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“Matt?” she said hesitantly as she knocked on the door casing

“What’s up?” I said as I looked up from my computer

She stepped just inside the door and said, “I just wanted to let you know that Mac has taken a few sick daysjust thought I’d let you know so you could redistribute anything youon ”

I with her?”

Karen shrugged her shoulders “I’m not sure ”

“You’re not sure?” I asked in disbelief

“No She just said she wasn’t feeling well and probably wouldn’t be in until next Monday ”

She stood there and waited for

“Is there anything else?” I asked, my eyebrows raised

“Well… perhaps you should call her to see what’s wrong?” she said encouragingly

I blinked at her, trying to co That made me sit back in my chair, because never, in the ten years Karen has been working for me, has she known me to personally call an eest I do so now s for Mac, and apparently was sanctioning said feelings I kind of figured as much when she never questioned the fact I flew to Nashville

I also found it ironic that my head of human resources, the person that is tasked to ht and narrow to abide by all labor laws and ensure we don’t co an affair I’ with an employee

I’ she was due for a raise, but I didn’t let her know that I just said, “I’m sure she’s fine,” then went over some other issues in the firm we needed to talk about

About ot an e a settle way back in my chair, feet kicked up on my desk, when I heard the chi e When I saw From: McKayla Dawson, I pushed forward in my chair so fast I almost catapulted myself across the desk I hit theshe was apologizing and begging me to come over and fk her

Instead, it was a brief email on the Jackson case She had apparently e was short and impersonal

Attached are the changes you requested

Guilt crashed over ood It was true what she said… es had to do with semantics and while it was also true what I said, that a poorly chosen word could cause al ramifications, she had not done that here

Pushing the guilt aside, I fired back a quick email

Are you okay? Miss Anders said you were taking a few sick days

She never responded and after staring atfor another eave up and went back to work

That evening, I cracked open a new bottle of twelve-year-old Macallan I was again struck with the urge to call Mac, because fk… I s of rehtly to ain that I didn’t want to get involved with this shit That I had made a pact with h with relationships