afternoon passed in a blur for Dave. After dropping Harmony off at home, he went back to the office, hoping by some miracle that Schworst was gone by now.
He wasn’t so lucky. But at least his boss looked busy.
Dave slunk inconspicuously to his desk, not wanting to alert the beast of his return.
As dusk began to fall, Dave’s thoughts drifted away from his task at hand and back to his family. More than anything, he just wanted life to go back to the way it had been a few weeks ago. Perhaps Dave was just experiencing the normal doldrums of existence that had been absent from his days for so long. Maybe he was becoming complacent, bored, lazy—was he so pathetic that he was this easily defeated by the outside world? He forced his shoulders back, lifted his chin a notch. He would continue to stand up for himself, but he could not shun his family from his life either. He needed to find a balance in-between, which seemed to be becoming increasingly harder these days. Dave just wished he could put his finger on it. It wasn’t any one thing that was rubbing him raw—it was a culmination of something greater that he feared he could not understand.
Dave resolved to pack up a bit early and head straight to the grocery store. He would forgo his drink tonight. He was going to prepare a beautiful meal for the family, and then he was going to apologize to them all. He would right this. But before he could put his plans into action, he was being called back into the firm by Schworst’s bellowing voice.
His coworkers gave out looks of sympathy as they passed him on his dreaded walk back into the clutches of Kyle Schworst.
“Yes, Mr. Schworst?” His boss turned at the sound of his voice, a belligerent glare swallowing his face. “Is everything alright?” Dave continued when he didn’t immediately start screaming.
“I don’t know, Dave. Is it?”
Dave hesitated, his mind swinging furiously to pouty red lips and silk garters—it took every ounce of self-restraint for Dave to overcome the monsoon of panic swirling just behind him. Did he think Dave was responsible for Desiree not being at work? Had she disappeared?
“Sir?”
“Were you here, at the firm, on Saturday?” Schworst barked as he stood from the chair behind his desk, offering Dave the other.
Dave slowly sat down on high alert—Schworst never asked him to sit. “I was, I had a bit of extra work to take care of.” Schworst’s eyes narrowed with blatant dislike. “And the family was driving me nuts,” Dave included for further explanation.
“Really? I imagine your family probably gets sick of you,” Kyle taunted, baring his yellow teeth with a sadistic grin.
“I’m sure they do,” Dave agreed.
“And did you happen to have forgotten to lock the door on your way out?” he paced around the office, circling Dave like the bloody-thirsty shark that he was.
“No, Sir. I did not. I never do.”
“I see. Were you here alone?”
Dave’s thoughts were scrambling due to his inability to predict where this interrogation was heading. Dave was not a liar—but he felt locked in a moral battle. What if Desiree made up horrible things, told Schworst lies about what actually happened on Saturday afternoon? Where was she?
“Dave, why did you wipe the security cameras clean?”
Dave’s head snapped up at that, “What?”
“You heard me, you useless shit. What were you doing in here that made you take such measures?” Schworst whispered vindictively.
“Sir, I have no idea what you are talking about. I was here yes, but so was Ms. DeLongo—“
“And why didn’t you mention that before?”
“I was about to—“
“And what were you and that tart doing?”
Dave disliked the lascivious greed and imagination he saw come to life on his boss’s face.
“Nothing, at all. She was in her office working, I was out there,” Dave pointed to his desk, “I left before she did. I locked the door. So maybe you should be asking her.”
Schworst gnashed his teeth as if he’d like nothing more than to fire him. “And you expect me to believe that you were alone, here, with her and nothing happened?”
“Positive. I have nothing to hide. So if you are finished falsely accusing me of something I did not do, with absolutely no proof, then I’d like to leave.”
Schworst was the color of a beet by the time Dave retreated from his office. Dave’s feeling of self-worth increased after that. He felt proud—strong at how he handled the arrogant bully. He looked forward to telling J the story next time he saw him. He also felt confident that it was Desiree who’d wiped the tapes, not wanting to risk someone finding evidence of her inability to seduce him. He was in the clear, and still somewhat on schedule. With a little skip in his step, Dave walked out into evening mist, feeling almost at peace.
Almost.