Spectrum

43

Grayson's POV

"Gray. We need to talk." Shane says, walking into the office.

"God, what now?" I groan.

"Groans considered, I'm only assuming that you already know what I'm about to approach you about." He replies.

"I really hope not." I sigh, closing the laptop shut. "What?" 

"It's about Natalia." He replies.

"That's what I was afraid of." I reply.

"What's going on with her and Genevieve? Genevieve just approached me saying that Natalia...threatened her?" He asks.

"Wait, what?" 

"She told me that Natalia just threatened her because of something concerning...you." He replies.

"Oh my God." I groan, running my hands over my face. "What did she say to her?" I ask.

"Something about trying to fight her." He replies. "Gray, you know this has to be dealt with." 

"You think that I'm not already aware of this?" I snap.

"Okay, chill out." He says, holding his hands up in surrender. "I've never seen you like this before. Tell me what's going on." 

"Natalia told me that she wasn't comfortable with me spending time with Gen. Well, things that weren't concerning work, that it. I guess she told Natalia that we had a meeting during lunch...and we didn't." I explain.

"I'm lost."

"She lied to Natalia so that we would have lunch alone." I reply. "I guess Nat wasn't so wrong about her liking me after all." I mutter in annoyance.

"Okay, well this has to be dealt with. There has to be some sort of punishment. Otherwise, this is going to be a bigger issue than we're ready for." 

"Can't I just get a new intern? I don't know, maybe someone who isn't a female that my girlfriend feels threatened by?" I ask.

"Absolutely not. We hired her on temporarily, and she needs to keep her status. Not only does it effect her college credits, but I don't want a lawsuit on our hands. So you have to keep her. Natalia is going to have to just learn how to deal with it." He says.

"I wish it were that easy." I mutter.

"Listen, be as mad as you want to be. I get it. But, I'm dealing with Natalia. She may be your girlfriend, but she's my intern. I'm not going to have any intern of mine threatening someone in this office. She's going to be written up for this whether you like it or not." 

"A write up? Really? Come on, Shane. This can be handled without a write up." I sigh.

"I'm not going to give her special treatment, Grayson. Sorry." He says before leaving my office.

I sigh and lay my head onto my desk. There's no way that Shane is going to go easy on Natalia over this entire situation. I know it. 

Another knock at my door appears and before I even have a chance to look up I yell, "Not now." 

"I'm sorry. I'll come back." I hear a small voice call. I can tell that its Genevieve before even seeing her.

"No, come in." I reply. This isn't her fault. It's my own fault, really. Plus, Natalia isn't exactly being a good sport about it.

"Is this a bad time?" She asks, taking a step into the office.

Yes, this is a bad time. However, I know this isn't something that I can just say.

"No, you're fine. I thought you were someone else. Come on in." I sigh.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I caused any issues for you. That was never my intention. I'm so sorry if Natalia got the wrong idea of what was happening. I never meant to cross any lines or step on any toes. I had no idea that Natalia was the girl that you were dating. I'm so, so sorry." She says in a rush.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. " I reply, stopping her from saying anything more.

"No, it's not." She replies in a panicked tone.

"Yes it is. I promise, all of this is going to get sorted out. I'm sorry if Natalia said anything to you that concerned you. I'm going to talk to her about it." I reply.

"Should I move somewhere else? Or like...am I going to be fired?" She asks.

"No. No one is getting fired. You're my intern and I'm going to take care of you, okay? Don't worry about any of this. It's fine." I reply honestly. 

"Are you sure? I'm sure I can find another way to work and get the college credit that I need. I just don't want to cause any problems for you or anyone here. I feel like I'm not having the best start." 

"No, you're fine. I promise. I'm going to get all of this taken care of. Listen, just take the rest of the day off, okay? I'll see you at work tomorrow and everything will be settled. I promise." I assure her.

"Okay. Only if you're positive." She answers with slight hesitation.

"I'm positive. Get going. I'll see you tomorrow." I reply, waving her away.

She gives me a tight smile and leaves the office. I watch her leave and feel the knot in my stomach grow larger with each step she takes. I know that every step she takes away from this office brings the confrontation with Natalia a little bit closer. I don't want to have to discuss this with Natalia. God, things have been good with her. Other than the ex boyfriend calling her all night and her begging me to ignore it, things have been good. Things with Natalia always feel good.

I just want one night to forget about all of this, and I know this is something that I'm not going to be getting.

"Let's go home early." I text to Natalia. I wait for her to read my message and feel my stomach drop when she does.

I hear her door close in the office next to mine and gather my things together. The absolute dread that I feel going into this situation is unsettling. Above all else, I just pray this all works out.