“No?”
“You heard me, Jack. No. Or, fuck no. Whichever one resonates.”
“You don’t get to talk to me like that—when you get back here—”
“Actually,youdon’t get to speak tomelike that. I’m not coming back to the office just because you’re throwing a tantrum. You’re horrible. A terrible human. The way you treat people like things and discard them as soon as you’re finished, you should be ashamed of yourself.” And then the words continue to fall out of my mouth. “You may be one step ahead of me at Sparks but you’re not my boss. Stella is who I report to. Now that I think about it, does Stella know you canceled my vacation? Or did you manipulate that to fit your narrative as well?”
I glance at Holland and he’s beaming. He’s proud of me. Hell, I’m proud of myself.
“You think I’d do that? I’d stoop that low?” Jack scoffs into the phone but his voice is an octave too high. That’s it. I’ve caught him in a lie.
“Yes. One hundred percent yes.”
“Listen, just come back to the office—”
“You don’t get it. I’m done listening to you. There’s nothing you could say to make up for not only the things you’ve done to me, but the way you spoke to me after I went through what I did with Royce. I’m blocking your number and on every app. Do not try to speak to me again.”
I hang up the phone. Holland claps. And then he picks me up and swings me around the living room. I put my head in the crook of his neck. He smells like sunshine and trees.
“That was awesome,” he says as he sets me down.
“That was something!” The adrenaline is still rushing through my body. “I have to call Stella before Jack has a chance to spin his own story.”
“Go for it. I’ll give you some space,” Holland says as he grabs Slate and takes him to the outdoor patio, closing the door.
I dial Stella’s number with shaking fingers.
“Ivy. It’s good to hear from you,” she says, concern clear in her voice.
“Hi, Stella. Ugh, let me just say, I’m so sorry about all of this.”
She interrupts before I can continue. “I know you’re not about to apologize for Royce. This isn’t your fault. From what I understand, Royce was criminally out of line.” Her voice is stern.
“Have you heard from the company or anything?” While this would be a mess for us, it’d be much worse for them.
“Nothing from their camp yet. I’m betting they don’t know about it. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear.”
“What about the contract?”
“Ivy, I don’t care about that. We’ll figure it out, but for now, I just want to make sure you’re doing okay. Sounds like you’ve made some good connections at the lodge. I talked to the owner yesterday and he reiterated that you were doing well under these circumstances, which is all I care about.”
“Have you told anyone else yet?” My stomach hurts from the idea of people whispering about me in the office, again.
“Not yet. There’s no need to. Once we have more information, I’ll share it with those who need to know.”
“Thank you,” I say and I mean it.
“I’d like to offer you additional days off to tack onto your vacation. Whether you choose to stay at the lodge or come back home, it’s up to you. I want to make sure you have time to relax after this whole thing. You let me know when you’re ready to come back to work and that will be fine with me.”
Fucking Jack. I knew it. Maybe I knew the whole time and just didn’t want to rock the boat at Sparks.
“Stella, about that…” And then I launch into the entire story.
Stella says nothing. She listens all the way until the end which makes telling it much easier.
“We’ve got quite the mess on our hands, don’t we?!” Her voice is professional but also sounds villainous. “Well, this is my mess for now. I’m going straight to HR after this meeting.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need anything from me—”
