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    Regina had decided that she would wait for the appropriate opening to have it out with Bradley and she was not long at a loss for inspiration. Within minutes of arriving in the office on Monday morning, she ran into him—almost literally—and he muttered a comment about how she should watch where she was going.
    Later, at the weekly status meeting, Bradley argued with her over whether or not her team would be able to finish a particular project on time. “I’m not sure what you think you have to prove,” he said to her, “But if you don’t finish the project it’ll get shifted onto one of us—and I can tell you that with the Alistair-Pole-Richards assignment, my team is just about full up.”
    Regina knew that the time for the confrontation she needed to have with Bradley was not during the team meeting. “I don’t have anything to prove,” she said as calmly as she could. “I just know that my team is nearing completion, and barring any new objectives in the assignment, they’ll be able to finish it in advance.” She set her jaw, staring at Bradley until he shrugged, subsiding.
    Their responsibilities didn’t bring them together and alone until Wednesday, when Regina and Bradley had to stay late to work on their first report for the representatives from Alistair-Pole-Richards. She had put together the questionnaires that would be used in the market research phase for three of the products—the most urgent—as well as the first demos for design and site development. Regina was printing the reports to review with Bradley when he called her office.
    “I’ve got the conference room,” he told her brusquely when she picked up. “Let’s make this quick. Get down here.”
    Regina opened her mouth to protest the demanding tone, but she heard the click and dial tone signaling that he had hung up. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves and conquer her frustration, Regina collected her paperwork and left her office.
    Walking through the open floor, Regina was struck by how eerie it was without people milling around; it was thirty minutes after the work day had officially ended, and Regina couldn’t quite suppress a shiver at the way the lights seemed to flicker slightly overhead, her muffled steps echoing along cubicle walls as she walked. She knew that the building’s janitorial staff was probably somewhere—though she didn’t know where. She had stayed late once or twice before in her first weeks, but she had stayed in her own office, playing music and focusing so completely on her work that she hadn’t really taken in the slightly creepy quality of the deserted office even when she had left for the night.
    Regina didn’t bother knocking on the door to the conference room; instead she opened it and stepped in, closing it behind her. Even if the office was chillingly silent, she didn’t want to be interrupted on the off-chance that the janitorial staff came in and started making noise. Bradley was seated at the far end of the table, arms crossed over his chest, a look of hauteur on his features. Regina’s instinct to fear men who were bigger than she was overcome by her resentment of the way that Bradley had addressed her. “Look,” she said, setting down her notebooks and binders of material. “You and I need to have a talk.”
    Bradley raised an eyebrow and Regina swallowed against the adrenaline surge she felt, the lump that was forming in her throat. “I don’t know why it is that you have apparently decided to pick on me, but I’m not the kind of person who will tolerate it. Either you need to learn how to deal with me, or you need to go to Talitha and tell her you’re too much of an asshole to work with me.”
    Bradley snorted. “What are you going to do if I don’t?” he asked her, smiling slightly.
    Regina scowled. “I’m going to keep working, and if you keep trying to push me aside, then I will take it upon myself to go to Talitha.”
    Bradley shrugged. “She won’t