Audrey left the party roughly twenty minutes before Orin Monarch wandered out looking like a cocaine addict. She'd had a pretty good time, actually. She danced with a few single guys, did some flirting, got tipsy on really good martinis because it seemed like the thing to do, and kept her eye on Orin. Everything seemed kosher - he and his new wife-to-be were soaking up the spotlight with incredible efficiency, and if she doubted how much he could possibly feel for anyone, she kept that to herself. At least for now.
When she woke the next morning and got online to check her email, there was a bulletin from someone in the company essentially telling the employees not to panic, damage control was being taken care of, and not to answer any questions from the media. She clicked her top headlines link with a sense of dread, and there was Orin looking like a rich powdered doughnut and rambling around the party like a crazy person.
"Oh, fuck."
She got to work in record time, and if she hadn't been worried before, the flowers clinched it. He knew he'd fucked up. She wasn't going to complain about the raise, especially because he saw herself deflecting calls for the rest of the morning, but it was a lot to take all at once. She sat down heavily in the chair, and she called Hayley.