Closing my eyes for the briefest of seconds, I pull myself together. Sit up straight. Bright smile. Confident eye contact. Cool. Calm. Collected. I can fix this. “When would you like me to start working with Chad, sir?” If I pretend hard enough, he’ll forget all about this, right?
Bill steeples his fingers together, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Of all the girls in this office, I never expected you to react in such an unseemly manner.”
“Oh?” I just manage to keep my voice from cracking. Or from firing back how I never expected to fall victim to his straight-up nepotism. “I apologize for my language. I’m not going to lie, I was expecting this promotion. Given my years of service to the company, and the many, many unpaid hours and tasks I’ve not only willingly taken on but have accomplished successfully.”
“Coordinating a few spreadsheets doesn’t mean you are ready forsenior-level management.” His eyes narrow. “And one of your greatest selling points up until today has been your attitude, never pushing back or making a fuss.”
My shoulders start to creep up around my ears, my body shrinking in on itself, my anger and disbelief morphing into something far more sinister, a repeated refrain that’s been on a constant loop in my mind since I was a kid.
Why would you think you’re good enough? You know you’ll never be good enough.
“I apologize for my outburst. It won’t happen again.” My voice is as small as I feel. I push my chair back from the table.
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that.” Bill stacks his papers before standing. “I’m going to have to let you go, Sadie. That kind of behavior is unacceptable in a place of business. Gather your things, and make sure you stop by HR to sign the paperwork.”
My blood chills, freezing the breath caught in my lungs. “You’re firing me?”
He strides to the door, not even looking over his shoulder to speak to me directly. “It didn’t have to be this way. You should’ve kept those emotions in check.” He pushes out the door, letting it swing shut behind him with a thud.
I sit for less than a minute before I rush out of the conference room. Scurrying as quickly as possible down the hallway I strutted through less than an hour before, I duck into my office without meeting any eavesdropper’s looks. The few personal items I keep on my desk—a color-coded planner, my college diploma—get hastily tossed into my purse. I lovingly cradle my air plant in my arms, attempting to gain even a breath of solace from my spiky green friend.
The door to my office opens before I have the chance to escape back out into the hallway.
For a minute, I just look at Margo. My mentor, the woman who took me under her wing and has always had my back—until today. I hold my stuffed purse in front of me like a shield. “Did you know?”
She sighs and tugs on the cuff of her right sleeve, her nervous tic. “I heard a rumor, but I didn’t think it was actually true.”
I wait for her to say something, anything, to offer a small word of comfort, even though I know comfort isn’t her style. “Why didn’t you say anything in there? You hung me out to dry, Margo.”
She bristles at the accusation. “You hung yourself out to dry with your inexcusable outburst, Sadie. Do you know how bad you made me look? Did you even think about how your behavior would reflect on me as your mentor? How selfish are you?”
I almost laugh because I know exactly how selfish I am. Margo sure as hell isn’t the first person in my life to tell me.
But selfish or not, I know I just got screwed over. “I watched a man who hasn’t been here for five minutes take the position I rightfully earned over the past six years. But my words were inexcusable?” I move to push past her, beyond ready to be free of this place.
She blocks my path. “Sometimes you have to take what you’re given and make the best of it.”
I stare at her for a second, not fully believing what I’m hearing. Shaking my head, I pull open the door to my office for the last time. “Fuck that.”
I practically run to the elevator, my finger hovering over the button for the lobby before I think better of it and hit the one for the next floor up, where the HR office lives. The chances of my scraping a referenceout of this are slim, but I’ll at least have to try if I have any hope of finding another job in finance.
The HR representative doesn’t waste any time, walking me through the termination contract I have to sign. I should probably have Harley, who moonlights as my personal lawyer, look it over first, but I don’t want to be in this building for a second longer than necessary. I scrawl my signature at the bottom of the page and sprint back to the elevator.
As soon as the doors open at the lobby floor, I run as fast as my heels allow to the exit of the building, pushing outside and sucking in a big breath of fresh New York City air. I purchase a pretzel from a nearby cart and sink down at one of the bistro tables dotting the courtyard of the building next door. Fishing my phone from a pocket of my purse, I pull up our group text chain.
ME:Blueprint at 7:00.
HARLEY:Perfect place to celebrate!
ME:I think you mean commiserate.
NICK:Fuck. What happened? And do we really need to trek to Brooklyn?
ME:I’ll tell you guys tonight. And yes. I can’t go out and be surrounded by whiny finance bros tonight.
ME:No offense, Nicky.
HARLEY:*hugs*
