldn’t do that.”
“Yeah, right.” He turns away from me, his eyes focused on his computer screen. “We’re done here. Get your stuff and go.”
“Seth…”
“Now, Natalie,” he says through his teeth. “Or do I need to call security?”
I know Seth really well. We were seeing each other for over a year before I called it quits. There’s nothing I can say to change his mind. He is pissed off at me. And on top of that, he’s hurt. He thinks I played him. He believes every word the detective told him.
This is far from over.
