Everyone else agrees they’re still in, and Joey nods his head with a huge smile.
“Thanks, guys. I’ll have Donny send you all the link in the morning.”
“Glad to see his life is coming together, just as planned,” I say to Macy after he walks away.
She shakes her head with a huff. “Yours is too. You landed this job for a reason. You’re talented. Don’t let this one guy make you feel otherwise.”
I take another sip, trying to remember the good things in my life that don’t involve David White.
CHAPTER TWO
Zoe
I walk into work with a renewed sense of energy after staring in the mirror for twenty minutes last night, reminding myself that I deserve this. I’ve worked hard for this job, and I’m not going to let a stupid coworker knock me down.
I remember the first time I entered through these massive glass doors. I felt so alive and like all my dreams had come true as I looked around at all the businessmen and women entering one of the skyscrapers lining New York City.
This building holds everything from stockbrokers to law firms to multibillion-dollar companies, and I’m among the lucky ones who get to work here every day. The pride of working here gives me just the boost I need as I stand in the crowded elevator, waiting for the eleventh floor to arrive. When it dings and the doors open, I excuse myself past the massive guy standing in my way.
“Oh, sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t see you there,” he says as he scoots to the side to let me by.
Of course, David is standing right there at our reception desk and witnesses our little exchange.
“Don’t worry about it,” he shouts to the guy. “She is easy to miss since she’s so short.”
I smile up at the guy who has to be six-foot-five, compared to my four-foot-eleven frame, and grin, just wanting to get out of the elevator at this point.
The guy leans down a little and whispers, “Don’t let him give you any shit.”
I laugh out loud, then respond, “I won’t,” before glaring back at David and entering our floor.
The guy’s chuckle behind me as the doors close makes me smile at David’s snide expression.
I shouldn’t be surprised he made a comment about my size. I know I’m short. I’ve been like this my entire life. If he thinks I’m not used to being the shortest person in the room, he’s got another thing coming. I’ve always let my size fuel my fire. People may think I’m a little girl when they first see me, but I’m anything but, and my biggest joy in life is proving people wrong.
“Morning, Jennifer,” I say to our receptionist with a smile, ignoring David as I head toward my desk.
CR Marketing has the entire floor, and the owner, Christina, believes that in order to be the most creative, there must be no walls boxing us in, so our office is a massive open space with the only walls being her office, the breakroom, and bathrooms. She wants us to always feed ideas off each other and work together, so each of us has a desk, and we get to decide which way it faces or how our workstation flows.
I set my bag down and take a deep breath.
“What did David do now?” Jana, my coworker that I absolutely adore, says over her laptop as she types away.
“Nothing. He will not get under my skin today,” I announce with a definitive tone, then take my seat and pull my laptop out from my bag.
“Eh, it’s early. Give it a half hour,” she teases, so I throw a pencil at her.
We decided a few months ago to have our desks face each other, butted up against one another, and it’s been the best working experience, having one another right there to bounce ideas back and forth.
She grabs the pencil. “Oh, sweet, one of your Prismacolor pencils. Thanks!”
I hold my hand out, asking for the expensive colored pencil back, not realizing that’s what I threw her way. She always teases me that any colored pencil will do just fine, but I’ve always loved these ones for their brighter colors and how smooth they are to work with.
She winks, then tosses it back to my desk.
I open my laptop and see the email Joey talked about last night, asking me to sign up for the app. I have a few minutes before our morning meeting, so I take out my phone, click the suggested app, and wait for it to download while I go place my lunch in the break room refrigerator, then head back to my desk to go over the other emails waiting for my reply.
“You guys coming?” David says as he walks past our desks.
