After hanging up, I sat with the implications. Sarah had worked fast. Or maybe someone else had reported it. Either way, Rachel and Marcus affair was now an official workplace matter. I should have felt satisfaction.
Instead, I felt tired. My phone buzzed again. This time, Rachel, HR, called me in for a meeting. What did you do? I stared at the message for a long moment before responding.
I didn't do anything. I answered someone's question honestly. What happens next is a consequence of your choices, not my honesty. You're trying to get me fired. I'm trying to get divorced.
If your affair violates company policy, that's between you and Cascade Tech. You're vindictive and cruel, and I can't believe I ever loved you. I read that last message three times. Felt each word like a small knife. Then I typed, "I loved you too. " Past tense.
And the cruelty isn't in telling the truth. It's in making the truth necessary. I blocked her number after that. Let her communicate through lawyers from now on. I was done being her emotional punching bag.
Done accepting abuse from someone who'd violated every promise she had made to me. The afternoon brought more calls. Friends of friends, Rachel's co-workers asking for clarification, my boss checking in to make sure I was okay. A steady stream of people wanting to know what happened, wanting to express sympathy, wanting to be part of the drama. I answered them all with the same calm recitation of facts, no embellishment, no editorial, just the documented truth over and over until it stopped sounding like my life and started sounding like a police report.
By evening, I was done. Emotionally depleted, I turned off my phone, made myself dinner I didn't eat and sat in front of the TV without turning it on. David showed up at 7:00 with beer and pizza in the gift of not asking how I was doing. "Your mom called me," he said, settling onto my couch like he'd done a thousand times before. "Said you might need company. " "I'm fine. " "You're not fine, but you will be eventually. " He handed me a beer.
"Eat something. You look like I took a bite of pizza, tasted cardboard. " Rachel's HR called. They want to meet with me. You going Wednesday? You know they could fire both of them, right?
Workplace relationships are complicated legally, but if they were using company time or resources, I know. And you're okay with that. Rachel losing her job. I thought about it. Really thought about it.
I don't want her to suffer. I don't want her life to be ruined. But I also can't protect her from the consequences of her choices anymore. If telling the truth means she faces professional repercussions, that's that's just what happens. David nodded slowly.