The Assistant: A gripping psychological thriller with a nerve-shredding ending by Cathryn Grant

Author:Cathryn Grant [Grant, Cathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkubator Books
Published: 2020-09-26T16:00:00+00:00

15

Vanessa

NOT A SINGLE person had stopped by Vanessa’s cube all morning. An unusual situation, but she wasn’t going to complain. Hank was at a sales meeting in San Francisco. His empty office was dark one minute, flooded with light the next, as clouds,—still gray with rain—moved across the sky.

The heavy silence was broken by the sound of footsteps moving toward the end of the hallway. She looked up. Laura stood in front of the counter. “I’m all better.”

Vanessa nodded.

“My headache. It’s gone.”

“Thanks for letting me know.” Vanessa studied the expense reporting tool displayed on her screen. She clicked on the button to enter a line for a new receipt.

She was afraid to let her eyes meet Laura’s. The vague smirk that Vanessa had seen on Laura’s face when she’d stood near the entrance to the deli floated ghost-like across the computer screen. Laura wore that expression a lot—her lips partially curved, her eyes unblinking, not afraid to stare directly into the eyes of others, waiting for them to look away first.

There’d been nothing to indicate whether or not Laura had seen Vanessa slip the chocolate bar into her purse, but something told Vanessa she had.

Vanessa glanced up. Laura’s hair, normally silky, wafted out from the sides of her face, each strand alive with static that made it want to stand up on its own. “What happened to your hair?”

Laura shook her head. Rather than falling back from her face, her hair flew up even more. “I forgot to put in conditioner.”

“How’d you forget?”

Laura leaned on the counter. “There’s a lot going on. Where’s Hank?”

“At an all-day meeting.”

“For what?”

“Sales review.”

Laura nodded. Crazed strands of hair danced alongside each other. She didn’t seem to be aware of the unruly cloud surrounding her scalp.

“I expect I’ll have my other interviews soon,” she said.

“I don’t know the status,” Vanessa said.

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

Vanessa wheeled her chair closer to the desk. She cupped her hand over the mouse and moved it gently to the side. The disk at the side of her mail icon told her seven new emails had arrived. If she started reading them, Laura would walk away. Or not.

“Remind me who else is interviewing me,” Laura said.

“I need to double-check with Hank before I work on that.”

“Why do you stonewall me like this? I understand you’re careful to do what Hank wants, but you and I are friends. Women should stick together.”

“I don’t think we’re friends.”

“Work friends.”

“Not really.”

“Well, we should be. Women need to have each other’s backs.” Laura’s eyes were glassy. The tip of her nose was a bright red bloom. There was an aura of panic coming off her. If she didn’t calm down, if she allowed Hank to see how desperate she was becoming, she’d sabotage her chances without any assistance from Vanessa.

The stolen candy bar niggled at the back of her mind. Was that what Laura was referring to? Some kind of implied blackmail, before she put forth her own demand?

Laura leaned her forearms on the counter.

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