The Demise by Diane Moody

afternoon. Most of the employees will probably stay home today since they were given the option. Those who come won’t be here until eight or eight-thirty.” She peeked into the break room, found it empty, then signaled for him to follow and lowered her voice. “Listen, Matt, we need to talk. But not here at the office. I made an important discovery last night that you need to know about.”
    His jaw clenched. “Julie, look, I told you last night that I—”
    “Good morning, Mr. Smithe,” she chimed as the vice president entered the room.
    “Just in time, Miss Parker.” He reached for a mug from the cabinet then filled it from the large urn. With his back still turned, he continued. “I’ve been here since six this morning, so I will be needing lots of fresh, strong coffee. Meaning, you’ll need to make an extra effort to make sure there’s plenty of fresh coffee at all times.” He stirred cream and sugar into his mug. “Don’t let me find this pot empty today. Understood?”
    “No problem.”
    He still hadn’t made eye contact with her or acknowledged Matt’s presence in the room. As he turned to leave, Smithe ran smack into Matt, splashing steaming hot coffee on both of them. A string of expletives exploded out of the veep’s mouth as his mug hit the tiled floor and shattered into pieces.
    “You stupid idiot!” Only then did he look up to see who he’d run into. “You! What are you—”
    “Hey, it was an accident. Calm down.” Matt set his notepad on a nearby table and yanked a handkerchief out of his pocket.
    “Don’t tell me to calm down—”
    “Let it go!” Matt straightened as he took a step closing the gap between them. Smithe stared at him for only a second, then growled as he stomped to the sink and yanked handfuls of paper towels from the dispenser.
    “I’ll have you know this is an Armani shirt, and these are Armani slacks, both worth more than you make in a year’s salary. So you will pay for them if they’re ruined.” He continued patting down the stains then finally gave up. Suddenly, he was in Matt’s face with his eyes narrowed. “Get. Out. Of. My. Way.” The tic kicked in as Smithe continued to glare at him.
    Matt stared him down for a tense moment, then stepped aside. Smithe cursed under his breath and left the room. Matt looked at Julie, still frozen in place.
    “It’s okay. Really,” he said. “I’m sorry you had to hear all that.”
    “Are you all right?” She reached for some paper towels and dampened them for him. “Here, let me—”
    “That’s okay. I’ll go to the men’s room and see if I can get this cleaned up.” He looked up at her. “Mr. Smithe-with-an-E won’t be in there, will he?”
    “No, all the executive offices have their own restrooms.”
    “Good. I’ll be right back.”
     

     
    Julie wiped up the mess on the floor, carefully picking up pieces of the shattered coffee mug. After dropping them into the trash can, she spotted Matt’s notepad on the table. Without so much as a second thought, she flipped the cover open to the first page and took a peek.
     
    Computer password: Pierre
    Donella Willet – strictly professional relationship or something more?
    Computer photo files – playboy?
    Who are all these women? Compile a list.
    Office photos – celebrities & special dignitaries
    Yacht – “ My Baby” – where is it docked?
    Email history – organize as to relevancy; who is Su-Jin?
    Patricia Lanham – visit her today.
     
    At the sound of footsteps coming down the hall, Julie closed the cover and distanced herself from the table.
    “What do you mean, you had an accident? You look like a kindergartner on the first day of school.”
    Berkowitz. I’d know that snark anywhere.
    She busied herself cleaning the counter then dried her hands, straining to hear their lowered voices.
    “Yeah, I know,” Matt answered. “My suitcase is in the car. I’ll go change in a minute. I wasn’t expecting you here today.”
    Realizing