Shenine crossed her arms. "There it is again. Everybody else's fault."
Maya leaned closer to the screen. The email used a phrase she never used and referred to a conversation that had happened while she was in the restroom. She could feel the room narrowing around her. "Please ask IT to preserve the authentication logs. We have multifactor access records. They can show where it came from."
"This isn't a courtroom," Jamal replied.
"No, it's a workplace. It has records. Why won't you look at them?"
Derek cleared his throat. "The message is consistent with the confrontational behavior we've observed."
"You observed Shenine hitting me," Maya said. "You know she did."
Jamal slammed a hand on the desk. It was not loud enough to frighten the whole building, but it startled Maya. "Enough. You've been escalating conflict since Monday. I gave you opportunities to resolve this professionally."
"You gave me opportunities to apologize for things I didn't do."
"You're terminated, effective at five today. Human resources will prepare the paperwork. Security will escort you out after your work is handed over."
Maya's mouth went dry. She thought of the rent due in ten days, Isaiah's next tuition payment, the professional certification she had worked so hard to earn, and the stain a termination might leave on every future interview. Then she saw Shenine's face, relaxed and pleased, and understood that pleading would only feed it.
"I want the reason in writing," she said.
"You'll receive it."
"And I want the email preserved. The original, not a screenshot."
"Of course," Jamal said, already turning away. "Pack your desk."
Outside his office, Maya stood still for a moment. She felt as though she had fallen through a floor she had believed was solid. She returned to her desk and began gathering personal photographs, a plant in a chipped ceramic pot, a notebook containing recipes her mother used to write down, and a small thank-you card from a client who had appreciated her patience with a billing mistake.
She did not take the financial files she had been working on. The records belonged to the company, and she wanted nobody to be able to accuse her of removing them. Instead she wrote down the internal reference numbers she was permitted to retain for her employment dispute and sent a preservation request through her attorney. The instinct that had helped her become a careful accountant remained intact even when the future seemed to be closing.
At four twenty, Ellen found her near the service elevator. Maya was holding the plant against her chest, waiting for a guard to collect her badge. She saw the old cleaner and made an effort to smile.
"They fired me," she said.
Ellen's expression did not change at once. Then her eyes filled with a grief so controlled Maya nearly missed it. "When?"
"Five. They say I threatened Shenine. They have an email from my account, but I didn't send it."
"Did you ask for the login history?"
"Yes. Jamal wouldn't listen."