CHLOE BAKER'S LOST DATE

Chapter Thirty-Two: Act Three Break-Up

"What's going on?" Kit asks. "Are you okay?"

"I'm on suspension."

"What? Why?"

"I'm not sure, I ... Can I use your laptop?"

"Of course. In the meantime, sit on the couch. You look super pale."

I sit down on her new couch and sink into the cushions. What could possibly have happened on a weekend when I didn't even check my email to put me on suspension?

Kit brings me her laptop and I log into my work email. There are two other emails from Tabitha. I open the first one, which is in response to the list of rom-com titles that I sent her on Friday as I was leaving the office.

Is this a joke? She wrote. Because it's not funny.

Okay, she didn't think my titles were funny. But why am I on suspension?

I open the second email.

Chloe,

I have just been informed that this completely inappropriate list has been sent to the entire company. As such, I am consulting HR on next steps.

Oh, shit, what?

I go into my sent emails and find the email I sent. It was the last thing I did before I left the office on Friday. I open it and I immediately see the problem. Somehow, instead of sending it to Tabitha, I sent it to To-All, which is a function in our server that sends an email to everyone in the office. The email program autofills email addresses once you start typing the first letter, and this had happened to other people before, but never to me.

Not until Friday apparently.

But what was the problem? No one else had been put on administrative leave for doing it. Usually, it had just led to a round of funny emails that continued into someone higher up told us all to go back to work, but it wasn't anything serious or problematic.

Why was I in trouble?

And then it hits me.

I couldn't have.

I click on the attachment to my email To-All and open it. It's the list of porny titles I was supposed to send to Kit. Instead of the rom-com titles I'd made for Tabitha, I'd sent the list to the entire office including the president of the company.

Oh, shit.

Oh, no.

"I'm going to get fired."

"Why?" Kit says, sitting next to me.

I show Kit the email and its attachment. Her eyes go wide when she sees the list. The title at the top is GO DOWN ON ME. It gets worse from there.

"How did that happen?"

I lean back on the couch, feeling dizzy. "I was so frazzled on Friday. And I was doing too many things at the same time. I rushed out and sent it without checking. I am so screwed."

"I'm sure you can just explain to her what happened."

"Maybe," I say but I doubt it. Not only does it look like I didn't do the work I was supposed to, but it also means I was screwing around at the office rather than doing what I was supposed to be doing. And the president of the company is a super conservative sixty-something guy that reminds me of my dad. No way he is going to be okay with this.

Kit pulls me into her arms. "It's going to be okay."

"What am I going to do if I get fired?"

"You'll be all right."