Page 77 of His Flash Mate
“Details, Sophia.I want them now.”
“Well, someone used my computer to send data I don’t have access to while I was in a meeting with the CEO.So I have a rock-solid alibi.However, the cameras weren’t working on the whole executive floor at the time, so they don’t know who did it.The company released a statement to exonerate me.Because of the incident with the reporters, they gave me the rest of the day off and a compensation bonus for emotional damage, which I definitely earned.”
I didn’t mention anything about being watched—I didn’t want Mom to worry—or why I’d been in a meeting with the CEO.
“Steele Corp is going to keep looking into it, and the CEO asked me to come in as usual tomorrow to show my innocence and that the company is backing me.”
“Well, that’s decent of them.But what’s going to stop this from happening again if they can’t identify who is trying to set you up?You might not be lucky enough to meet with the CEO next time.”
“That’s part of why they want me back.This isn’t the first incident.Emails have gone missing from my computer already.Nothing crazy.Just jobs with deadlines that wouldn’t have been met if I’d been less vigilant.Thankfully, I’ve learned from what you’ve gone through, reported the issues immediately, and backed up consistently.So, the backups I’m accused of taking home are true, but HR knew about them, and it wasn’t anything confidential.”
Mom sighed.“It feels like my bad luck is rubbing off on you.”
“Ha.I briefly thought the same, but realized it’s just the opposite.I didn’t lose my job, I’m getting a compensation payment,andthe CEO is personally backing me.I’d say that’s good luck, not bad.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized it was a balance of good and bad.Good that I still had a job.Bad that I was working with my one-night stand.Good that I was getting a bonus payment.Bad that I had to take a break from working at Lunar Pulse for a while.
“Keep being careful,” Mom said.“Hopefully, they can figure out who is doing this.Did you offend anyone?”
“HR asked the same thing.The only person I can think of is my immediate boss, who doesn’t seem to like me.However, the last few people in my role treated the position like a dating opportunity, not a job.So she has a bias, especially since she’s a close friend of the CEO they were trying to seduce.”
“Sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one,” Mom said.
“That’s what I was thinking too.She makes the most sense.Her attitude toward me and the fact that she’s high up enough to access the files and cameras.But it also doesn’t make sense.She’s the VP.How would she benefit from Steele Corporation losing business?”
Mom and I returned to the living room.
“Personal gain?If someone paid her enough for the information…” Mom shrugged.
I shook my head.“She’s a Stonestock.Old money.She wears designer everything from head to toe.I’m honestly not even sure why she’s working.Maybe a favor to the CEO?But again, if that’s the case, why would she stab him in the back by sending confidential data?”
“Is she jealous of you?Could the guy you were overthinking yesterday be someone she’s interested in?”
I considered the possibility that Lianna viewed Konni as more than a childhood friend.Other than that one phone call and waiting outside his office after my meeting with him, she didn’t seem to interact with him much at work.Sure, the call had been meeting at the Nexus, and while non-business stuff happened there, business meetings happened there all the time, too.
But even if she was interested in Konni, the idea of her being jealous of me was laughable.I was nothing—a nobody.She was the heiress to a fortune I’d never know in my lifetime.
“It seems like a stretch.I just started.She doesn’t know anything about me, but definitely looks down on me.And my emails were disappearing before I even found out that guy was working there.”
“Maybe she knew that he liked you before you knew he was there.”
I made a doubtful face.Konni and I hadn’t interacted at all before the day I saw him.
Mom kept thinking, and I loved that she was helping me try to figure this out logically.This was the version of the woman who created a thriving company from nothing.Logical.Motivated.Composed even in a crisis.
“You said she was old money,” Mom said after a quiet moment.“That means private investigators, inside information, and knowing things before other people do.That’s all part of the socially elite package.Maybe she knows more about that work-guy’s interest in you than you think.”
I thought of the way Konni had said he would have someone watch over me and nibbled at my lip.Maybe Mom was on to something.
“You’ve brought up a valid theory that I’ll need to test.But not today.Today, we finish binge-watching our show.”
“No Lunar Pulse tonight?”
“Tonight and the rest of the week.My goal is good publicity for Lunar Pulse, not the shit show that happened this afternoon.Uncle Jay agreed I should wait until everything blows over before coming back.He wasn’t happy, though.”
“He likes being able to keep an eye on you.”
“True.And I like keeping an eye on him.”
