I Thought My Coworker Was Flirting With Someone Else Until She Pulled Me Aside and Told Me the Truth
Chapter 1
I knew something was wrong the moment I saw Hannah laughing with Daniel Price at the company party.
Not the polite kind of laugh people use when a manager tells a bad joke.
A real laugh.
Head tilted back.
Eyes bright.
One hand resting lightly on his arm.
Daniel was our regional vice president, the kind of executive who never entered a room without three people trying to impress him.
Hannah usually hated men like him.
At least, that was what I’d thought.
She and I had worked together for two years at Mercer & Lane, a national logistics company that had recently started expanding into international shipping.
We sat three desks apart.
We ate lunch together when work wasn’t crazy.
She stole my coffee.
I stole her pens.
We knew each other’s coffee orders, weekend habits, and annoying little office routines.
And somewhere during those two years, I had developed feelings for her.
I had never said it.
Mostly because Hannah never gave me a reason to believe she felt the same.
Or maybe she had.
I just hadn’t been brave enough to notice.
She always remembered when I had a difficult meeting.
She once drove twenty minutes across town to bring me medicine when I was sick.
When my promotion was delayed, she was angrier than I was.
Sometimes we’d stay late, talking in the empty office long after everyone else had gone.
Nothing romantic ever happened.
But it felt like something was always about to.
Then I saw her with Daniel.
He leaned toward her.
She laughed again.
His hand touched her waist.
I looked away.
I told myself it meant nothing.
Then I saw her hand rest against his chest.
That hurt.
I left the party before anyone noticed.
The next morning, Hannah walked into my cubicle holding two coffees.
“Morning.”
I looked at the screen.
“Morning.”
She put one beside me.
“Your usual.”
“Thanks.”
She stared at me.
“You’re weird.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve got work.”
She frowned.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
She crossed her arms.
“You’re doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
“The thing where you pretend you’re fine and start typing aggressively.”
“I always type like this.”
“You type like you’re threatening the keyboard.”
I almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Daniel walked past.
He stopped.
“Hannah.”
She turned.
“Daniel.”
“You coming to the meeting?”
“In ten.”
He nodded and walked away.
I watched him go.
Hannah noticed.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You think something happened.”
“I don’t.”
“You do.”
I kept typing.
She leaned closer.
“Did you see me last night?”
I stopped.
“Yes.”
She went quiet.
For a second, I thought she’d laugh.
Instead, she looked around the office.
Then she whispered,
“Meet me in the stairwell at lunch.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want anyone hearing this.”
My heart started beating faster.
“What are you talking about?”
“Just trust me.”
Then she walked away.
At lunch, I went to the stairwell.
Hannah was already there.
She looked nervous.
More nervous than I’d ever seen her.
She closed the door behind me.
Then she said the words that changed everything.
“You thought I was flirting with Daniel.”
I didn’t answer.
She took a breath.
“I wasn’t.”
I stared.
“Then what was I seeing?”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“I was trying to find out who is stealing from the company.”
That wasn’t the part that shocked me.
The shocking part came next.
She stepped closer.
“And your name is already inside the evidence.”
