"Are you okay? You seem stressed," Sally asked.
Was I okay? I don't know. I had been feeling uneasy all day, like something bad was about to happen. Why? I didn't know.
"Aaron?" Sally asked again.
"Ah...sorry. Yeah, I'm fine," I said.
"Wow, that didn't sound very convincing," she laughed.
"I might be coming down with something. I'm not sure," I smiled politely, hoping she would drop the subject.
"So tell me more about your girlfriend. You said you have one, right?" she asked and looked at me intently.
"Yeah. Her name is Bella, and she is a fiery redhead," I chuckled.
"That's nice. I must say, I'm a little jealous. All the good ones are always taken," she giggled.
Bold. Or is it the alcoholic punch our coworker mixed?
I excused myself and checked my phone. No text from Bella. I wondered what she was doing.
The party went on for 4 hours, and it was finally over. I started to say goodbye to my coworkers as I got ready to leave. Sally stopped me before I could head out the door.
"I'm feeling a bit too drunk to drive. Would you mind dropping me off? I don't live far, I promise," she looked at me with pleading eyes.
Huh? Why me of all people? But I couldn't be rude and straight up deny her request.
"Sure, that's not a problem," I smiled politely.
"Great! Let her go grab my purse. Sally said and hurried to the coat closet.
We didn't talk much during the car ride. I parked my car at the parking deck underneath her apartment and looked at her.
"Here we are. I guess I'll see you at the office tomorrow. Goodnight, Sally." I said.
But she didn't attempt to get out of the car and just stared at me for a moment.
"Aaron, there are some things I needed to talk to you about," she said.
I fidgeted uncomfortably. "You did? Well...what's up?"
"You know I've always liked you, right?" she asked.
"Whoa Sally..."
"No, hear me out. I always thought you were a great guy, and I'm just trying to look out for you. With that being said, have you noticed anything unusual about your girlfriend?" Sally grabbed my hand and stared at me intently again.
"Unusual? What do you mean? Wait...you don't even know her!" I exclaimed.
"Well...I saw her picture on your phone and I kind of stalked her on social media," she let out a nervous laugh.
"You did? What the hell, Sally! That's creepy as fuck! Why would you spy on my girlfriend?" I was getting angry now.
"Because I wanted to see who you were with. And well...she looked familiar, so I found out something about her," she said.
"What is it?" I read irritated but curious.
"Did you know she had to stay in a mental institution for a while? If you google her, you can read all about it," Sally said.
"Yes I knew about it. That doesn't mean anything to me. She is better now, and it's none of your business," I said angrily.
"Are you sure she is stable? You may need to watch your back, Aaron. Some things don't go away," she touched my arm.
I took my arm away. "I appreciate your concern Sally, but Bella is perfectly fine. Whatever problems she had is in the past now, so I'd appreciate it if you don't pry into her business," I said firmly.
"I understand," she said and got out of the car.
I went home with a sour taste in my mouth. I wish people would stay in their lane. She had no right to look into Bella's past.
I tried calling Bella again after going back to my apartment. Still no answer. I sent her a quick text and went to sleep.
In the morning, I looked at my phone, and my heart leaped into my chest. My boss left at least 10 messages on my phone. I quickly called him back.
"AARON! Get your ass to the office. RIGHT NOW!"
Oh shit...what did I do?
I arrived at the office as soon as I could. My boss was standing by my desk, practically fuming.
"What happened?" I asked.
"What happened? You tell me. What the hell is the meaning of this?" he waved a piece of paper in front of my face.
I took the paper and looked at it. There was a picture of a naked lady on the page I recognized as one of the famous pornstars.
"Yes. I'm glad you are a fan, but why are you showing this to me?" I was confused.
"Do you think this is a joke? This is a place of work for Christ's sake." he raged.
"I'm really confused. What does this pic have to do with me?" I asked.
"Look under it," he said grimly.
I looked at the writings under the pic for the first time and almost choked. It was from a PowerPoint slide I made for a presentation that I submitted to my boss. He must've printed the slide. But the picture...I specifically remember putting a picture of a car in the slide. How did it get replaced with the porn actress?
Wait, does this mean...
"Yes, that's right. I just opened the presentation in front of the board of executives and guess what stared right in their faces?" my boss pointed at the lady's you know what...
I'm so fucked....