they’d been back to normal. She’d foolishly allowed herself to think she was in the clear.
“Have a seat, Eden” Sarah’s tone was curt, being the more serious of the two, she indicated with a cock of her head to the adjacent chair beside her own.
Eden did as bidden and settled into the chair, licking her suddenly dry lips as she silently waited. The silence was deafening. “Is...is there something wrong?” she decided to break it, unable to withstand it any longer.
Annie rustled with some documents on her desk before clearing her throat and looking at Eden with clear blue eyes. “Sarah and I went out on a limb for you and gave you a chance at our company believing that you could contribute something great here. And you have. You’ve been great up to this point.”
“What point? What did I do?”
“It’s come to our attention that you’ve been going behind our backs and making deals with clients without our knowledge and keeping a percentage of the commission for yourself.”
Eden chortled. “You can’t be serious,” she asked incredulously, but looking at the dire expression on their faces, Eden was mortified to see that they were absolutely serious. “Come on, you guys can’t actually believe I would do something so stupid.” She shook her head, her eyes bouncing from one woman to the other. “I would never do something like that.”
“We have proof.” Annie sighed, extending a folder to Eden. “It’s all there. And the worst part is you’ve been badmouthing our agency to our clients.”
“That’s not true! I...I wouldn’t do that!” She hastily leafed through the folder, all the while trying to defend herself to the women who’d already passed judgment. Eden couldn’t believe what she was seeing, if she were in their shoes, there would be no contesting this. Her signature was on more than a dozen contracts she didn’t remember signing or making the deals in the first place. “This is…this isn’t me…please—”
“We’ve done all we could for you, Eden, but unfortunately your time here is over.”
“Please…please don’t. Annie, you know I would never do this. I love working here. I love this job, why would I jeopardize that?
“Money is always a great incentive,” Sarah retorted, and Eden felt like she’d been smacked. She wasn’t cold, but tremors shook her body as she unsteadily got to her feet.
“Thank…thank you for the opportunity. I’m…” Innocent didn’t get a chance to get through the tears choking her. Before they could fall, she whirled around and ran out of the office, remembering to grab her bag.
* * *
Still largely mortified and completely devastated that she’d just lost her job, Eden remained in her car even though she’d pulled up to her home nearly an hour ago. She’d honestly loved working at Banks and Ronald. It’d given her purpose, drove her to be better than she was. It’d challenged her, made her feel like she was part of something bigger than herself, and she’d been damn good at it. But now it was all gone. Ripped right out from under her. It wasn’t as though she couldn’t start again, she had enough credentials to get hired at any brokerage firm, but it wouldn’t be the same. Despite the competitiveness, there’d been a light camaraderie about the place that been amazing to be around. God, how could they think she was capable of that? Someone was framing her, setting her up to make her look bad, and Eden had a sinking feeling she knew who that someone was.
“Fucking bastard,” she cursed silently, knowing Dominic had been the mastermind behind this. She knew his handiwork. The realization that he’d found her, and more than likely had known where she was for some time now, felt like ice water in her veins. Eden could imagine him sitting behind his large desk, in his executive chair as he silently devised new and painful ways to make her suffer for daring to run from him. She could see the smirk on his lips that
“Have a seat, Eden” Sarah’s tone was curt, being the more serious of the two, she indicated with a cock of her head to the adjacent chair beside her own.
Eden did as bidden and settled into the chair, licking her suddenly dry lips as she silently waited. The silence was deafening. “Is...is there something wrong?” she decided to break it, unable to withstand it any longer.
Annie rustled with some documents on her desk before clearing her throat and looking at Eden with clear blue eyes. “Sarah and I went out on a limb for you and gave you a chance at our company believing that you could contribute something great here. And you have. You’ve been great up to this point.”
“What point? What did I do?”
“It’s come to our attention that you’ve been going behind our backs and making deals with clients without our knowledge and keeping a percentage of the commission for yourself.”
Eden chortled. “You can’t be serious,” she asked incredulously, but looking at the dire expression on their faces, Eden was mortified to see that they were absolutely serious. “Come on, you guys can’t actually believe I would do something so stupid.” She shook her head, her eyes bouncing from one woman to the other. “I would never do something like that.”
“We have proof.” Annie sighed, extending a folder to Eden. “It’s all there. And the worst part is you’ve been badmouthing our agency to our clients.”
“That’s not true! I...I wouldn’t do that!” She hastily leafed through the folder, all the while trying to defend herself to the women who’d already passed judgment. Eden couldn’t believe what she was seeing, if she were in their shoes, there would be no contesting this. Her signature was on more than a dozen contracts she didn’t remember signing or making the deals in the first place. “This is…this isn’t me…please—”
“We’ve done all we could for you, Eden, but unfortunately your time here is over.”
“Please…please don’t. Annie, you know I would never do this. I love working here. I love this job, why would I jeopardize that?
“Money is always a great incentive,” Sarah retorted, and Eden felt like she’d been smacked. She wasn’t cold, but tremors shook her body as she unsteadily got to her feet.
“Thank…thank you for the opportunity. I’m…” Innocent didn’t get a chance to get through the tears choking her. Before they could fall, she whirled around and ran out of the office, remembering to grab her bag.
* * *
Still largely mortified and completely devastated that she’d just lost her job, Eden remained in her car even though she’d pulled up to her home nearly an hour ago. She’d honestly loved working at Banks and Ronald. It’d given her purpose, drove her to be better than she was. It’d challenged her, made her feel like she was part of something bigger than herself, and she’d been damn good at it. But now it was all gone. Ripped right out from under her. It wasn’t as though she couldn’t start again, she had enough credentials to get hired at any brokerage firm, but it wouldn’t be the same. Despite the competitiveness, there’d been a light camaraderie about the place that been amazing to be around. God, how could they think she was capable of that? Someone was framing her, setting her up to make her look bad, and Eden had a sinking feeling she knew who that someone was.
“Fucking bastard,” she cursed silently, knowing Dominic had been the mastermind behind this. She knew his handiwork. The realization that he’d found her, and more than likely had known where she was for some time now, felt like ice water in her veins. Eden could imagine him sitting behind his large desk, in his executive chair as he silently devised new and painful ways to make her suffer for daring to run from him. She could see the smirk on his lips that
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