"Are you out of your fucccking mind?"
"What are you—"
"You had the guts to betray me!"
Chloe fully steps out of her apartment with narrowed eyes, the morning sun casting a youthful glow on her face, "What are you talking about, Sarah?"
My hand lands on her face in a heated slap before I could give it a second thought.
"How dare you?! How dare you jeopardize my career with information I trusted you with?! Do you realize what you just did?"
Her hand flies to cheeks. She holds it tight, while her frown further deepens in confusion, "What the hell are you talking about Sarah Darlington?"
I blink at her, surprised by her act.
She blinks back at me, looking more confused than ever. Either she is doing a great job at hiding her lies or she is simply telling the truth.
"I'm fucccking talking about the recorder, Chloe! The same fucccking one you sent to George!"
"What recorder?" she asks.
"Are you still pretending to not know what I'm talking about?"
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about!" she screams back at me.
I sigh in frustration. Maybe she needs another slap to reboot her brain. But before I can raise my hand the second time, she is already slamming the door on my face. I ended up hitting the door.
I continue hitting it till my palms start hurting. All which were up to no avail because no matter how hard I stamp on the door, Chloe wouldn't bulge to open the door. All I keep hearing is her next door neighbour asking me to keep my voice down or he will call the cops on us.
Dave's incoming call distracts me at some point. I pick up hoping he won't have anything to whine about today.
But of course he does.
"I want to see you at the office right now!" his voice barks into my ear.
"Sir?"
"You heard me! Right now Sarah! Or else you will be sanctioned properly!"
Too anxious to wait till I get to the office to have a clue of what's going on, I ask, "Is there a problem?"
"Of course there is a problem. You're the problem!"
The grunt in his voice tells me something is up. That he means every word. So I pause with the small betrayal score that I'm settling with Chloe to face the bigger issue at hand.
I decide to channel my anger toward the insane drivers roaming along with me through the busy New York road. While maneuvering through the thick traffic jam, I make sure to always blast my horns at the slight chance I get. As if honking hard will somehow wade off everything currently happening in my life.
I try as much as possible not to allow the tears to roll down my face, even though they are stinging in my eyes, threatening to spill.
On getting to the office, I expected to see everyone except George. The corky smirk he flashes at me gives me a clue of what I'm about to witness.
I stare back at him, dazed.
I know George can be petty when he is angry about something. But does his pettiness have to reach the point of sabotaging my career? A career he had seen me cry and sweat over. A career he knows means so much to me.
"Did you…" I trail off, not knowing how exactly to deal with this current betrayal.
Too shocked, I keep it going, clasping my fingers tight to avoid doing what I will regret later on.
"Are you out of your fucccking mind, Sarah? Do you know the gravity of what you have done?" Dave asks immediately I step into his office.
My eyes meet the floor, "I'm so sorry sir."
"And what's your sorry going to do, huh? Fix the damn code of conduct you just broke?"
"I didn't mean to…"
"I didn't mean to." Dave mimics me, "But you did after all."
George chuckles.
Dave spins to him, as if noticing his presence for the very first time. "What are you doing here?"
"I… uhmm, I came to witness—"
"Get the fuccck out!"
George blinks back in confusion. Then he looks from Dave to me, trying to gauge how serious the command is.
"But—"
"I said get the fuccck out! Now!"
George's shoulders slack as he heads towards the door. He casts me an 'I'm sorry' look before exiting the office.
Dave faces me again. When I try stealing a glance at him, I see his eyes blazing with fury.
"I'm so sorry, sir."
"Your apologies mean nothing. Especially when this case is still active."
I walk towards him, making sure the sincerity in my voice is clear when I say, "And I am doing everything in my power to get the confession from him and close the case."
"How?" he asks, "By blabbing to your friends about it? Is that how you're trained to solve a case?"
"It was a mistake, sir."
His face tightens with a growl, "That mistake is going to cost you Sarah. Hard."
The silence that descends in the room is too thick, it can be sliced through with a knife.
I stand there, my gaze flickering to the view staring back at me from the floor to ceiling window as I wonder what kind of punishment I will be assigned to. Will I be suspended from the case entirely? Will they take away my promotion?
"You have to meet me halfway." Dave says moments later.
"Excuse me?"
"You know what I mean, Sarah."
I give him a blank look. I have no idea what he is talking about.
"It's either that or I report you to the team. That means you'll be facing jail time."
"What!?"
"You broke the fucccking rules Sarah, what do you expect? That you'll walk scot free without facing the consequences of your actions?"
He continues, looking pointedly in my eyes, "Your job or jail. Choose one Sarah."