Chapter Ten - The Career of a Criminal

Chapter 10
The Career of a Criminal


As it turned out, Sarah and James weren’t like the couples that spent every waking moment together, holding hands and making out. And I was thankful for that. Whenever I was with my best friend, I never felt left out or ignored. Life was back on track.
That fact had its drawbacks. That life was back on track I mean. And that’s because Calvin and Rebecca were one of those couple who loved to walk around hand in hand, kiss every five seconds, and basically engage in a lot of PDA – especially since the party. But I slowly got used to it. At least I had S.
Even the attempt to find out if John was sleeping with Amanda was still on. Because don’t think now that S and James were together they’d stop trying to find the answer. No way.
John had challenged them at the party. He told them that they had to be more discrete, if they wanted to continue. And they decided to follow his advice and continue.
A few days after the party during work, a piece of paper landed on my desk from Sarah:
Jess!
I have a plan.
Or at least the beginning of one.
I’ll tell you the dets are lunch. This time you HAVE to be in.
You just have to!
xoxo S
P.S. Make sure you don’t say anything. This is a secret!


I read the note, which got me thinking. As far as the whole “Sherlock Holmes” thing, I hadn’t changed my mind. I still thought it was childish and kind of a waste of time. But on the other hand, Sarah was always there for me. So now I had to help it. It’s just the way it goes.
Besides, it was getting a little boring being the odd one out. Plus the whole thing was more interesting now that John was part of the game.
I quickly turned Sarah’s note over and wrote on the back:

Dear S,
What am I gonna do with you? Lol I’m in!! :)


It was official; I was part of the club. I couldn’t wait to hear Sarah’s plan at lunch.

During lunch, Sarah told me her plan. And I realised that my decision to join, was probably one of the stupidest decisions I’d ever made. Because the plan itself was stupid. According to it, we had to steal the key to John’s office and sneak in the office, when no one was there. Meaning at night time.
“That’s ridiculous, S,” I said.
“On the contrary,” Sarah said. “Think about it. The evening cleaning crew is done by six thirty the latest, and there are only two security guards, both of whom are dozy, so we can easily get past them if we enter from the back door. Then once we get up here, we won’t have to worry about running into anyone cause they’ll be at home. Unless, they’re doing Amanda,” she winked.
“Ok, so why do we need the keys to John’s office? It’s an all glass office, so we can see inside to see if anyone is in there anyways,” James asked.
“Because, I doubt that they get it on in his office. But I’m sure we’ll find clues of some sort. Maybe notes that John leaves for Amanda for when she starts work, or notes from Amanda to John when she finishes work.”
“K,” I interrupted. “How are we gonna get the key to his office, Sherlock Holmes?”
“Leave that up to me,” Sarah replied confidently.
“It could work,” Derek said thoughtfully.
“Yea, if we get the key,” James added. “That’s the hardest part, cause we can definitely get past the security guards.”
“Are you guys insane?” I said. “You can’t be seriously considering of going through with this. Stealing the key to the CEO’s office key I mean. Have you ever heard of CLMs? Cause that is definitely one.”
“What’s CLM?” Derek asked.
“Career Limiting Move,” Sarah replied before I could.
“And we wouldn't be stealing it,” James said. “We’d just be borrowing it.”
“You actually want to do this?” I said. “Are you guys out of your minds?”
Of course no one agreed with me, not even Sarah. Evidently, they thought it was a great plan. And S an amazing criminal.
And now what? I had promised to help. I didn’t want to seem like a coward, which I technically was. So the only thing left for me to do was suck it up and keep quiet.
“Ok, I think Jess can stay out of the stealing of the key,” Sarah said, seeing my disappointment. “Let’s not forget that she is the newest member of the club.”
“Coward,” Derek said looking at me. “But fine. Ok, so Jess will have nothing to do with the key. But she’s coming tonight.”
“Tonight?” I asked panicking. “Are we doing this tonight?”
“Only if we manage to get the key,” S replied. “But we’ll deal with that.”
Inside I was praying that they didn’t get the key. Today or any other day. They had to forget about the plan. I was only twenty five for God’s Sake. I didn’t want to have a criminal record. Not at such a young age.



Just as I feared, a couple of hours later, they had the key to John’s office in their hands. I should have known. My prayers were like my horoscopes – I could never count on them to have the desired result.
I had no idea how they managed to get the key. And I didn’t want to know. The less I knew the better. That way, I’d be more convincing in court (sadly, I was a terrible liar). Because that’s definitely where we’d end up – for breaking and entering, spying and all that stuff.
On the other hand, I found it kind of amusing thinking about the trial. I’d be cold but calm, I thought. Dressed in my new black Calvin Klein knee length dress; appropriate yet comfortable.
Calvin would be sitting next to me shaking and waiting to hear the jury’s decision. He’d hold my hand the whole time. From time to time he’d squeeze it, showing me his support.
And, then, the decision would be announced. No! Calvin would yell at the sound of the decision. She can’t go to jail! I can’t live without her!
Then, he’d stand in the middle of the court room, and give a touching speech. He’d narrate that he’d left Rebecca for me. He’d try to get the judge to understand that his life had no meaning without me. I was everything to Calvin... absolutely everything.
In the end, the judge, with tears in his or her eyes, would let me go. The judge would understand that no one could get in the way of such an amazing, rare relationship. And Calvin would hug me relieved. He’d look at me midly and say my name over and over again. Jessica, my dear Jessica...
“What?” I asked and looked at Sarah. “What happened?”
“Haven’t you been listening all this time?” she asked me. “We were asking you if eight is a good time to meet here.”
“No, I don’t think so,” I replied miserably.
“Perfect,” Sarah said. “We’ll meet at the back entrance right at eight.”
“And don’t forget to wear black,” Derek advised.
“And to bring a flashlight,” James added.
The three seemed excited when we parted. I was just freaking out and worried. How had I agreed to this? And why?



When I got home, while I was searching for a flashlight, I really started thinking about what we were about to do. Was I crazy? I was jeopardizing my whole career just to find out if John was sleeping with a cleaning lady. Surely, I was on nuts for agreeing.
In the meantime, it was already quarter to eight. For a sec, I thought of calling Sarah. To tell her that I had bronchitis or something equally serious, and had to stay home. But it was probably too late.
No, there was no going back. I had already agreed to do this. The only thing left for me to do was suck it up, and go through with it.