3: 3
When I named the price, five thousand, all three faces changed.
Lucia's mouth twitched. Rita's eyes went wide.
Terence thought he'd misheard.
It came out to about a month's salary for them.
It wasn't that they couldn't pay.
They just didn't want to.
Anyone willing to pay would never have mooched rides off me for a whole year.
I hadn't raised my voice, but the office was too quiet.
Every word came through, clean and clear.
People from the other teams started leaning in to listen.
Someone murmured to the person beside them.
"What's going on with Team Three?"
"Don't tell me they're having some kind of blowup."
"Who knows. Let's go over and hear it."
Lucia was starting to panic.
The last thing she wanted was for this to get around.
Because what I'd said was true.
They had mooched my rides, and they'd done it for a year.
If this spread, they'd be the ones who looked bad.
She kept shooting me looks, and the meaning was clear enough.
Keep it down. Stop making noise.
I acted like I didn't notice.
I just kept asking, at the same normal volume.
"Did I get the math wrong, Lucia? Five thousand is already cheap."
"And that's only because we're on the same team."
"For anyone else, it'd be seven or eight thousand, at least."
Lucia's face went scarlet.
She ground it out through her teeth.
"Are you out of your mind?"
Then she turned to walk off.
Rita and Terence turned too, ready to bury themselves back in their work.
Not one of the three showed any sign of paying.
That was when the Team Two leader wandered over.
"Hey, what's the deal with you three over here?"
"Everything was fine. What's this infighting about?"
Lucia stopped. She let out a sigh.
Put on a look of pure helplessness.
"It's nothing serious."
"It's just that Miranda takes everything so seriously."
"She's about to get transferred out, and she still insists on settling scores with us."
The Team Two leader tried to smooth it over.
"Come on, you're all on the same team. Is it really worth it?"
"Coworkers are like teammates. A little give-and-take and it blows over."
But Rita wasn't having it. She jabbed a finger right at my face.
"Give-and-take, how?"
"Go ahead, ask her what she's done!"
"Teammate, my foot. She came here to make our lives miserable!"
"I can't even look at her anymore!"
Her voice was shrill.
The whole office heard it.
Not just Team Two. Team One crowded over too.
"She's got herself a company Volkswagen CC."
"Nobody said a word, so she drove it every single day."
"If that's not using a company car for personal errands, what is it?"
The more she talked, the more worked up she got.
"We gave her a friendly heads-up, out of good faith."
"And what does she do? Turns around and demands money from us!"
The coworkers from the other two teams traded glances.
Their expressions had gone a little strange.
The Team Two leader especially, staring at Rita, completely baffled.
Then he looked at Lucia.
"You've got that wrong, surely!"
"Our company only has two business sedans. I've never heard anything about a Volkswagen CC."
4: 4
Those two lines from the Team Two leader stopped Lucia cold.
Then she forced out a smile that was uglier than crying.
"Murray, you've got it wrong, haven't you?"
"We bought it last year. That was a whole year ago."
"How could there only be two business sedans?"
Murray shook his head, his tone flat and certain.
"I've been here six years."
"I've seen every purchase order admin's ever put through. Two Buick business sedans. That's it."
"One for the boss, one for client visits."
"Where's this Volkswagen CC supposed to have come from?"
The words had barely landed when someone from Team One jumped in.
"Right, I've never seen it either."
"When did the company ever buy a CC?"
Lucia's face changed.
Rita and Terence were starting to look rattled too.
I chose that moment to speak, unhurried.
"Honestly, I've been wondering about this myself."
"Last year I gave them rides out of goodwill, since we were headed the same way."
"And they decided the car had to belong to the company."
"Then demanded I ferry them around every single day, rain or shine."
"So let me ask..."
I looked at Lucia. "What exactly made you all so sure the car was company property?"
Her lips moved, but not a word came out.
I pressed on. "In the whole past year, did I ever ask you for gas money?"
"Did I ever make you chip in for maintenance?"
"Waited at eight sharp every morning, dropped you off at six every night."
"You can't even tell which cars actually belong to the company."
"And then you turn around and report me for using a company car for personal errands?"
The three of them went red all the way to the ears.
The coworkers watching started murmuring to each other.
"Seriously? Mooched rides for a year and then reported her?"
"That's beyond shameless."
"And a minute ago she had the nerve to say the woman was tormenting them."
Lucia's head snapped up, and she dropped her voice low.
"So what if the car's yours? Big deal."
"It's just some junky CC. You act like it's something nobody else could afford."
That actually made me laugh.
"You're right, it's nothing special."
"It's the cheapest thing in my garage, which is exactly why I use it for the commute."
"Anything pricier, I'd have thought it was a waste."
The three of them weren't stupid.
They caught what I was saying.
Lucia thought I was bluffing and couldn't help scoffing.
"Fine. The car's yours, we'll grant you that."
"But so what?"
"You do come in late and leave early, don't you?"
"You can't wash that off."
I gave a noncommittal nod. "True. On the sixth of last month I did come in late."
"But..."
She cut me off.
"Save your excuses. Nothing you say now will change anything. The outcome's set."
"You're leaving whether you like it or not."
The words had barely left her mouth.
The office door down the hall opened.
The director walked out, face like iron, and swept a glance over me.
Then his eyes settled on Lucia.
"Lucia Chavez."
Lucia jolted and hurried to answer.
The director went on. "The Third Store is short a salesperson."
"Pack up your things and go report there early."
