Annie
MARCH | Balance: $45,397
It was my second coffee date of the day. When I sent Marcie an SOS text the night before requesting coffee, she responded all-too-eagerly, ready to get out of her newborn rut.
I flagged Marcie down when she entered the café with the Markham smile and hugged her when we got in line to order. I complimented her out-of-the-house pants, though the real thing to note was how good she looked for a semi-new mom. Her deep brown skin glowed, despite the bags under her eyes to indicate the real toll of sleepless nights. She was sporting a new short haircut.
“I spent the baby’s whole nap doing this hair. You’d better appreciate that,” she said, patting her freshly pressed bob.
“It looks amazing,” I said. “I love the chic mom cut. Motherhood looks good on you.”
“Keep going, please,” she laughed, then sobered. “You, on the other hand, look like you’ve seen some hell. What’s going on?”
I confessed everything as we sat with our drinks: that I really had been with Nick that whole time, his mistake, and my suspension. If there was one person I felt I could be honest withat work, it was her. She’d trusted me with her job while she was on leave, after all.
Her facial expressions didn’t give much away while I spilled it all out. When I finished, she leaned back from the table and took a pensive sip of her cappuccino.
“This is quite a pickle you’ve put yourself in, Annie Markham. So what are we going to do about it?”
“Well, I have two choices. I can tell the truth and probably get fired, or I can deny that Nick and I were ever involved and hope I get to keep it.”
A slow smile curved her lips. “And what if we work on a third option?”
* * *
Marcie and I sat in the waiting room at work, which felt very strange. Retha gave me a wink and slid me a Diet Coke across the counter when we checked in. I popped the top and took a fortifying sip, exchanging a nervous glance with Marcie.
“What if this backfires?”
“Then we do our own thing,” she said. “We have the power here. It’s their choice.”
We were supposed to speak at the impromptu board meeting at one, and it was five after. I sent Nick a text in the morning and told him I’d made a decision, and that I’d see him after his game that night. My phone lit up and I checked it.
Nick Oberbeck
Don’t do anything rash. I have an idea
“Ladies, they’re ready for you.”
What did Nick mean? It didn’t matter, because Marcie and I were moving ahead with our plan. We’d stayed up late at her kitchen table, working through our proposal. She was a partner and thushad more sway than me. We also made a lot of phone calls to support our Plan B.
Bill greeted us surprisingly cordially, giving Marcie a hug and asking about the baby. Dev cooed over her pictures, showing us some shots from when he and Priya had taken a camping trip recently. A look around the table showed the other two partners, Allan and Tomas. They specialized in men’s basketball, so I didn’t interact with them as much. Marcie was the sole female on the board, something that felt intimidating in the moment.
“So, Marcie, what merited you coming back from leave to call an emergency board meeting?” Bill asked.
“Annie, want to kick us off?” Marcie asked.
I pulled the folder out of my bag and took a deep breath. “I wanted to address your concerns about my professionalism with all of you head-on. I’ve spoken to Mr. Oberbeck, and he confirmed that Paxton Marshall’s story about the hazing was false. However, it is true that I’ve been involved with Nick since the fall.”
Dev looked bored, glancing at Bill. “Bill, I don’t see why this is newsworthy. I don’t care what Annie does in her spare time.”
I almost passed out from that statement alone. “You . . . don’t?”
“No. I saw you two at dinner that night. I’m not stupid. But I also don’t care. I assume you’re adult enough to not funnel all endorsement deals to him because you want him to get paid more, no?”
“Um, no, that’s correct,” I said. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“That could be exactly what she’s doing, Dev,” Bill objected. “What if the tables were turned? I can’t be dating female athletes. It’d be a scandal!”
