They Sent Me to a Client’s Room,So I Kept the Card

The last game of the company holiday party was drawing task cards.

I tore open the slip.

Walk Mr. James back to his room. Stay with him until he sobers up.

The whole table burst out laughing.

Jill Delgado lifted the mic and asked me,

Regina, you're the one who landed the project. Shouldn't you be the one to see the client through to the end?

Someone started drumming on the table.

"Keep him company!"

"Mr. James has had a lot to drink tonight. He could use someone to look after him!"

I slapped the task card down on the table.

"Whoever wrote it can go keep him company."

Jill grabbed my arm, smiling.

"You're in sales. Why play the innocent?"

"It's just a game. You can't take a little joke?"

I shook her hand off and picked up the card to tear it up.

Two lines of live chat drifted across my screen.

Don't tear it.

The number on the back proves this isn't a random game.

I stopped and flipped the card over.

A tiny number was printed on the back.

07

More comments followed right behind.

Hold on to it.

The last girl who lost her task card got called a willing escort.

I folded the card and put it in my bag.

The smile on Jill's face stiffened for a second.

...

Jill reached out for the task card.

"Game's over. All cards get collected."

I pressed a hand to my bag.

"Then why aren't you collecting everyone else's?"

Her smile didn't change.

"You didn't complete your task, so of course we take it back."

Another line of chat drifted past.

Don't give it to her.

I zipped my bag shut.

"I won't do it, and I won't hand it over."

Jill's face darkened for an instant.

Beside her, Mr. James stood up, wine glass in hand.

"Little Regina's got quite a temper."

He was in his fifties, his face flushed red from drinking.

As he passed me, he reached out to sling an arm around my shoulder.

"Come on. I've got good wine in my room."

I turned aside and dodged him.

"Mr. James, the project's already closed."

His hand came up empty, and his expression soured.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Get the order and you don't know your client anymore?"

Stuart Walker hurried over to smooth things out.

"Regina, Mr. James is an important client for the company."

"Walking a client back to his room is basic courtesy."

"Manager Walker knows so much about courtesy. You walk him."

Someone at the table couldn't hold back a laugh.

Jill shot them a glare.

She caught my arm, her nails digging into the flesh.

"Don't throw the kindness back in our faces."

Her voice dropped low.

"You've still got over two hundred grand in commission coming."

I looked at her.

"So you're using my commission to buy me for the client?"

"Who said anything about you keeping him company?"

She raised her voice at once.

"It's just walking him up."

"With a mind that filthy, no wonder you jump to that."

The second she said it, the way everyone looked at me shifted.

Like I was the one twisting an ordinary game into something ugly.

Stuart waved a hand.

"Enough."

"Regina's had too much to drink. Let her go home first."

Jill laughed into the mic.

"Everyone carry on."

"Our Manager Sullivan isn't up for it tonight, so task number seven stays open for now."

The table roared with laughter again.

I picked up my bag and went to the restroom.

The door shut, and the music still pounded outside.

I ran the tap, washed my hands twice, and my palms were still soaked with sweat.

Three years running event execution, I'd dealt with vendors who smashed equipment and drunk clients who caused scenes.

But a whole crowd circling me and chanting "keep him company" still made me sick.

My phone lit up.

Someone had posted a video of me refusing the task in the project group chat. Just over ten seconds.

Everything before it, the card draw and the goading, was all cut out.

The video started with me slapping the table.

People had already replied underneath.

Manager Sullivan's a whole different person after winning the bid.

Mr. James is going to be furious when he sees this, right?

Over two hundred grand in commission not even in hand yet, and she's already turning on people?

Jill posted a hand-over-mouth emoji.

She's in a bad mood today. Don't hold it against her, everyone.

I typed:

Post the full video. Don't take it out of context.

No one replied.

When I got back to the banquet hall, someone had taken my seat.

Jill sat next to Mr. James, the two of them talking in low voices.

She saw me and made a point of raising her glass.

"Manager Sullivan, still here?"

"Change your mind?"

I didn't answer her.

I grabbed my coat and walked straight out.

Eleven at night, I got back to my rented apartment.

The room was cold.

I set card number seven on the table and photographed both sides again.

I'd been on this project for four months.

Eleven business trips. Nineteen versions of the proposal.

My base pay was only a little over five thousand. The real money that belonged to me was the project commission after the bid was won.

That wasn't money the company was handing me as a favor.

I'd earned it.

At one in the morning, the company's expense system suddenly pushed a notification.

Special entertainment expense claim approved.

Amount: $8,000

Filed by: Regina Sullivan

I opened the details.

After the expense number was written the same number: 07.

The next morning, the party video had already gone all over the company.

The title read:

Project manager lands the deal, then publicly abuses the client.

Someone had turned "whoever wrote it goes and entertains him" into a meme.

I'd barely walked into the office when I heard one of the guys call out:

"Here comes Number Seven."

A few people around him laughed.

"Mr. James had no one to walk him back last night. Sleep okay?"

"Isn't Manager Sullivan supposed to see it through to the end?"

I stopped walking.

"You think that's funny?"

The man ducked his head a little.

"Everyone's just joking around."

"I don't think it's funny."

"Anyone who calls me Number Seven again, I'll hand your name and the chat logs to the company together."

The office went quiet.

Jill came out of the conference room.

"What are you throwing a fit about this early?"

"Your coworkers only tease you because they get along with you."

"Nobody wants that kind of relationship with you."

She walked up in front of me, and her voice dropped all at once.

"Where's the task card?"

"I have it."

"Hand it over."

"Why?"

She reached out to grab it.

I twisted aside.

The two of us knocked into the corner of the desk, and a water glass shattered on the floor.

Jill clutched her wrist at once.

"Regina Sullivan, you actually want to hit people now?"

Stuart came out of his office.

"What's all this noise?"

Jill's eyes went red.

"I only tried to talk her into apologizing to Mr. James, and she shoved me."

"She was grabbing my bag."

"Who saw it?"

Everyone nearby lowered their heads.

Stuart looked at me.

"My office."

The door shut, and he put a client complaint down on the desk.

Mr. James accused me of publicly insulting him at the party, jeopardizing further cooperation.

"Mr. James wants a different project lead."

"So?"

"Jill takes over for now."

"I wrote the proposal."

"Company projects aren't personal property."

"What about my commission?"

Stuart picked up his tea.

"Commission can be held until the client signs off."

"You're freezing my commission just because I didn't walk the client back to his room?"

"Watch how you word that."

He pushed the complaint back at me.

"Right now you're the one who offended the client."

"If you want to stay on the project, soften your attitude a little."

I took out my phone.

"Who filed the eight-thousand-dollar special entertainment expense last night?"

His hand stopped.

"Normal project cost."

"Then why am I listed as the one who spent it?"

"Accounting probably keyed it in wrong."

"Then why is the expense number also Number Seven?"

Stuart's face darkened.

"Regina Sullivan, you're a project manager, not an accountant."

"Don't go asking about things you shouldn't."

I walked out of his office and went straight to accounting.

Juliana Hughes saw the reimbursement slip, and her expression turned uneasy.

"This was specially approved by Manager Walker."

"Where did the money go?"

"Entertainment expense. It doesn't go through employee payroll cards."

"Who collected it?"

"There's a signature in the system."

She pulled up the collection form. The signature was mine, right down to the little hook on the last stroke.

But I had never signed it.

A line of live chat appeared in front of me.

The eight thousand never went into your account.

I snapped a photo of the slip.

Juliana slapped her hand over the screen at once.

"You can't photograph internal company records."

"It's my name on it."

"Regina Sullivan, don't put me in a hard spot."

"I'm only asking one thing. Who took the money?"

She looked away from me.

"Manager Walker had me do it."

"I don't know anything else."

Back at my desk, my computer access had already changed.

The project files still opened, but I couldn't edit them.

A new notice had gone up in the project group chat:

Effective immediately, Jill is the project lead.

Jill had swapped the cover page on my proposal.

The name on the first page had gone from Regina Sullivan to Jill Delgado.

She leaned against the edge of my desk.

"Don't sulk about it."

"In sales, if you can't keep a client happy, it doesn't matter how good the proposal is."

"Keeping a client happy means going into his room?"

She let out a laugh.

"You're the one who isn't clean. Don't assume everyone's as dirty as you."

My phone suddenly buzzed.

Mr. James had sent a voice message.

"Regina, last night's task didn't get finished."

"Come by tonight and make up what you owe."

I didn't reply to Mr. James.

But Jill went ahead and booked the project meeting for me, in the client reception room at the company.

Mr. James sat in the middle of the couch.

The moment I walked in, he patted the spot beside him.

"Sit here."

I sat down across from him.

Jill pushed a chair toward me.

"How are we supposed to talk about the project sitting that far apart?"

"The proposal's on the table."

"What's the fun in just talking about a proposal?"

Mr. James stared at my clothes.

"You dressed pretty conservatively at the party."

"Did you already know what card you'd draw?"

Jill laughed.

"She just talks tough."

"In private she really knows how to sweet-talk a man."

I opened the voice recorder on my phone and slipped it into my coat pocket.

"Jill, did you see that with your own eyes?"

Her smile faded.

"It was a joke."

"Spreading filth about me in front of a clientthat's a joke too?"

Stuart frowned.

"Regina, we're here today to solve a problem."

"Apologize to Mr. James first."

"I didn't do anything wrong."

Mr. James tossed the proposal onto the table.

"Then there's nothing to discuss."

"Anyone can handle an order like mine."

I pressed my hand flat on the proposal.

"The user data, the venue flow, and the ad rollout are all confirmed."

"Switch now, and your project gets delayed at least a month."

He looked at me for a moment.

"Regina really does have talent."

"Just too proud."

He stood, came around to my side.

His hand landed on my shoulder.

"Have a couple of drinks with the client, soften up a little, and everything's fine."

I stood up at once.

His hand slid down from my shoulder to my waist.

I shoved him off.

"Don't touch me."

Mr. James took two steps back.

Jill snapped her phone up fast.

A line of live chat drifted across my vision.

Don't get physical.

There's another phone behind the vase.

I turned to look.

In the corner behind the vase, a small black lens peeked out, aimed right at me.

Jill caught where my eyes went and stepped over to block it.

"What are you looking at?"

I didn't go for it.

"You set up a camera ahead of time?"

Stuart said,

"We keep footage of project meetings. Perfectly normal."

"Then why is it hidden behind the vase?"

"Someone just set the equipment down there."

Mr. James rubbed the shoulder I'd pushed.

"This woman's no good."

"A client so much as touches her and she goes off the rails. How's she supposed to run projects?"

Jill hooked her arm through his.

"Don't be angry. She's young, doesn't know how to behave."

I looked at her.

"Didn't you say you were the one handling the client?"

"Then you keep him company today."

Jill's face stiffened.

But Mr. James laughed.

"She and I know each other too well. Nothing special there."

"You're the type I likethe ones with some fire."

Still talking, he reached for my hand again.

I backed up until I was under the camera.

"Touch me again and I'm calling the police."

Stuart slammed the table.

"Enough!"

"Regina, you're suspended for today."

"Come back when you're ready to apologize to Mr. James."

I picked up the proposal.

Jill grabbed it.

"The project isn't yours anymore."

The paper tore.

She looked at the ripped proposal and smiled.

"Sorry. Slipped out of my hand."

That same night, the hidden video from behind the vase was posted to the company group chat.

The clip started from Mr. James stepping back.

No him touching me. No me warning him.

Just the few seconds of me reaching out and shoving him.

Jill's caption read:

Wow, Manager Sullivan gets physical with a client. Again.

Stuart followed right after with a notice:

Tomorrow, 7 p.m. Come to the hotel and formally apologize to Mr. James.

Failure to show will be treated as seriously harming the project.

I stared at the hotel address.

New live chat surfaced in front of me.

They've got a room key ready.

Don't go into a room alone.

The next day, I moved the meeting to the hotel lobby.

I sent my location to a friend.

I turned the recorder on ahead of time.

The task card went into my bag too.

Mr. James was sitting in the lounge area.

Jill Delgado and Stuart Walker were both there.

An opened bottle of red wine sat on the table.

Stuart spoke first.

"Let's clear up the misunderstanding today."

"Give Mr. James a toast and apologize."

"Then the project can go on."

I didn't sit.

"First, delete the video you filmed in secret."

Jill folded her arms.

"What secret video?"

"The phone behind the vase."

"That was the meeting record."

"Then why only post the part where I pushed him?"

She smiled.

"The video was too long. Who has time to watch the whole thing?"

Mr. James tapped the table.

"Regina, don't waste time."

He took a key card out of his suit pocket.

"Let's talk upstairs."

"We can talk right here."

"There are too many people. I don't like it."

"Then there's nothing to talk about."

I turned to leave.

Stuart blocked my way.

"Over two hundred grand in commission. You really don't want it?"

Mr. James came over and pressed the key card into my hand.

"Take it."

"The project contract is in the room."

Two lines of live chat drifted across my vision.

Don't throw it away.

Hand it to the front desk. Get it on record.

I held the key card and walked to the front desk.

Jill's phone stayed trained on me the whole way.

I set the card on the counter.

"Someone forced this key card on me and told me to entertain a client."

"Please log it and hold it for me."

The front desk clerk looked at me, then over at Mr. James.

"May I ask the room number?"

"1806."

"The room is registered under Mr. James."

Once it was logged, I photographed the record.

Jill's face darkened.

"Regina, is this really necessary?"

"Yes."

"You people like keeping video, don't you?"

"So I'll keep some too."

Stuart's face went completely cold.

"Don't bother coming in to work tomorrow."

The next morning, I was called into the HR conference room.

Two things sat on the table.

An eight-thousand-dollar entertainment expense claim form.

And the secretly filmed video of me taking the key card.

Jill sat to one side, eyes red.

"I've been trying to help Regina this whole time."

"I never imagined she'd take the money, take the card, and now turn around and bite us."

I pulled out the front desk record.

"The key card is already with the hotel."

"There's security footage in the lobby."

"You can check the whole thing, including Mr. James forcing the card on me."

HR didn't take it.

She picked up the eight-thousand-dollar claim form.

"How do you explain the signature?"

"I didn't sign it."

"The handwriting matches your onboarding paperwork."

"Then have it analyzed."

Stuart sneered.

"One card, sure, you can call it a game."

"The signature, you can call it forged."

"The video, you say it was edited."

"Regina, why is every single thing aimed at you?"

I looked at him.

"Because Jill wants my project, and you want the entertainment money."

The conference room went quiet.

Jill burst into tears at once.

"Slandering me is one thing, but why drag Manager Walker into it too?"

HR slid a suspension notice in front of me.

"Until the investigation is complete, you're suspended from work."

"The project and the commission will be handled by Jill for now."

I didn't sign.

HR took my badge anyway.

Before I left, I went back to my desk for my personal things.

My computer access was already being shut off.

A line of live chat appeared in front of me.

Search "06" in the client management sheet.

I opened the system right away.

I typed in the number.

A record from last year jumped out.

Number: 06

Assigned to: Joan Swanson

Client: Mr. James

Special entertainment expense: $8,000

Status: Completed

Below it was a resolution note.

Employee voluntarily accompanied the client; later left the company over personal conduct issues.

I kept scrolling down.

The seventh row was my name.

Number: 07

Assigned to: Regina Sullivan

Status: Pending

Jill had already come up behind me.

She reached out and shut the laptop.

"Found something you shouldn't have?"

I looked up at her.

So that task card had never been some year-end party game.

And I wasn't the first person they'd picked, either.