Moving On

Chapter 13 - Part 1

Kate sat, looking at the team of fidgety staff who were either casting glances at the door or staring intently at the floor.

Evelyn sat beside her, her irate glare doing nothing to calm the nervous staff.

Only Laura was missing from the team; Evelyn had fired Laura after informing Kate of the situation.

"If it were up to me, all of you would've packed up your stuff along with Laura," Evelyn said. "But your other boss wants to give you guys another chance. The rest of you will be demoted to probationary basis."

Nodding, Kate added, "You'll be on probation for the next six months. One more mistake and you're done here. All of you will be split into the remaining teams. You'll need to report every decision you make to your new team leaders. If any of you don't agree with how we're handling the situation, you're free to resign. Otherwise, let's put this behind us and get on with our work."

All of them mumbled some form of agreement and apology before heading out of her office and to their respective desks.

Once they were out, Kate leaned back against her chair. "Thanks, Eve, for coming in to do this with me. We're having a movie night back at the mansion. Do you want to join us?"

"Can't, sorry. I've got a date."

She shrugged it off. "I figured, but I told Dan that I'd ask."

"All right, then. I'm going off for my early weekend. Call me if you need anything," Evelyn said as she took her bag and sauntered out of the office. "See you on Monday."

There was plenty of paperwork for Kate to settle, but she decided that she deserved an early day off, too. So, she got off work earlier and went out to buy a DVD before returning to the mansion.

That night after dinner, everyone gathered around the coffee table in front of the television.

"I brought Resident Evil, part one. Figured there's no point watching the later episodes if Kate hasn't watched the first one," Ryan said with a wide grin.

Dan laughed. "Great minds think alike. I brought Dawn of the Dead." The two gave each other high-fives while Joseph threw in his DVD with the other two. "The Others."

She hadn't watched any of those movies, but she knew what they were; movies she avoided at all costs—zombie and horror films.

Perfect.

She'd spent the whole afternoon thinking of a movie that everyone could enjoy. She was certain that none of the guys would want to watch a chick-flick, so she struck those out.

But the guys clearly didn't spare any thought for her.

She turned to Tyler while the guys were giving each other the approval of great movie choices. "He brought episode one of the zombie movie for me."

Tyler's lips curled.

"What movie did you bring? Twilight?" Ryan asked.

She cleared her throat. "I thought this was supposed to be a night of entertainment."

"Oh, come on. I bet you chose some romantic chick-flick," Dan replied.

"No, I didn't. I chose a comedy that I thought everyone could enjoy," she said and returned her gaze to Tyler. "What movie did you bring?" It'd better not be part two of the zombie film.

Tyler threw his DVD onto the table. Pirates of the Caribbean.

"See! That's a neutral film." She smiled at Tyler. "Thank you."