Stephanie was talking to Kevin on the phone while enjoying lunch at her desk, when she could hear shouting coming from down the hall. Kevin could hear it through the phone.
"What's happening there?"
"I'm not entirely sure..." She followed the sounds to investigate.
Charlotte was in a teary rage, crowding Andrea backwards into her own desk. "How could you do this to me? You knew he was mine!"
"No, I didn't! He told me there was nothing between you two!"
"He took me out for lunch on Friday."
"And we went out after work." Andrea retorted just as fast as Charlotte could snarl at her.
"I saw him again on Saturday. Stay away from him, or I will make your life hell."
Andrea's voice took on a desperate tone. "You said you were going out with a guy named Dan!"
Charlotte stomped her foot. "UGH! Dan is David. We were keeping it quiet. He didn't want his boss see that he's dating a client. He's still on probation there. It's not explicitly stated that he can't, but he doesn't want to risk losing his job over this. It won't be much longer until that changes."
They had lowered their voices from a screaming pitch, but still speaking loud enough everyone could hear. Anita came out of the washroom, and rushed over with a horrified look on her face.
"What are you talking about?" she cried.
Charlotte turned her head over her shoulder and scoffed. "Go away Anita. This doesn't concern you."
"It sure sounds like it does. How did you hear what David said to me?"
The silence in the office was deafening. Charlotte and Andrea turned to face Anita fully. Charlotte's voice was ice when she finally found it. "What?"
"Oh my god it's happening!" The glee in Kevin's voice was palpable over the phone, and Stephanie lowered the phone from her ear so he could hear better.
Anita answered Charlotte. "I've been seeing David. It was supposed to be a secret. We met at a bar a few weeks ago and we hit it off. What is going on here?"
Andrea found her voice again, barely above a whisper, but everyone could hear. "He said the same thing to me."
Charlotte looked like she was about to breathe fire "What. The. Actual. F-"
Stephanie interrupted that thought before Charlotte could finish. "Ladies, I think it is pretty obvious what's been going on. He's been seeing all of you. Telling you all to keep it a secret so he doesn't get in trouble... he's just making sure none of you talk about it with each other, so that this doesn't happen." She gesticulated between all of them with her phone.
"Have you also been sleeping with him Stephanie?" Charlotte was not about to mince her words anymore.
"Ew no."
"If you knew all of this, why didn't you tell us?"
Stephanie wanted to run and hide at Charlotte's tone, but stood her ground. "How was I supposed to know what he was telling any of you? Or apparently, all of you"
Charlotte pulled her shoulders back, and set her chin. "Well then. Ladies, I think we've got a lying piece of shit to bring down. First, we find out how many other women he's been doing this to. Then, we march up to his office and give him a piece of our minds."
Ahem. Stephanie cleared her throat. "You know, he's going to be here at 3:00 for the meeting. Why not do it here? We'd have the upper hand. Let's send him scurrying out of here like the dog he is, tail between his legs."
Beside Stephanie, Anita muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Stephanie to hear, "I'd rather cut off what's between his legs." Stephanie tried and failed to stop the corner of her mouth from twitching upwards. Kevin heard it as well, and guffawed in response.
Charlotte looked at Stephanie with approval. "I like it. Emergency breakout meeting in room four. Anyone who has ever had alone time with David. We are. Bringing. Him. Down." She punctuated each word with a punch to the top of Andrea's desk.
Stephanie couldn't help but cheer. Things were looking up.
"Kevin? I've got to go. My afternoon just got very busy." Stephanie hung up on Kevin's cheering.
*
David walked into the office at 2:35pm as usual. He always arrived early for meetings so he could flirt with everyone, and 'make connections'. The ladies of the office were ready for him.
They had all applied their fiercest 'war paint', a collection of smoky eyes that would put any fashion runway to shame. Stephanie had never been more proud of the way a group of ladies had banded together instead of ripping each other apart. Charlotte and Andrea had patched things up and were leading the charge. Charlotte was ready with her phone to catch the whole event on video.
Kailyn, who had never actually been out with David but was so mad about how everyone else had been treated that she wanted a piece of him, set herself up as the 'bait'. Normally too shy to say anything, she was emboldened by her anger, and determined to get his attention. As soon as he walked by her desk, she caught his attention with her most sultry voice. After a few minutes of quiet flirting, Kailyn and David set a date for later that night.
When he reached Andrea's desk, she acted disinterested, but he couldn't pull his eyes away from her. Charlotte had done Andrea's make up for her, and she was a smoke show. Normally quite reserved, she looked like she was ready for a night out. David asked if he could give her a ride home. She said yes.
Stephanie was not supposed to be a part of phase one, but she got waved in by Charlotte.
"Can you please ask him for a ride home? He's just offered it to Andrea instead."
Swearing under her breath, Stephanie hurried towards David. "Oh David, thank god you're here! Can you please give me a ride home tonight? I don't have time to take the subway, and I'm desperate."
The look he gave her nearly stopped the blood cold in her veins. Like a hunter spotting its prey. She never made the first move, and he couldn't resist the change.
"Oh, Stephanie! I, uh..."
"Please, David, I need you." She felt sick from pleading with this monster.
Andrea pursed her lips behind him. Charlotte was still filming.
"Yes, of course. We can leave as soon as you need."
"Ohmygod! Thank you, David! You are a literal lifesaver right now." She dashed off back to her desk.
David turned to Andrea. "I'm sorry about that Drea. I don't want people to get the wrong idea about us. Just got to keep it a secret for a bit longer, yeah?"
Her face was tight when she agreed.
"You look absolutely stunning today though. Wow." She blushed and turned away. He headed in the direction of Charlotte's desk, but was waylaid by Hannah, his final conquest in the office.
"David! Come with me, really quick!" She started pulling him by the hand towards the elevators. Charlotte followed behind. She rounded the corner and saw Hannah and David pressed against the wall, and immediately started yelling. A moment later, Anita came out of the stairway, and started screaming like the jilted lover she was. Within moments the whole staff was yelling, calling him a pig, or a dog, or whatever other insults they could. Stephanie stood by and watched quietly, all the rejected lovers took turns screaming, crying, and trying to hit him.
It was all on film. David looked like a cornered animal. Stephanie's manager, Kate, stormed into the foyer a few minutes later and demanded everyone settle down immediately. Evaluating the hysterics in front of her, she asked the rhetorical question, "What is going on out here?"
Charlotte and Hannah started talking at the same time, accusing David of sleeping his way through the company, lying, cheating, and general villainy. Kate held up her hands to silence everyone.
"Everybody return to their desks immediately. You," she pointed directly at David, "are going to explain this situation to me in my office. This is wildly unprofessional and you should all be ashamed of yourselves. The meeting is postponed until further notice." She turned on her heel and stalked away. Everyone else headed for their desks or the bathroom.
Charlotte was still filming, and stuck her phone to Kate's office door as soon as it was closed. David must have tried to convince her that it was not his fault, but something in his charming façade slipped. She told him he was fired, and they would be ending all business with his company if he did not get out of the office as fast as his fancy Italian shoes would allow.
Charlotte nearly fell over when the door opened in a rush and David came storming out. Kate followed behind, watching him like a hawk. Ignoring her warning, he stopped and tried to talk to Stephanie.
She looked at him with pity and disgust. "Remember when you said we could have a professional relationship and still go out for lunch? That it wouldn't affect your performance at all? I'm not sure what you were trying to prove with this stunt, but I think you failed." She turned to walk away, but added over her shoulder, "also, I would never let you take me home, so please do not wait around for me."
He ran his fingers through his hair, making it stand on end. His wild hair matched his wild eyes. Kate loomed up behind him.
"I will not ask again. Get out of this office immediately, or I will call security."
He shuffled off as fast as he could, licking his wounds.
Kate directed her attention to Stephanie. "We need to talk. Now."