The Human Calculator Chapter 2

Jessica had a flawless face full of expensive makeup. Her big doe eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and her voice was so sickly sweet it could cause a cavity.

She looked like the absolute textbook definition of a supportive, empathetic work bestie.

This was exactly the mask that had fooled my sister into sharing all her deepest insecurities with her.

I glanced at her manicured hand on my arm and let out a short laugh.

"Of course you don't want to ruin the dynamic."

"After all, your dynamic with Manager Marcus is so lovely it practically melted the hotel bedsheets, didn't it?"

You could hear a pin drop in that conference room.

Every single pair of eyes aggressively ping-ponged between Marcus and Jessica. The drama was intoxicating.

"You psychotic bitch!"

Marcus was the first to explode, pointing a shaking finger right between my eyes.

Jessica, however, was a far superior actress.

Her eyes instantly flooded with genuine tears. She swayed slightly on her high heels, looking like a fragile flower about to wilt under a harsh winter wind.

"Sophie... she is your sister. How can she say such vile things about me... We are best friends..."

"Best friends? You mean the kind of best friend who steals her client roster, sleeps with her boss, and then helps frame her for a multi million dollar fraud?"

I ignored her Oscar worthy performance. I simply grabbed the HDMI cable from the table and plugged it straight into my phone.

A second later, a massive, ultra high definition photo splashed across the projector screen.

It was a beach photo Marcus had posted on his Instagram last week. The caption read, "Team building retreat. Grinding for the next quarter."

"What the hell is wrong with that picture!"

Marcus bellowed, though his voice cracked with a terrifying hint of panic.

"Patience is a virtue, Marcus."

I tapped my screen, zooming in on the image. Deeper, closer, until the reflection in his mirrored aviator sunglasses took up the entire wall.

In the reflection, Jessica was wearing a tiny, string bikini. She was clinging to Marcus's bare arm, laughing like a woman deeply in love.

And right behind them, clearly visible in the background, was the glowing neon logo of the Eros Boutique Hotel, the city's most notorious adult playground.

I spoke with a slow, agonizing drawl.

"Manager Marcus. You took your 'team' to a love hotel last Friday. And you expensed it under the corporate account, didn't you?"

"You categorized it as 'Client Entertainment'. The bill was quite hefty. Eight hundred and fifty dollars."

"I am just dying to know. Which high-profile client required that level of specialized entertainment?"

My voice bounced off the soundproof walls, dripping with icy sarcasm.

"Did this client require the velvet handcuffs from the bedside drawer? Or was the french maid lingerie absolutely vital to closing the deal?"

The room erupted.

The executives and colleagues were looking at the two of them with naked disgust.

Their so-called corporate retreat was just a dirty weekend getaway funded by company money.

"Ahhh!"

Jessica snapped. She shrieked like a banshee and lunged at me, clawing wildly to rip the phone out of my hands.

Marcus completely lost his mind as well. His face twisted into a demonic snarl as he charged forward, raising his heavy hand to slap the life out of me.

I was more than ready.

The second he entered my strike zone, I casually sidestepped his swinging palm. I planted my stiletto firmly into the carpet, raised my knee, and drove the pointed toe of my designer heel directly into his groin with everything I had.

"Oooogh!"

Marcus let out a sound that resembled a dying walrus.

He clutched his crotch and dropped straight to his knees, his face scrunching up like a dried walnut.

Right at that beautiful moment, the heavy double doors swung open again.

The Director of HR, flanked by three burly security guards, stormed into the room. Seeing the absolute carnage, the Director's face turned the color of week old concrete.