Without another word, I unclipped my ID badge and set it on his desk.
"Don't worry. I won't."
I walked out of the director's office and headed for the restroom.
At the door, I heard Kenneth inside, on the phone.
"Hello, is this Mr. Delgado's direct line at Cloudridge Corp? This is Kenneth Fletcher, the new project lead from Pinnacle Design. I'll be handling things from here on out. Would it be possible to go over some details with Mr. Delgado?"
He didn't have it on speaker, but the restroom was dead silent, and the voice on the other end came through crystal clear.
I recognized it immediately. Alfred Chavez, Mr. Delgado's assistant.
"I'm sorry, we haven't received any such notification. We only work with the designated point of contact for this project. That would be Ronnie Butler."
The dial tone after the hang-up was piercing.
Like a death knell.
Kenneth stood frozen, phone still pressed to his ear.
I walked in. He looked at me, panic written across his face.
"You heard that?"
I smiled, said nothing, and stepped into a stall.
The moment I walked back into the office, the buzzing chatter died. The room went eerily quiet.
Dozens of contemptuous, gleeful stares pressed into my back like needles.