Lauren: A Serious Mistake

I'm so relieved that Alex isn't upset about me quitting (or about not telling him right away, or about the text from Logan...) that I'm not even nervous about the idea of calling HR.  I really don't even think about it the rest of the weekend.

By the end of the weekend, I've practically moved in to Alex's house.  He's figured out how to manage most things with one arm by this point, and he can use the hand of his injured arm for quick, simple things like buttoning his jeans, but there are lots of things around the house he can't really do.  Of course it's all the most fun things like cooking and washing dishes.  But, unfortunately, those things are necessary so I'm helping him because despite popular opinion, I'm actually a nice person.

"You should quit your job and move in and just cook and clean for me all the time," Alex tells me on Sunday night.  I glare at him and he smirks and continues, "Oh wait, you already quit your job.  Perfect.  I can't pay you, and I can't even have sex with you, but know that I appreciate all your hard work."

"I swear I will kill you," I growl, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I don't think you will," he replies, shifting on the couch and putting his feet up.

I raise an eyebrow.  "Let's see how cocky you are when you have nothing to eat and your dishes don't get done."

He shrugs his right shoulder and says, "I only need one hand to order pizza and open the door."

"You've gotten awfully entitled with your injuries," I say, rolling my eyes.

He smirks.  "I know, I'm lucky you love me."

"You sure are," I mutter, snatching his empty water glass and striding into the kitchen to refill it.  When I come back, I hand it to him and then move his feet to sit next to him.

"Come here," he says, motioning for me to get closer.  I curl up next to him and tuck myself under his arm.  "I love you," he tells me, kissing the top of my head.  "Thank you for staying here and helping me.  You're way less annoying than my mom."

I burst into laughter.  "Really?  That's the compliment you have for me?  That I'm 'less annoying' than your mom?"

"Actually, I said 'way less annoying'," he points out.

"Mmhmm," I reply.  "And you're way less ugly than that stupid looking bird we saw the other week."

He laughs, knowing exactly which bird I'm talking about.  "I deserve that.  But a bird?  Really?"

"Shut up," I say, grinning.  "It was the best I could come up with on the fly."

"Seriously, though, thank you.  I know you're probably about ready to run me over with your car, but I really appreciate your help.  I hate needing it, but I appreciate having it."

"Don't be weird," I tell him, shaking my head.  "But you're welcome."

We cuddle on the couch and watch a movie before we head up to bed.  By this point, I'm itching for some alone time, so I decide to take a quick shower before I get in bed.  I stand under the hot water and sigh.  I know Alex needs me here and I'm happy to help him but it's really interfering with my need to be by myself sometimes.  This is why I'm not ready to move in.  I feel really shitty the second that thought pops into my head, but I can't help it.  I don't really understand how I can be so ready to spend the rest of my life with him, but not even close to ready to even move in with him.

I shake my head and turn off the water, drying off quickly.  When I come into the bedroom, Alex says, "You know, if you need some space at all while you're here, you're more than welcome to use the guest room."

My head snaps up and I look at him, wondering how he knew.  "What?"

"You know, if you need to sleep alone for a night, or want a quiet place to work while you're job searching," he replies.  "I know your alone time is important."

I narrow my eyes briefly, irritated for a second at his ability to read my mind.  Then I realize that he's basically just told me he's okay with my alone time and even me sleeping in another room, and I'm so grateful for the way he understands me.  "Thank you," I say, pulling on one of his t-shirts, which I've taken to sleeping in.  "I'm good for now, but I'll keep it in mind."

I grin and go back into the bathroom to hang up my towel and brush my teeth. When I come back, I climb into bed with Alex and snuggle up next to him.  "I love you," I say impulsively.

"I love you too, Laur," he replies, wrapping his good arm around me.

I reach over and turn off the light, grateful once again for how Alex understands me.


I don't even get a chance to call HR on Monday before I see my former job's number pop up on my phone.  I don't answer, because I'm worried it's Sean.  I don't want to talk to him.  My fingers shake a little as I dial my voicemail to listen to the message, and I shake my head at myself.  I'm being ridiculous.  It wasn't Sean, but Jamie from HR.  Her message says that she has some questions for me and asks me to call back.

I dial the direct number she left me.  She picks up after two rings.  "Hi, Lauren," she says after I tell her who I am.  "Thanks for calling back.  Was your new job description not what you were expecting?"

"Not what I was..." I start, confused.  "Well, no, I wasn't expecting a new job description at all, much less one that amounted to a serious demotion."

"I'm sorry?" Jamie sounds even more confused than I am.

"You guys wrote the new job description, did you not?" I ask, frustrated.  "Were you aware when you wrote it that I was hired as an engineer?"

"I think maybe there's been a misunderstanding," Jamie says slowly.  "I was under the impression that we wrote up the new job description at your request."

"At my request?" I parrot, not sure if I should be angry or really confused.

"Yes, we were told you had requested a change of job duties because your current work was getting too stressful."

"Wouldn't a request to change my entire job need to come from me?"

"It did."  Now Jamie sounds irritated.  "Sean forwarded us an email from you."

"An email?  I didn't send an email requesting a change in my job duties," I state.  "There has been a serious mistake."

"No, I have it right here," she insists.  "Let's see, it's from November 24th.  It says--"

"November 24th?" I practically shriek, realizing what's happening.  "That's the week of Thanksgiving?  I wasn't even in this state on November 24th, much less at work to send an email to my asshole boss."

Jamie is silent for several seconds, and I'm glad I already quit, otherwise I'd probably be fired at this point.  "But I have an email..." she says softly.

"I'm sure you do," I retort, "but I didn't send it.  I am telling you right now that I never requested a change in my job description or duties.  I quit because Sean took away my job and tried to turn me into his assistant."

"I'm going to have to do some looking into this," she says brusquely, finally pulling herself together.  "Can we call you back?"

"Whatever," I snap, irritated at this whole thing.  "I mean, yes.  Sure."

Jamie thanks me and we hang up, and I storm out of the guest room, which I'm using as an office of sorts at the moment.  "Do you want to know what that motherfucker did?" I screeched, pounding down the stairs and into the living room, where Alex is in his usual spot on the couch.

"What motherfucker?" he asks, looking at me with concern.

"Sean!  That asshole somehow wrote an email from me and forwarded it to HR, saying that my job was too 'stressful' and I wanted new job duties.  He told them that I wanted it!  And they bought it!  He sent it while we were in Georgia!"  I'm pacing back and forth and my voice is rising dangerously close to a yell.

"Wait, seriously?" Alex asks, looking shocked.  "He can't do that."

"You fucking think?" I cringe as soon as the words are out and say, "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean...I'm just really riled up."

"I see that," he replies.  "And I don't blame you.  I'm pretty pissed off about it myself.  So now what?"

"I don't know.  The HR person I talked to was awfully confused, said she was going to 'do some looking into it'," I inform him, rolling my eyes.

I'm too angry to sit down and comb through worthless job listings again, so I busy myself aggressively cleaning Alex's kitchen.  I'm on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor when I hear Alex walk in.  "I think it's clean now babe," he says gently.  "Though I have to admit I appreciate the view."

I sit back onto my feet and sigh.  "I'm just pissed that I probably did exactly what he wanted me to do," I say, tossing the rag I was using on the already clean floor back into the bucket.  "God, I hate cleaning."

I look back over my shoulder at Alex, who's giving me a sympathetic half smile.  "Come on, get up.  If you're going to be on your knees, I can think of something much more fun and productive for you to be doing."

His lewd joke has the intended effect and I laugh and get to my feet.  I walk over to him and let him wrap his arm around me.  "I just can't believe I fell right into his trap."

"Lauren, what he did was illegal.  You did what any reasonable--"  We both freeze when my phone rings.

It's my former job's number again, but this time I answer.  "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Lauren?"  It's not Jamie.  It's someone else.  I can't place the voice.

"Yes, it is," I reply shortly.

"Lauren, my name is Sandra, and I'm the head of HR.  It seems that there's been a serious mistake."

"That's what I said."

"Right. So, I apologize on behalf of the company.  Your job--your original job--is available to you whenever you'd like to start it again."

"I'm sorry?" I ask, baffled.  "Do you seriously think I want to come back there after this?  And anyway, I have questions.  How did he do it?  Was he on my computer?  I thought things looked out of place on my desk when I got back."

Sandra pauses, and I wonder if this is going at all how she expected.  "I can assure you that those involved are being dealt with and that this won't happen again," she tells me calmly.  "Now, if you'd like your job back, I'm prepared to offer you a 3% raise with it, along with all your old duties, including field work."

"A 3 percent raise?  For being forced to resign over a fraudulent email?"

"I think that's a little extreme--" Sandra starts.

"I don't," I interrupt.  Alex puts a hand on my arm but I shake it off.  "I don't want my job back.  I will never work for this company again.  In fact, I'm considering suing."

That shuts Sandra up really fast.