The next morning at work, Arthur called Lawrence and Hector into the conference room to explain what had happened the day before. Since Andrew was no longer part of the company, they were short an employee and would have to make up the slack. Until they could hire someone new, Hector and Lawrence would be splitting Andrew's workload and since Lawrence would now be doing the work of an executive, he would be promoted to that position.
Arthur kept the meeting short and closed with some subdued words of encouragement, "I know you both can handle this," before concluding the meeting and retreating to his office.
Andrew's actions had felt like a betrayal to Arthur, but life and business had to go on.
"Congratulations," Hector said to Lawrence as they left the conference room.
Lawrence nodded grimly. "Well, I guess you finally did it."
"What makes you think I did anything?" Hector asked innocently. "Listen, Lawrence, if you're going to get anywhere in business, you've got to get used to benefitting from someone else's failure. It happens."
Lawrence said nothing and walked away.
On the way to his desk, Hector stopped by Andrew's empty cubicle and looked at it with a smile. Now that his competition was out of the way, it was time to move on to phase two of his master plan.
When Lauren walked back to her desk after filing some papers, she was surprised to see Amanda.
"Hi, Lauren. Is Mr. Townsend busy?"
"I don't think so, but I'll call back and ask," she said warily. As she lifted the receiver to call, she asked, "Are you here about your husband? I'm awful sorry to hear that he got canned."
Amanda ignored the remark and said, "Just tell Mr. Townsend I'd like to talk to him."
"Alright," Lauren shrugged and dialed the extension. "Mr. Townsend, Amanda Martin is here to see you," she said into the phone. A moment later she hung up and told Amanda, "You can go on back to his office."
"Thanks," Amanda replied.
Lauren watched suspiciously as she walked past. She had a feeling this visit meant bad news for her.
Arthur raised stiffly from his chair when Amanda entered his office. "Hello, Amanda," he said soberly.
Amanda got right to the point, "How could you think Andrew took that money?"
"I didn't want to believe it, but all of the evidence points to him."
"Listen, Mr. Townsend - Arthur. I have never been anything but honest with you and I know that Andrew didn't take that money. He would never do something like that. And even if he had, where would all that money have went? He doesn't have it."
"I'm sorry. I wish I could believe you, but I don't see any other possibility. I had no choice. Andrew couldn't stay on here."
"Fine," Amanda said stiffly. "Then there's something I came to ask you. If you can't give Andrew his job back, can you give me mine? Despite what you think, we need the money and you said there would be a place for me if I ever wanted to come back. I just didn't expect it to be so soon."
Arthur nodded. "I'll think it over and let you know."
Lauren, who had been listening at the door, hurried back to her desk before she could get caught eavesdropping. When Amanda walked out of the office she avoided eye contact. As soon as Amanda was gone, Lauren buried her hands in her face. If she didn't do something drastic, she would lose her job and her chance to impress Lawrence. But it wasn't too late yet.
Lauren spent the rest of the day, working hard and trying to impress Arthur. She thought, "If I really suck up to him maybe he'll see that I'm a way better secretary than Amanda ever was and not fire me." And just in case that didn't work, she came up with a back-up plan.
At the end of the day, Arthur called Lauren into his office. She nervously awaited her fate.
"I wanted to tell you that you've done a great job since you've started working here," Arthur began.
"Thanks," Lauren beamed.
"But, unfortunately, I'm going to have to let you go. I appreciate the work you've put in, but we really don't need you anymore. Of course, I'll give you an excellent letter of recommendation and if another position opens up we'll be sure to give you a call."
Lauren frowned, "Oh, alright. I guess I understand. Thanks for hiring me, anyway. If you change your mind, you know my number."
Instead of going home, Lauren sat next to the fountain out front and waited to put Plan B into action.
When Lawrence came out, she stood up, took a few steps and, with a yelp, fell to the ground.
Lawrence hurried over. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, I-" Lauren started weakly as she started to stand. "Ouch!" she yelled out and sat back down again. "I think I twisted my ankle." She started to sob. "This is so awful. I just lost my job and now this. I can't even walk. How am I going to get home?" She looked up at Lawrence with a pathetic expression.
Lawrence frowned, caught in a moral struggle. He didn't want to make the offer, but what other choice was there? "I can give you a ride."
"Will you really? Gee, thanks," Lauren said cheerfully. "Can you help me up?"
As they were driving to Lauren's apartment, Lawrence asked, "Shouldn't I take you to the hospital to have your ankle examined?"
"Of no, it's not that bad. In fact, it's starting to feel better already," Lauren claimed, but once they were at her apartment she insisted that she needed Lawrence to help her inside.
Lawrence saw that she was seated comfortably on the couch and then started towards the door.
"Wait," Lauren called out. "Don't you want a drink?"
"No, I should really get home."
"Well, would you get me one before you go?" she asked.
Lawrence reluctantly agreed and Lauren pointed him towards the kitchen.
As Lawrence fixed Lauren's drink, he happened to notice a newspaper lying on top of the trash. A large square was cut out of it, but the part that remained looked familiar to Lawrence. On the side of the page was an article about his first promotion at the Stuart-Townsend Corporation and the part that had been cut out had been his picture.
Lawrence set the glass down on the counter and hurried out of the kitchen and towards the front door.
When he walked through the living room, Lauren was posed seductively on the couch and romantic music was playing on the stereo. "You're back," she said in a sultry voice. When she noticed that Lawrence hadn't brought her drink and he was making a beeline for the door, she sat up and spoke in her usual high-pitched, cheerful tone, "Hey, I thought you were getting me a drink."
"It's in the kitchen," Lawrence replied as he opened the front door.
"Lawrence? Where are you going?" she asked, but he didn't stop to answer. He wanted to get away from there as quickly as possible.
As she heard Lawrence's car start up and drive away Lauren sighed. She jumped up from the couch, turned off the record, and went to her bedroom. On her way to the closet she stopped to admire a picture on her wall, the photograph of Lawrence from the newspaper that she had enlarged and framed.
"Oh, well. I guess tonight just wasn't our night, but I won't give up on us I promise." She blew the picture a kiss and then went to change out of her work clothes.
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