Chapter 18: Commotion in the Office
Cassandra’s POV
The next morning, I was halfway through a double shot of espresso. I’d been out too late last night and now I was tired. But I HAD to make some headway on this difficult dress of Ellie’s.
So I did my best to stay focused. But suddenly, I heard a commotion outside my office.
“Ma’am? You can’t go in there…”
“I DEMAND to see the CEO,” a shrill woman’s voice reverberated down the hallway. There was clearly something happening at the front desk. So I left my office to go and see what the problem was.
As soon as I stepped out of my office, though, I noticed that a lot of employees were standing out in the hall. They stared at me as I passed by. I didn’t understand why until I got to the front desk.
Velma.
She was cursing at the receptionist, her face contorted in anger. The receptionist was keeping her cool, though. She wasn’t letting Velma rattle her.
I couldn’t say the same for other people in the office though. They cowered in the hall. Velma was an intimidating person when she wanted to be.
I was surprised to see her in my office, but I shouldn’t have been. Obviously, Ellie had told Velma that I worked here, at Hot House Flower, as an assistant. Velma was clearly out to get me, so she’d just marched right on over to our front desk.
She was demanding to meet with our CEO.
“As I’ve already told you, ma’am, you cannot see the CEO without an appointment.” Our receptionist was doing her best to keep Velma at bay.
But Velma was relentless.
“That’s ridiculous,” she snapped. “I have it on good authority that one of your employees is an immoral, cheating, despicable woman. I’ve come here to inform the CEO of this. She needs to be fired immediately!”
People were peeking out of the offices and side-eying Velma. They didn’t really know what to make of her. She was dressed very well, so that gave her some credibility. But it was abnormal to show up at an office and demand that someone be fired.
She was creating quite the scene.
“I’m sorry, ma’am but…” the receptionist said.
“Her name is Cassandra and she was, is, married to my son. She spent the entire marriage CHEATING on him though. We only recently found out. She has no moral compass. She’s disgusting, really. Do you hear me? Do you think it’s appropriate to have someone like THAT working at this company?”
“I surely don’t know what you mean,” the receptionist balked.
“Then perhaps THIS will clear things up for you.” Velma whipped out her phone. “I have her right here, caught in the act. It’s… it’s positively scandalous!”
She held the high up for everyone to see, including me. The way she made it sound, there was going to be a picture of me, naked, riding some man in bed.
Of course everyone wanted to see the ‘scandalous’ picture.
But people chuckled when they saw it.
1/3
It was a picture of Dillon and I, leaving a bar, arms linked. We were both laughing. The picture must have been taken last night.
It was a far cry from anything ‘scandalous’.
“I fail to see how that proves anything,” the receptionist said, a smirk on her face. It was true. It was just a picture of two people leaving a bar. Velma’s ‘proof’ was anything but and we all saw it.
“That’s me and my friend,” I said, coming forward.
“That’s her!” Velma said, pointing at me. “That’s the woman you need to fire.”
“Velma,” I said calmly. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to convince your boss to fire you. You’re a cheating whore, Cassandra. You made my son look like a fool!”
“That’s not true,” I replied. “I wasn’t the one cheating. He was. Now put your phone away and leave the premises. I won’t have you slander my name anymore. If you continue, I’ll sue you for defamation of character.”
“You’ll sue me?” she scoffed. “You’re the one who committed adultery. How dare you…
But I held up my hand to stop her. “Enough,” I said firmly. “This is a place of business. I won’t engage in any more of your poor behavior. Leave now or I’ll call security. They’d be more than happy to show you to the door.”
“I’m not leaving,” she said. “And you can’t make me.”
“Call security,” I said to the receptionist. “Velma, there are cameras everywhere here. They’re recording everything. I suggest you think very carefully before you incriminate yourself any further.”
The receptionist whispered into the phone. “Yes, um, we have a situation here in the Hot House Flower office. Can you send someone up immediately?” She hung up the phone. “They’re on their way,” she said, smiling smugly.
“Where’s your boss?” Velma berated the receptionist. “I’ll have you fired too for your complete ineptitude.”
I sighed. There was no point in trying to reason with her any further. She was far too agitated and it wasn’t going anywhere.
Moments later, the elevator doors opened and two burly security guards stepped out.
“Kindly escort this woman out,” I said, pointing at Velma. “She’s disturbing our place of business and casting idle threats.”
The men nodded. They approached her. But Velma backed herself into the wall.
“Don’t you dare lay a finger on me! This is Versace! I don’t want your grubby hands staining my designer dress!” Velma balked.
But just as they were about to apprehend her, the elevator doors opened again.
And out stepped Jordyn.
“Mother?”
“Jordyn?”
They were both clearly shocked to see one another.
“What’s going on here?” Jordyn asked. “Why are you here?”
“She was just on her way out,” I said. “By way of these two men.”
Jordyn looked from the security guards to me to his mother. The security guards grabbed Velma by the elbows. She tried to shrug them off.
“I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding,” Jordyn said. “There’s no need for brute force. Release her,” he instructed.
2/3
The security guards, unsure of what to do, looked at me. I nodded and they let her go. Now that Jordyn was here, he could deal
with his mother.
“You arrived just in time,” Velma said to Jordyn as she brushed herself off. She scowled at the guards. “I’m here to speak to the CEO. Cassandra has been unfaithful to you and I feel it’s prudent that the boss here know what type of person she REALLY is.”
“Unfaithful? I don’t think so, Mother,” Jordyn started.
But she cut him off.
“I know, sweetheart. I’m just as shocked as you are. But it’s true. I have proof.”
She lifted up her phone and showed him the same picture, the one of me and Dillon leaving the bar together.
He studied the picture. Then he narrowed his eyes, and with a frown on his face, he turned around to face me.
