Chapter 1

"Call the police! She's trying to kill me!" Bianca Caldwell shouted.

I froze, the coffee in my hand sloshing.

Bianca pointed at me. "You drugged me. You put something in my coffee!"

She was crying as she yelled.

Drugged her? My mind buzzed.

"I... I never touched your cup," I stammered.

I set my coffee down, completely baffled.

She grabbed her phone and started dialing. "Cut the act! You definitely tampered with my coffee this morning. I almost drank it."

My coworkers started whispering among themselves.

The manager, Scott Taylor, stepped out of the conference room, his brow furrowed. "What's going on?"

"Mr. Taylor," Bianca sobbed, her voice trembling, "Claire drugged my coffee."

*****

"That's not true," I said through gritted teeth, anger rising.

Scott ignored me and turned to Bianca. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. She's always been out to get me!" Bianca insisted.

People in the office started murmuring in agreement.

"Last time she walked past Bianca's desk, Bianca's design drafts ended up all over the floor," someone chimed in.

"And that water cup that got smashed. Wasn't that her, too?" another person piped up.

I broke out in a cold sweat.

All of this was her mess, but it was all being pinned on me as 'proof.'

"Claire, go back to your desk," Scott said, his voice stern.

"Bianca, are you really going to call the police?" Scott asked.

Bianca bit her lip. "Yes, I'm sure. She was trying to kill me!"

The police arrived quickly.

Two uniformed officers walked into the office, and the air went still.

I felt cold sweat breaking out all over me.

"Who called the police?" one of the officers asked.

"I did." Bianca rushed forward in no time, her voice shrill with tears. "She drugged my coffee."

"Do you have any evidence?" the officer asked.

"The cup's right there," Bianca cried, her finger trembling as she pointed at the mug.

She pointed at the white mug in the break room. It looked like nobody had had a sip yet.

The officer walked over, so I trailed after him.

"Is this your cup?" the officer asked.

"Yeah. I made the coffee this morning," Bianca replied.

"Did you touch it?" the officer asked, turning to me.

My mind was racing.

I did pick up the wrong cup this morning, but I realized it instantly and put it back, then grabbed my own.

The whole thing took less than ten seconds.

"I... I picked up the wrong cup for a moment, but I put it back immediately," I said, trying to keep my voice calm and steady.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?" Scott snapped, his tone icy.

"Looks pretty suspicious to me," he added with a sneer.

I closed my eyes for a moment.

I knew whatever I said would only make things worse.

Bianca wailed, her voice cracking. "She admitted it! Oh my god, I almost drank it..."

The officer carefully placed the cup into an evidence bag.

"We'll let you know once the lab results are in," he said.

I stood there, feeling like the world was spinning around me.

My coworkers were all staring at me like I was a criminal.

The officer told us to return to our desks and wait for updates.

As soon as I sat down, I heard Bianca start sobbing again.

A few female coworkers gathered around her, trying to comfort her.

"Bianca, don't cry. The police will get to the bottom of this," one of them said softly.

The older officer walked over to my desk. "Claire, right? I've got a few questions for you."

"What's your relationship with Bianca?" he asked.

"Just regular coworkers. Nothing out of the ordinary," I replied.

"She claims you're always giving her a hard time. Is that true?" he pressed.

"No," I said firmly.

"So how come her stuff always ends up broken or scattered whenever you're nearby?" the officer asked, flipping through his notebook.

"She said her design drafts ended up all over the floor, and her water cup got smashed," he added.

I froze for a second.

"Those were all just coincidences," I said, trying to sound calm. "Yeah, stuff did fall when I walked by, but it wasn't me."

"Don't you think that's a lot of coincidences?" the officer said, his eyes narrowing.

I had no idea how to explain myself.

Suddenly, Bianca called out, "Officer Miller, can I ask her something?"

The officer nodded.

Bianca walked over, her eyes still red but her voice steadier. "Claire, do you hate me because of Quinn? Is that what all this is about?"

Quinn? My mind went completely blank.

"Quinn? What is it to do with him?" I was confused.

"Oh, drop the act!" Bianca shot back.

"Quinn's obviously into me, but you just kept chasing after him. Now that he finally confessed his feelings to me, you're so jealous that you can't stand it, right?" she accused, her voice sharp.

The whole office blew up. Everyone started whispering and buzzing.

"Whoa, this is some juicy gossip!" someone gasped.

"No wonder things blew up. So it's just a love triangle drama," someone whispered.

My cheeks were on fire.

That bastard Quinn was totally hitting on me.

At last month's department dinner, he got wasted and insisted on driving me home. In the car, he started rambling all sorts of weird stuff.

I was super creeped out, but figured it was just drunk nonsense.

But less than two weeks later, he was already all over Bianca.

What did that have to do with me?

"I wasn't chasing after him," I shot back, meeting Bianca's eyes. "Don't slander me!"

Bianca sneered. "Slander you? Really?

"Then why do you always shoot daggers at me whenever you see me talking to Quinn?

"And last week, when Quinn invited me for coffee, you just had to jump in and interrupt. You think I don't see what you're trying to do?"

I was at a loss for words.

Yeah, that did happen last week.