“Ew!” I hiss, covering my chest with my palm. “And his name was Kyler?”
“Kyler. Honestly, that should have been my first red flag. I think I’m gonna take myself off the market for a while. Focus on other things—ooh, like finding Rafael a job here. He keeps telling me how much he hates living in DC.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard. He’s well educated, has a master’s degree in finance and business something-or-other—wait,” I stop myself and piece the puzzle together. “He should be my new CFO.”
“Gasp,” Angie hisses, and I giggle. I love when she verbalizes her actions and emotions. “You’re a goddamn beautiful genius, you know that? I’m gonna text our group chat right now and let him know.”
Right before she picks up her phone, I lay my hand over hers. “Wait. Is this going to bring up any old feelings?”
“What? No. No, no, no. That crush was simply a blip on the radar back then.”
I raise my eyebrow as high as I think it can go. “It was more than a blip, Ang.”
“It… was… ablip,” she says, popping thepand bugging her eyes out. “And I’m totally over it. And you know how he is. We want different things, but nothing will ever change our friendship.”
Releasing her hand, I pull mine back and soften my features. “Girl, you know one day when you get married, your friendship with Raf is going to change drastically, right?”
Angie looks down and fidgets with a sugar packet. “I know,” she says quietly. “Good thing I can only manage to date scrubs.”
“Are you sure you want me to add Raf to the applicant list?”
She finally looks back up at me and smiles. “Yeah. Definitely. I miss having him close by.”
“Okay. I’ll let him interview.”
“Oh, but wait. What the fuck happened with Jonathan?”
Bracing my fingers on the wooden table between us, I let out a sigh. “Girl. He’s facing prison time.”
“What?” she gasps.
“Yeah. So is Chris. I don’t know where McKenzie falls with this yet, but I’m sure she isn’t getting off scott-free either.”
“She was the secret girlfriend, right?”
“Yeah. She’s been a fount of knowledge, by the way. Neither Jonathan nor Chris would talk to me after the hearing, but McKenzie apparently has no regard for pleading the Fifth. My lawyers and I asked her more about Jonathan’s motive, and she said his plan was to ruin the company, totally bury what my dad and I have built, then, bam, swoop in with his new architecture firm and hire my staff. Of course, taking all the same clients we’ve cultivated over three decades.”
Angie’s jaw has been hanging open for a while now. “That seems like such a huge thing to undertake and orchestrate. All because your dad named you CEO? That’s some serious level of butt-hurt.”
“I know. And now it’s made me question what else he’s been hiding. I’ve been going through our financial records this last week looking for anything shady, but nothing’s come up yet.”
“He’s not even an architect. Why would he want to start his own firm?”
I shrug and speculate. “He knows the business inside and out. You don’t have to be an architect to be a CEO of a firm. He would just hire senior architects.”
“God,” she huffs. “So what’s next?”
“Now, we will still sue for defamation, and McKenzie, Jonathan, and Chris will each have their own hearings.”
“Damn, girl. Well, if you’re gonna hire Rafael, you know he’ll take care of Define.”
I chuckle. “I will give him a fair shot in the interview.” My best friend smiles back at me and I gesture for her to text him. As she picks up her phone, I peek at mine right when an incoming call comes through.Aunt Roseis displayed on the screen and I waste no time picking it up.
“Hi, Aunt Rose,”
“Oh, honey, I heard the good news from your hearing. Congratulations!”
“Thank you. I feel so relieved.” Then I immediately think about Jay and telling him about meeting my Korean family someday. “Hey, would you guys like to get together for dinner soon? I’d love to introduce you to my partners.”
