Talking it over with Karen

Karen, ever the epitome of a charming hostess, invites you in. Her house is the definition of white picket, a small ranch with an old timesy feel to it. A variety of antiques litter the house, and you recall Karen mentioning that she are her husband loved to go antiquing hours away from the city.

Despite being fired this week, she still has that trademark pregnancy glow, and she bustles around getting her sitting room ready for guests. You try to protest her exerting so much energy to make the house look nice for you, but she overrides you, clearly concerned with making you feel at home.

"So... How are you and Ryan." Ryan was Karen's husband, a hefty man only slightly larger in stature than Karen. You had only met a few times, but your impression of him was that he was akin to a dark-haired Santa Claus.

"Oh. Wonderful. He's been so helpful during this pregnancy, whether it's ferrying me to the OB-GYN, getting Kali and Rex to and from daycare, or keeping the house in order. All that, and now he'll be the sole breadwinner in the house."

"Well, I'm extremely happy for you."

"You're too kind. What about you? How are you and Carrie?"

"Great actually. In fact, we just said 'I love you' to each other this week."

"Oh. That's wonderful. I'm so glad to hear that. You deserve someone good in your life."

"I really appreciate that, Karen."

After that, you spend the next half hour asking Karen your questions and working on understanding her work for the past month. You make steady progress, and before you know it, you're packing up your things to leave.

"Thanks again Karen. I appreciate you helping me out, even though you don't work at Simmons anymore."

"No problem, John. I'm glad that I could help you."

"By the way, do you know why Ted fired you? All he told us was that you were going on maternity leave, and the next day he mentioned that you quit."

"No clue. All he said to me was that his department was downsizing and he figured I might appreciate the favor of severance pay and being able to stay home with the rug rats."

"All right. I'm going to ask around and try to see what exactly happened."

"That would be lovely. Here, I'll give you my personal email so you can let me know if you find anything out."

Karen writes down her email address on a piece of paper, and next thing you know you're in your car, headed back to Simmons. As you drive, you try to parse out why Ted would lie about firing Karen. Was it because he fired too many employees already, and wanted to stay under the CEO Marissa's radar? Or was there some financial advantage for doing so? Either way, you resolve to contact one of accountants at Simmons first thing Monday morning. Despite your curiosity, you weren't going to email someone at 6:00 pm. on a Friday evening. You weren't that ****.

The parking lot is almost abandoned when you arrive back at your office. You park in your usual spot, and card your way in. You don't see anyone as you head to your cubicle. The only evidence of another person being here at the moment was that the light to the CEO Marissa Simmons office was on, indicating that your bosses boss was still hard at work late on a Friday.

You throw yourself back into your work, intent on giving Ted no reason to look at you, at least until you're (hopefully) fucking his wife. You spend the next hour getting great results, something that you can show Ted Monday morning so that you'll have ample opportunity to pry him for information about Karen.

"John. What are you doing here at this late of an hour?" Startled, you whirl around see the elegant Marissa Simmons at the entrance to your cubicle. A quizzical look dominates her face, she clearly has no earthly idea why you're still at the office at 7:00 p.m. on a Friday.

"Just finishing up getting familiar with Karen's workload. I should be out of here in a jiffy. What are you doing here so late though, Mrs. Simmons? Isn't one of the benefits of being the boss is that you don't have to work so late on a Friday?"

"Please, John. Call me Marissa. And when you own your own company you don't get that privilege."

"Makes sense. But surely your husband misses you, right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Marissa blushes as she realizes exactly what she revealed. "Ignore that. Anyways, you should head on home. You got a girlfriend waiting, right?"

"Actually, she's out of town this weekend."

"Well either way, you should go. I'll leave too, so you don't have to worry about working here alone."

"Alright, thanks Marissa." You quickly pack your things and save the documents on your computer. You realize that she's staying here to walk you out. While she's here, you think it might be a good idea to probe her about Karen's departure. "So, do you know why Karen left the company?"

"Nope. All I heard from Ted was that this is her third kid and she wants to transition into a full-time homemaker. We'll pay out the rest of her maternity leave and then part ways amicably."

You nod, that seems to check out with what you thought. Either Marissa is in on it and is covering for Ted, or Ted fired Karen behind his CEO's back for some unknown reason. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do now until you talk to one of the accountants on Monday. Soon, you finish your end of work routine, grab your brief case, and start heading to the exit. Marissa follows you, her high heels making a muffled clicking as she walks on the carpet.

"Bye Marissa. You should head home as well. I don't care what you think, there is no way any guy doesn't want to see a woman as beautiful as you." Before you can regret so blatantly flirting with your stunning boss, you turn away and leave the premises. Carrie has certainly influenced you in the past week. Flirting with your boss so unashamedly, you honestly can't believe yourself. Hopefully you didn't get fired or written up for sexual harassment for that comment.