Chapter 127

Dawn had pulled a fast one on everyone, and I felt particularly targeted. I had only wanted to help Maria and the others in the office who had been sexually harassed. Dawn had taken my enthusiasm and manipulated it to help push out these new rules that were so stringent, they barely made sense.

For one, two people of the opposite sex could not be behind closed doors alone together. So as I went in to greet Logan in the morning, I had to leave the door wide open.

Another rule, supervisors were no longer allowed to address their assistants by their first names. The guidebook said this would help maintain professional distance and decorum.

That could have been true, I supposed, but it made the workplace feel much colder when Logan looked up from his desk and said, “Good morning, Miss Whitaker.”

“Good morning, Mr. Hatfield.”

The new rules had only been in place for only a day, but they already felt oppressive. Logan was always so busy that we didn’t get to see each other outside of work hardly ever. While we talked on the phone every night for a while, I missed him.

What I would have done for hug.

But that was impossible now. One wrong move, and Logan would lose his job.

Logan handed me some paperwork. “Have this ready by the end of the day, Ms. Whitaker. And I have a few reservations I need you to make. They are in the calendar.”

“Yes, sir.”

Logan’s eyes lingered on mine for a long moment. He wanted to say more, I could feel it. I wanted to say more too.

Both of us were bound by the new rules.

“That’s all, Miss Whitaker,” Logan said and looked away, returning his attention to the computer on his desk.

Dismissed, I left the office and returned to my desk to start my workday.

Around break time, I left my desk to go to the bathroom. On the way, I spotted Maria at her desk, her face buried in her hands, clearly upset. My heart ached for my friend, so, even though it was breaking the rules to speak with coworkers when not directed to by a supervisor, I swung by her desk.

We couldn’t speak long, but I couldn’t stand to see her like this.

“What happened?” I asked.

When she realized it was just me, she let her hands drop. “They fired Mike.”

“What?”

“I was texting him, and –”

“Did Logan ask you to speak with Maria, Hazel?” Dawn asked, approaching from behind me.

Not wanting her to have a clear view of my back, I turned to face her. I could have lied. I might have even gotten away with it, if Logan backed me up. But I wasn’t going to use him like that.

“Maria was upset, so I checked on her,” I said.

Dawn narrowed her eyes. “Maria should be happy. Her harasser is being escorted out of the building by security at this very moment.”

“Oh, God.” Maria stood up. “I told you, he never harassed me. He’s my boyfriend!”

“Inter-office relationships are not allowed under the new rules,” Dawn said. She crossed her arms. “He was in a higher position than you. He was using his power to take advantage of you.”

“That’s not what was happening,” Maria insisted.

Dawn shrugged. “You should be thanking me.”

Maria lifted her chin in defiance. “My actual harasser still has not been punished.”

I glanced at her supervisor’s office, where the man I had seen looking down Maria’s shirt not all that long ago, typed away happily at his computer desk.

“Show me evidence,” Dawn said to Maria. Then she turned to me. “And you should be hurrying along, Hazel. It wouldn’t do well if the champion of the new rules was seen breaking them.”

Maria gave me a sharp, accusing look. God, I was going to have a lot of explaining to do later.

But I couldn’t do so right now. For now, I had to follow the rules and do as Dawn directed.

Forgetting about the bathroom and my break, I swiveled on my heel and hurried back to my desk. Then, suddenly determined, I stormed past it and into Logan’s office.

“Logan,” I said.

He shook his head. “It’s Mr. Hatfield or Sir at work, Haz… Miss Whitaker.”

I didn’t have time for this. “HR fired Mike from IT.” If there was something Logan could do to stop this, there was no time to waste, not if Mike was being escorted out by security right at that moment.

Logan flipped through a document on his desk. “And?”

And? “He and Maria have been seeing each other since before these rules were in place. We can’t just let this happen. Can’t you do something?”

“I know you didn’t just ask me to abuse my power, Miss Whitaker,” Logan said. He didn’t even look up.

“It’s not like that. It would just be fixing a wrong.”

“These are the rules now,” Logan said. “Your friends had time to rectify their situation before the workday began today.”

“Rectify their…? Do mean they should have broken up?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How could he say that about Maria and Mike, knowing we were in a similar position?

Unless… he meant for us to break up as well? He hadn’t said as much, but maybe that was the true reason we hadn’t spent any time together since our few stolen kisses here and there before these new rules were implemented.

We were supposed to be married, but sometimes it felt like we weren’t even dating.

Logan finally looked at me. He took a breath like he wanted to say something, but then his gaze shifted to something behind me and he closed his mouth again.

“I do hope you are only talking about work-related matters,” Dawn said, behind me again.

I swiveled, hating having her behind me.

Dawn’s eyes were sharp, slicing into me like a knife. “Personal matters are not to be discussed during work hours.”

I swallowed thickly, my nerves prickling.

“We were discussing work-related matters,” Logan said, his voice cool and calm. “Miss Whitaker had questions about the new rules, and I was explaining them to her.”

Dawn hummed in acknowledgement, though she still looked suspicious. “Well, Hazel. If you have any further questions regarding the new policies, please bring them directly to me instead. Your CEO has more important things to do than worry about the romantic entanglements of his employees.”

“That will be all Dawn. Miss Whitaker. I have plenty of work to do,” Logan said, dismissing us both.

My heart sunk. I’d wanted to talk to him more about this, but that felt impossible now.

I returned to work, and received no more opportunities to speak openly with Logan for the rest of the day. He was always in a hurry, or with someone else.

It was foolish, perhaps, but I was beginning to feel rejected.

That night, I explained everything to Maria and our other friends. Maria, thankfully, understood, and even hugged me in thanks for trying to help her. Even though it backfired terribly.

With that resolved, the issue now was what to do with Logan.

“He has reason to ignore me,” I said. “But that doesn’t make me feel any better.” It didn’t help that he still hadn’t called me tonight, and it was already almost 9.

Whatever our relationship was, it seemed to be becoming more and more distant. More strained. At this rate, we wouldn’t even be friends soon.

“The solution is simple,” Rachel said, shrugging. We all looked at her. “Seduce him.”