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friend. We worked out at the gym together for months. I went hiking with
him and his wife. I trusted him.
    Kimme
crossed her arms stubbornly across her chest. “Well, technically, I think you
were at work. You were out of town, holed up in a hotel with the guy for the
leadership training. You were working out in the hotel weight room. You
wouldn’t have even been there if it hadn’t been for work.”
    I
shook my head. “I don’t think it works like that, Kimme. I think management
would say it happened outside of work. Look, Justin insists I’m reading too
much into this. He claims he was only rough housing and trying to tickle me. He
said he thinks of me as his little sister. He claims he isn’t the least bit
attracted to me, and he assured me that he’s happily married. I don’t think
it’s going to happen again. I just need to move past this so I can work with
him again.”
    Kimme
rolled her eyes. “That’s sick. I’d hate to be his little sister if that’s the
way he treats her. I still think you should tell Charlie. I overheard Betty and
a few other people in the office talking about how rude you’re being to Justin.
They have no clue why. You could end up being the one who gets in trouble.
Besides, what if he does it to someone else?”
    Before
I could answer her question, my computer beeped, signaling a message in my
inbox. I glanced briefly at the screen to make sure it wasn’t something
important. “Oh, great… a message from Michael.”
    Kimme
chuckled as she ripped open another piece of chocolate. “I think you have a
loser magnet embedded in your forehead, Krissy. You really need to get that
thing removed.”
    “So,
what does Michael have to say?” Charlie inquired from the doorway.
    Oh
crap. It was my turn to reach for the chocolate. I
grabbed two pieces. The moment definitely called for two pieces. “Good afternoon
to you too, Charlie.” I gave him my best smile. Then I shoved an entire square
of chocolate into my mouth so I wouldn’t be expected to speak.
    Charlie
didn’t smile back. “Not going to work. Open it.”
    My
cheeks flushed red. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was read some
pining e-mail from Michael to my boss. Groaning, with the chocolate still in my
mouth, I opened the message and read it aloud. “ Je
ne peux pas respirer
sans toi . Tu es mon air, ma vie , mon amour . Tu
es à moi . Tu m’appartiens. ”  
    Kimme
was practically plastered against my computer screen. “What the heck does that
mean?”
    I
shrugged. “I don’t know. My French is pathetic.” I was secretly relieved. If I
didn’t know what the message said, then I didn’t have to decipher it for Charlie,
who was now towering over the top of my chair, peering around Kimme at the
computer screen. Not like this was my office or anything.
    Kimme
shoved my hands away from the keyboard and began typing. “Google Translate…
that will tell us!” She was practically sitting on my lap as she took over my
computer.
    I
was seriously reconsidering our friendship.
    Kimme
read the translated text. “I cannot breathe without you. You are my air, my
life, my love. You are mine. You belong to me.” Kimme sighed. As she shot out
of my lap, she smacked her head against Charlie’s chin.
    Charlie
stepped back. An inch.
    Kimme
rubbed the side of her head as she settled against the wall. “Well, that’s kinda
romantic actually… in a slightly crazed Neanderthal kind of way.”
    Charlie
didn’t think it was romantic. “He’s violating the restraining order.”
    I
wasn’t sure what to think. All this drama was making my head hurt, and everyone
was crowding me. “All righty then. I’m not going to respond. I’m just
going to sit here and pretend I never read this.”
    “But…”
Kimme objected
    I
lifted my hand, effectively throwing a stop sign at her. “No ‘buts.’ I’m not
responding. I’m going to behave like a responsible employee and get back to
work. So… get out. Both of you. Now!” I