The Misadventures of Anna Cabbot

Accounted For

[Jamie M.]

You got this. Let me know how it goes.

Carson:

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Monday morning finally rolled around.

Anna dressed for work, packed for lunch, fixed her travel mug of coffee, and spent her entire twenty minute commute trying to keep her anxiety on an even keel. Her heart thudded uncomfortably loud in her chest, and while she hadn't had any odd beats she did have the unhelpful urge to throw up.

She pulled into the parking lot like normal, and put her car in its usual spot. With her coffee in one hand and her lunch in the other, she walked the 30 feet or so from her vehicle to the front door. Any conversation died immediately when she crossed the threshold.

Oddly, her heart rate settled.

Mack was the first to break the deadlock. He cleared his throat and said, "Darren wants to see you."

Yes, Darren probably did. Anna nodded, and strode through to the break room without actually looking at anyone. And she sure as shit didn't look through the open doorway of Darren's office.

Lunch went in the fridge. She took a deep breath. Coffee went on the counter. She took another deep breath and wiped her hands on her jeans. Whatever happened next, however this went, she absolutely refused to cry in front of any of them.

She squared her shoulders and stepped around the corner.

Darren didn't look up from his desk as he said, "Come in and shut the door."

Anna did as she was told and leaned against the wall, hands awkwardly at her sides. If she crossed them over her chest she'd seem defensive, and if she put them in front of her she'd fidget. Stuffing her fingers in her pockets probably wouldn't go over well, either.

Still, her heart rate was calm, like if she were sat on her couch with her sketchbook.

"Where have you been?" Darren sat up and leaned back in his chair.

In all the thinking she'd done on her way in she hadn't once considered what she would say if he asked her about the past week.

"I was...unavoidably detained," she said, pressing her right middle fingernail into the meat of her thumb. It wasn't an outright lie — nor was it the entire truth — but it was the best she could do considering Darren wasn't Community. None of her coworkers were Community, and there were things she couldn't tell them. She must have known this in her bones before she'd even left the house since.

Anna didn't want to have to choose between her job and the secrets she kept, though she knew easily which she'd pick if pushed came to shove.

"Doing...?" He held his hands out. "Throw me a bone here, Anna."

She wanted to. God, did she want to save her own ass. And yet she didn't say a word.

"You were a no-call no-show for a week."

"I know."

"Nobody heard anything from you. At all."

"I know."

"I had to call HR."

That she hadn't known, but it made sense. She pressed her shoulders harder against the wall behind her.

"Do you want to say anything that might help you out here?" Darren looked like a man grasping at straws. All she needed to do was give him something plausible, something he could spin in her favor.