March 21, 2009

Dottie walked into her office, wondering if she would be able to cut out of work early. The girls wanted to give her a birthday dinner, since she denied them the fun of throwing a huge bash. She agreed to dinner because she knew if she didn't, they'd just surprise her with something.

As she sat behind her desk, the phone rang. It was Amy. "Everything's ready, when will you be here?"

Dottie checked her watch, she groaned. It was later than she thought. "Give me 30 minutes. I need to make sure they don't need me anymore."

Amy muttered something nasty under her breath about Dottie's bosses. "OK, but if you are late, I'm coming after you."

Dottie knew she would. She had worked for JIVE records for almost 7 years and none of her friends liked it at all, other than she worked closely with the Backstreet Boys for over 5 of those years. That they were jealous of, but only because they liked the group so much. Her official title was project coordinator, but she did a little bit of everything, which usually meant very long hours and very little compensation. She sighed loudly, pushing all of that out of her mind. Tonight was supposed to be her night and she was going to enjoy it.

As she turned to shut down her computer, the door to her office opened. She looked around to see her boss, Mr. Jake Johnson, come in, followed by one of the night security guards and another man. "That's the woman, Detective Peters. Dottie Morgan."

Dottie gasped. "What's going on?" She was petrified as the policeman stepped closer to her.

"How could you do it Dottie? Did you think we wouldn't figure it out?"

"Figure out what?" She was shaking as the officer pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

Before Mr. Johnson could reply, someone walked up behind him. It was Howie Dorough. The cold fury in his eyes made her flinch. "Dottie, we trusted you. Why did you do it?"

Dottie was crying as her arms were wrenched behind her back and the handcuffs clicked into place. "What are you talking about Howie? I don't understand."

Before he could respond, the detective spoke up. "Dottie Morgan, you are under arrest for embezzlement. You have the right to remain silent." The rest of his words were a blur to her. She couldn't believe what he had said.

Her eyes found Howie again, noticing that he was followed by the other three guys. All of them looked at her with undisguised anger. Her eyes found Nick's, undoubtedly her best friend in the bunch. He just looked disgusted. Tears pooled in her eyes as she realized they all thought she had stolen from them. Her heart broke as she saw that where once was trust and respect for her, all she could see was anger and hatred. She didn't even realize the detective had led her away until she heard him tell another officer to confiscate her computer and search the office.

Three months later...

Dottie sat quietly as the verdict was read. "We the jury find the defendant guilty." Her heart crumbled. They said she was guilty. Guilty of stealing money from the most important people in her life. Her head dropped as she heard them mumbling behind her. They thought she did it. She had told them over and over she didn't do it, but they didn't believe her. Now it was over. And she was going to prison for a crime she didn't commit. They would never trust her again.