See You Next Tuesday

PROLOGUE: Lights, Camera, Action

Swathes of satiny fuchsia fabric curtained the back of the stage and rotating spotlights bathed the room in a pretty pink glow. Glasses clinked, cutlery clattered, and voices hummed above the soft jazz being pumped through the speakers. People, mostly women, were outfitted in high heels and cocktail dresses better suited for a Friday night black-tie event than a Tuesday afternoon gala.

Lily was seated at her company’s table surrounded by several of her Black Maple Bank colleagues, including her boss, Elliot.

“. . . for you, Lily?”

Lily snapped her head to the left at the sound of her coworker River’s voice.

She had no idea what he had just said. “Sorry?” Lily said apologetically, both eyebrows raised in question.

River smiled kindly. “I asked if this is the first time you’ve been to one of these things?” He gestured vaguely at their surroundings.

“Oh . . . ” Lily nodded with a nervous smile. “Yes.”

The society pages popped into her head. How many people regularly attend events like this, she wondered—getting all dolled up, putting on a fancy dress and pumps, and paying for a plated meal that was the size of a canapé?

Lily had no idea, of course—she wasn’t one of them.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, discreetly adjusting her long black gown at the same time. She was sweating like a boxer in the final round—an apt comparison considering her situation—and the polyester fabric stuck to her skin like cling wrap. Air conditioning blasted from the ceiling, but it was no match for the heat generated by some four-hundred- odd bodies packed into the event space.

In a word, she was sweltering.

But it wasn’t entirely owing to the crowd. Lily’s headgear also had played a part; it trapped heat like a winter scarf in July.

“River! Hi!”

River turned to a woman on his other side who had just approached the table, and Lily went back to discreetly scanning the room. Owing entirely to circumstances of her own making, Lily’s nerves were at an all-time high. She was actively deceiving several people in the room that afternoon and she couldn’t, absolutely could not,blow her cover.

Not that she seriously believed her scheme would work. In fact, she fully expected it to blow up in her face. Her odds of success were low. Like betting it all on black and winning. Lower, actually. More like purchasing a lotto ticket for the $60 million jackpot and actually taking home the prize.

No, the odds certainly weren’t in her favour, but she really didn’t have any other choice. If she didn’t manage to pull this off, if she got caught, her life would be over.

Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration.

Her life wouldn’t be over, no. But she would end up jobless and probably have to move back home with her parents. As much as she loved them, that was not a prospect she wanted to face. Especially given her mom and dad had no idea what their eldest daughter had been up to. Which was, in a nutshell, pretending to be several people she wasn’t.

Not in an illegal kind of way. She didn’t have fake passports or government ID, no. What Lily was doing couldn’t be considered criminal. In her mind she had come to justify it as the employment equivalent of using a friend or family member’s Costco card. It wasn’t illegal, per se, but it was against the rules. Which made it somewhat of a gray zone. A morally ambiguous area that enabled Lily to operate guilt free.

Guilt free, but definitely not consequence free, she reflected for the hundredth time that day. Given the situation she was in this afternoon, it felt like she may have pushed the envelope just a little too far. Some higher power—the universe, God, karma, whatever you want to call it—was punishing her for her gray-area operations. Which was why, if she made it through this afternoon unscathed and with all her personas undiscovered, she had vowed she was going to go straight. There was only so far you could tempt fate before fate stepped forward and gave you a smack.

A bead of sweat rolled down Lily’s temple. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Caroline—her boss, the CEO of People Helping People—approaching her table.

Fuck.

Lily’s stomach dropped.

Had Caroline noticed her? Had she seen through her disguise? Was she about to blow Lily’s cover?

Her heart rate quickened as Caroline came closer.

How would Lily explain the fact that she was sitting at the employee table for Black Maple Bank when she was a full-time employee at People Helping People?

She couldn’t, obviously, cop to the truth. Which was that she was simultaneously employed as a full-time staffer at both companies. Made possible, of course, by the advent of fully remote, work-from-home arrangements.

And Lily’s own questionable decision making, of course.

Lily felt her cheeks flush as she picked up the glossy agenda for the afternoon and buried her face in it. Several seconds passed before she sneaked a peak over the top of the agenda. Relief washed over her as Caroline, apparently oblivious to Lily’s presence, walked past her table and headed towards a seat several tables away.

Lily’s breathing began to regulate and the fear that had clutched the pit of her stomach eased momentarily. She had dodged one bullet, but the gala was far from over. Whether she would be able to pull off a Neo from The Matrix this afternoon, or if she was going to end up like Sonny Corleone in The Godfather,remained to be seen.

A shudder went through her at the thought. Given the stakes and the improbability of her disguise, Lily figured she was more likely to end up like the doomed Italian—taken out in a hail of bullets, the gunfire continuing long after he had met his maker.

Stop, stop—he’s already dead, went through her head.

That would be Lily.

Of course, the bullets she was dodging weren’t literal. But figuratively, there were plenty: HR, her bosses, her coworkers, the destruction of her livelihoods . . . just to name a few.

She forced her mind on the program in her hands, titled “Women In Power.” She had already read it front to back. Twice. While the whole afternoon was nothing short of a nightmare, there was one particular portion of the program that she was dreading. A portion that would be the equivalent of trying to walk across a tightrope in gale-force winds while a vat of hungry sharks circled below.

It was a portion that was fast approaching.

She saw Caroline, seated some six tables away, pick up her program.

Lily drew in a shaky breath.

Suddenly, an amplified voice cut through the room’s chatter and Lily felt her stomach drop again.

“Thank you, everyone!” the voice boomed through the speakers as the conversations quieted down. “I hope you’re all enjoying the dessert!”

Lily glanced at the untouched tiramisu in front of her with regret. Maybe she should have had a couple of bites. Something to settle her stomach. Something to ground her. She hadn’t touched her lunch either. She didn’t think her stomach, which was currently doing a good impression of Cirque du Soleil, could have handled it.

The woman’s voice droned on and Lily zoned out. She focused on her breathing. In . . . one-two-three, out . . . one-two-three. Several seconds later there was a smattering of applause and then the words she had been dreading cut through her meditation: “I would like to welcome Lily Hart to the stage.”

Applause thundered around the room, no more enthusiastic than at the Black Maple Bank table where Lily’s colleagues cheered her on with vim. A jolt of adrenaline shot through her, and her stomach clenched in knots.

“Go on, Lily!” her boss, Elliot, urged her with a wide grin.

She took a deep breath and prayed to all the gods she could think of that this wouldn’t go sideways. Her heart sank and her knees wobbled as she pushed her chair back and stood up. She couldn’t believe she was about to do this. There was no way she was actually going to get through this.

The presenter beamed at the audience, waiting for Lily to make her way on stage. Which . . . took a bit, given Black Maple’s table was at the back of the room.

Lily’s heart beat wildly in her chest as she threw her shoulders back and walked towards the stage with a lot more confidence than she was feeling. The applause continued and she focused on the stage, avoiding eye contact with the crowd, most of whom sported looks of mild confusion at her appearance.

When she reached the stairs, she paused, suddenly light-headed. She thought she might be about to faint. The encouraging face of the host—a vision in bright pearly whites, kind eyes, and a red gown—did nothing to quell the feeling.

How had this afternoon taken such a bad turn? she thought desperately. “Women In Power”was supposed to have been a straightforward corporate event. Instead, it was teetering on the edge of disaster. If even one person connected the dots this afternoon, Lily’s carefully constructed web of lies would come crashing down.

A warm smile spread across the host’s face, and she gestured for Lily to come on stage.

Lily bit her lip.

This was it.

The moment of truth.

There was no more time to stall.

She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and stepped onto the first stair.

CHAPTER 1: The Offer

 “I GOT IT!!!”

Lily’s voice cut through the quiet of her bedroom.

It was met with silence.

Which was just as well, given she was the only one home right now. Claire and Daphne, her roommates, were both at work.

Well.

Claire was at work. Daphne was . . . out. She worked remotely like Lily, although “worked” was a bit of a stretch. From what Lily could gather, Daphne’s job seemed to consist of taking photos—mostly selfies—and posting to social media. Despite working from home, she was rarely there. This morning, she was busy prepping for a skincare event. By getting a facial. Which didn’t make any sense to Lily and probably went a way towards explaining why she wasn’t an influencer like her roommate.

Lily glanced at her phone screen again and beamed. There, at the very top of her notifications, was an email from Black Maple Bank with Offer of Employment in the subject line.

Her smile widened as the reality fully sank in. Goodbye grants, hello corporate social responsibility.

Black Maple Bank, Black Maple for short, was one of the biggest and most prestigious financial institutions in Canada. She, Lily Hart, was going from Program Coordinator of Youth Grants at a medium-sized non-profit to Junior Associate of Corporate Social Responsibility at a prestigious bank.

Her pulse had ticked up when she first came across the job posting. Corporate Social Responsibility—business jargon that boiled down to making sure the company did good things for society with some of their profits—was an area of work Lily had been hoping to get into. She had scrambled to submit her application before the deadline, and two weeks later, the bank’s HR department had reached out. After two nerve-wracking interviews over the course of four weeks, she had been told, “We’ll get back to you next week.”

Which was this week. Friday of this week to be exact. She had been waiting on pins and needles since Monday. One day had passed, then two, three, and four. She had almost given up all hope when the email popped up on her phone just moments ago.

Lily unlocked her phone and clicked open the email—a smile still stuck to her face. Dear Lily, the email began. We are pleased to offer you the position of Junior Associate, Corporate Social Responsibility, at Black Maple Bank.

Her smile grew wider.

She had done it. All those hours of prepping—Claire helping her craft the perfect answers, practicing in the mirror, writing out responses, and recording herself on Zoom—had paid off. Soon she would be helping craft initiatives that ensured the bank gave back to the community. People Helping People, the non-profit where she currently worked, was also focused on helping society. But it operated on a shoestring budget, which made it harder to be impactful. Private companies, by contrast, seemed to have millions to spare and then some. And banks? Well—they dealt exclusively in money.

Lily clicked on the attachment that outlined her offer of employment. Excitement surged when she saw her salary. She’d had some vague notion of what the successful candidate would be making, but the amount that stared back at her was a steep increase from her current pay. It would go a long way towards helping Lily save up for something she had wanted for a very long time.

She dropped back onto her pink bedspread as happiness washed over her. Finally, she thought. Finally, she had a way out of People Helping People. The medium-sized non-profit gave out grants to youth, communities, and schools, and helped people access housing, education, and other social supports. Their slogan, “Helping People Help People!”, was a bit absurd, but Lily supposed it served to reinforce the organization’s mission: helping people—staff, volunteers, and donors—help other people.

At the end of the day, People Helping People, PHP for short, did a lot of great work. Every time Lily checked in with someone she had assisted, she came away feeling like she had made a difference. She was helping people. Which was what had drawn her to the organization in the first place. Despite the low pay—non-profits typically weren’t where people went when they were looking to make the big bucks—Lily loved her job. She liked her manager and coworkers, even though she had only met them in person once. Which was the nature of remote work. No office cubicle chats or popping out for coffee. You met people on-screen and in the privacy of your very own home office—forging friendships over Teams.

Aside from the low pay, there wasn’t much Lily didn’t like about her current job. And she wouldn’t have even been looking for other jobs if it wasn’t for one little problem. One frustrating, impossible-to-solve, fear-inducing little problem.

That problem? One Caroline Steele. The tawny-haired, steely-eyed CEO-gre of People Helping People. Whom Lily wanted to help. Preferably off a cliff.

Okay, Lily didn’t really want to help Caroline off a cliff. She would have been happy just to have her no longer lording over the organization. She treated PHP like her own personal fiefdom. And not in a “kind and generous ruler” sort of way. No, no. Caroline Steele was a hard-nosed overlord whose last name hinted at her metallic personality. She yelled at employees, seemed to delight in giving people public dressing-downs, and generally made for an unpleasant work environment. Which was quite an accomplishment considering that everyone worked from home. Central casting, Lily was convinced, could not have conjured up a better villain. She was positively Stalinesque.

As a reminder of her power, Caroline regularly directed staff to PHP’s organizational chart—a document that spelled out everyone’s position in the hierarchy. Unfortunately for Lily and her colleagues, Caroline was at the top. Just how the formidable woman had come to find herself there was baffling, but Lily was half convinced Caroline had done it through threats and Board coercion. It really was ironic that an organization dedicated to doing good had a person in charge who seemed to delight in being so bad.

Lily had personally witnessed Caroline, who cringingly referred to herself in the third person as “the CEO”, berate team members during all-staff Teams meetings. The first time it happened, Lily had been gobsmacked. Michelle Nikas from accounting had been caught catching up on emails during an all-staffer. For not giving Caroline her full and undivided attention, Michelle had paid dearly.

“Nikas!” Caroline’s voice had cracked like a whip.

Michelle’s eyes had widened in fear.

Lily, who hadn’t had much interaction with the CEO up until then, had looked at the uneasy expressions on the rest of the PHP staffers’ faces with confusion.

“What did I just say?” Caroline demanded. There was a dangerous edge to her voice.

The accounting guru withered under the glare of Caroline’s angry gaze before unmuting herself and groveling like she had just been caught stealing. “I’m really sorry!” she pleaded in a high-pitched tone. “I’ve been off sick the past week and I was catching up on emails while you were talking!”

Sickness, apparently, was no excuse for not giving Caroline her full and undivided attention. The resulting dressing-down had left Michelle in tears and Lily speechless. Caroline, on the other hand, appeared gleeful. Her happiness, Lily had observed over the past year, seemed to be inversely related to just how unhappy she was able to make everyone else. Psychopath that she was.

Why HR never stepped in and put a stop to Caroline’s behaviour was a mystery to Lily, but she figured they were probably just as afraid of her as everyone else. Salary aside, Caroline’s tenure as CEO was the main reason Lily had been looking for a new role. She had started at PHP bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and eager to make a positive impact on the world. It had only taken a few weeks for Caroline to take the wind out of her sails. That had been just a little over one year ago, and now, with the job offer from Black Maple, all of that was going to change.

Lily let out a satisfied sigh, her eyes still fixed on the ceiling. She finally had a way out of People Helping People.