We're dealing with a thief, a disgruntled former employee who broke into a private meeting. You heard her admit to accessing the terminal without authorization. That's a felony under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act." He took a slow sip of wine, his eyes gleaming over the rim of the glass at Maya as she was wrestled toward the exit. "You wanted drama, Henderson.
You got it. But the show's over. The grown-ups have business to conclude." Maya stopped struggling. It was undignified and more importantly, it was useless.
She looked past the beefy shoulders of the security guards, locking eyes with Julian one last time. "You didn't win, Julian." She said, her voice terrifyingly calm amidst the chaos. "You just hit the pause button. The math doesn't lie.
And now they've seen it." "Get her out of my sight." Julian snarled, his composure cracking for just a second. As the doors of the private suite swung shut behind her, cutting off the scent of truffle oil and money, Maya was plunged back into the harsh reality of her existence. She was marched through the main dining room of Le Sommelier.
Diners in pearls and bespoke suits paused, forks hovering halfway to their mouths to gawk at the spectacle. The waitress, the help, being hauled away like common trash. Her manager was waiting by the kitchen doors, his face purple with apoplectic rage. "You're fired, Lynn, obviously. Don't even think about asking for your last check.
It's going to cover the damages to Mr. Thorn's reputation." They didn't take her out the front door. They dragged her through the steaming, chaotic kitchen, past the line cooks who averted their eyes, past the dishwashers spraying scalding water onto plates. They threw her out the back delivery entrance into the grimy alleyway filled with overflowing dumpsters. The cool evening air hit her sweaty face.
The lead guard shoved her forward and she stumbled, skinning the palms of her hands on the rough asphalt. "Stay down and stay gone." the guard spat. "If Mr. Thorn sees your face near this building again, we won't be nice next time." The heavy steel door slammed shut with a sound of finality.
Maya knelt on the dirty pavement, staring at her bleeding palms. The adrenaline crash replaced by a crushing wave of despair. She wasn't just back to square one. She was negative. Fired.
Blacklisted even further. And Julian was right. She had technically broken the law by touching that computer. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a text from her mother's caretaker.
Maya, the pharmacy called. The co-pay for the new kidney medication has gone up. We need $800 by Friday or they won't fill it. Maya closed her eyes and let out a ragged breath that turned into a sob. The brilliant equations, the soaring green lines on the graph, the look of awe on Henderson's face, it all felt like a hallucination now.
The reality was the smell of rotting garbage in an alley and an empty bank account. Up in the penthouse suite, Julian Thorne was doing damage control. "I apologize for that unpleasantness." Julian said, smoothing his tie as he sat back down. "Mentally unstable staff.