Unfaithful - Natalie Barelli Page 0,91
to the panel, tell them what he did.”
“What time is the interview?”
“Two o’clock.”
I think about this. I know what these interviews are like. They take place in the executive office of the administration building, in a large room, with state-of-the-art audio visual equipment.
I check my watch. “Let me make a phone call.”
Twenty minutes later, I call June back into my office.
“Is Geoff going out for lunch today?” I ask.
“He always does. Twelve thirty on the dot, returns between one and one thirty.”
“Okay, that’s good. In case he doesn’t for some reason, you think you can get him out of the office anyway?”
“I’ll try, why? What’s going on?”
I don’t reply, I have to think this through. “And his interview is at two, you said?”
“That’s right.”
“Can you go to him at say, quarter to two, and tell him they’ve asked to postpone it by thirty minutes? Tell him the other candidates are taking longer than expected, something like that.”
She chuckles. “He won’t like that.”
“Good. Even better.”
“And if he’s not in his office at quarter to two?”
I sigh. “I don’t know. I’ll think of something else.”
I tell her of my plan. She listens, one eyebrow raised. When I finish, she grins. “Genius. I love it. You think it will work?”
“No idea, but it’s all I have right now.”
I spend the rest of the morning distracted, but I feel good. Better, at any rate. It’s what I need, this feeling of doing something. Of taking control, of being in charge of my own destiny.
As June predicted, at twelve twenty-five, Geoff exits his office, shrugging his jacket on, and locks his door. June pretends to do the same. She pops into my office with her coat on and her handbag looped over her shoulder. She removes both as soon as she enters.
I call Steve, my new best friend. Steve, who looked so despondent the day of my Forrester lecture when I wouldn’t let him fix the connection. I wrote an email the following day to his boss explaining that I’d decided at the last minute not to use slides, and I apologized for putting Steve in that position. He called me to thank me. It’s the little things.
“Coast is clear,” I say.
“Roger that,” he replies, which makes me chuckle.
I don’t see the next part, but I know that June will unlock the office and let Steve inside, ostensibly to do something about phone line repair, should anyone ask. He works in the audiovisual department, but I don’t think Geoff would know any different if he happened to return.
Thirty-Six
At one fifteen, June texts me to say Geoff has returned from lunch. At a quarter to two, I stand in the corridor outside his office. June is inside explaining that there’s been a delay, and the panel has requested Geoff attend at two thirty instead.
My heart is thumping in my ears while I wait, chewing on a fingernail. Finally, June walks out.
“Hi, Anna!” she says, sounding convincingly surprised to see me there.
“Is he in?” I ask.
“Yes, you’re in luck. Go on in,” she replies.
I almost laugh at how ridiculous we sound. As we pass each other she whispers, “Good luck.”
“What are you doing here?” Geoff snaps without looking up, as I close the door. “I hope—”
I raise a hand. “Save it,” I say. I know he was about to bring up the Pentti-Stone notebooks, and I don’t want him to.
“Something strange happened. I thought you might be able to shed some light on it. I called Janette from HR.”
He looks up then. “Did you? And?”
“There’s no sexual harassment complaint against me. There never was.”
He leans back against his chair. “There isn’t? Well, fancy that.”
“You made up the whole thing!”
He laughs. “I was going to tell you it had been dropped. I just wanted to see you squirm a little longer. My bad. Should have done it sooner. Oh, well. Now if that’s all, I have things to do…”
“It’s not all. I have decided to report you. To the police.”
He gets up then, and in two strides he’s at the door. My heart is in my throat. He’s going to tell me to get out. I can argue all I like but he can easily have me thrown out.
He opens the door a crack and checks outside. Then he steps out and yells: “I’m in a meeting, June. I’m not to be disturbed.”
“All right,” she sings out.
I’m so relieved I close my eyes for a moment and let a long breath out.
“The police? And why would that be,