She Ate My Lunch for Free Every Day—Until Six Tins of Luxury Caviar Arrived Chapter 04

I had followed every storage rule and documented every step.

If Kelsey still treated my name like permission to take whatever she wanted, I would not let anyone dismiss it as a minor disagreement between coworkers again.

If she stole so much as one bite today, she was finished.

Renee had not arrived yet. I left her a message about the handoff, locked the bin inside the refrigerator, and took the primary key into the conference room.

At twelve seventeen, a photo appeared in the team chat.

Six gold tins sat on Kelsey’s keyboard.

She held a spoon in one hand and flashed a peace sign for the camera.

[Maya brought the good stuff today. Your favorite foodie taste–tested it for you.]

I set down the shot list I had been reviewing and stood at once.

The photographer across from me looked up. “What happened?”

“Someone opened property a client left in our care. Give me five minutes, and I’ll update you.”

The clear bin stood open in the break room. Both tamper seals had been torn, though the lock itself was

undamaged.

Kelsey was squeezing ranch dressing into the last tin. She licked the back of her spoon, then stuck it into the

caviar and stirred twice.

I caught her wrist as she reached toward the trash.

“Put it down.”

“What? I can’t even throw away an empty tin?”

“Put the tins and every piece of packaging on the table.”

She rolled her eyes and took a step back.

All six tins had been opened. Two had been scraped clean. Ranch and bread crumbs were mixed into the

other four. The spoon she had licked lay in the middle.

I photographed everything exactly as I found it.

Renee had just arrived, and I asked her to witness the scene with me.

Kelsey was still smiling.

“This stuff isn’t even good. It’s way too salty. I had to try every tin in case the others tasted better.”

“Who unlocked the bin?”

She glanced toward Derek’s office.

“I don’t know.”

I did not argue. I called the supplier and gave my name and the project number.

“All six tins were opened without authorization, and two are empty. Please send someone to verify the

condition. I’m reporting it internally as well.”

Kelsey raised an eyebrow. “You called someone over a little food? Anyone listening would think I stole a car.“.

Derek came in after hearing the commotion and reached for one of the tins.

Renee stopped him.

“Don’t touch anything yet. The production team needs to verify the condition.”

Kelsey folded her arms and lifted her chin at me,

“Derek said coworkers shouldn’t treat one another like thieves. The more you lock something up, the more I

want to see what’s so special about it.”

She even held up her phone.

Someone had reacted to her photo with a laughing emoji.

She acted as though that gave her permission from the entire office.

“Worst case, I’ll buy you lunch next time. What are you really going to do to me?”

I turned over one of the empty tins to show the inventory number on the bottom, then placed the intake form

beside it.

“Kelsey, you can’t make this go away by buying me lunch. Not this time.”

She laughed. “Why? Is your food made of gold?”

“The caviar was never mine.”

I pointed to the owner listed on the intake form and spoke slowly.

“It belongs to a client. They left it in my care, and they were scheduled to pick it up this afternoon.”

The color drained from Kelsey’s face.

“What?”