Trent:Babe, do you think you could tell Addison that you are going out of town to see a friend or something so we can run off to the Cape for a long weekend again?
The color quickly drained from Noah’s face, and I got out of the car immediately. He ran after me as I started walking away.
“Babe! Wait! Where are you going? Let me explain!”
I turned around and shoved my finger hard into his chest. “Fuck you, Noah! How could you? We’ve been together for eight years! We are fucking engaged! I knew something seemed off.”
I took my ring off and threw it at his head. He quickly ran after it because it was probably worth more than my car, and let’s be honest, he probably cared more about the ring than me.
After he grabbed the ring, he caught up to me and spun me around by my shoulders. “Will you let me explain, please?”
I looked at his pleading gaze. “Sure, go for it. Let’s hear this explanation of why you are cheating on me with someone from the office.”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen, but the last five months or so, you have been gone a lot competing with your horse, and if you’re not competing, you are at the barn training, and if you’re not training, you are working. I felt ignored, but then Jessica started giving me attention, and before I knew it, things happened. I didn’t plan for this.” He looked down at the ground.
“Are you serious right now? You are blaming me? Instead of talking to me and telling me how you feel, you thought it would be better just to go fuck someone else instead?” I said, fuming.
I couldn’t believe this guy. He knew my goals and my dreams—he claimed he supported them! I should have known that it was all just lip service, considering he had never been to one of my shows in the eight years we’d been together, let alone never even coming to the barn with me. He also said on more than one occasion that horses were a hobby, not a career.
“What’s my horse’s name?” I crossed my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes in his direction. If looks could kill, I’d have set his ass on fire.
He looked at me, confused. “What? What are you talking about?”
“What is my horse’s name, Noah?”
He just blinked at me, his words stuttering. “Uh…uh…um.”
I spun back around on my heel and headed toward the T, the public transit system in Boston, and yelled over my shoulder, “His name is Cash, you asshat. I would think you would remember, considering it’s one of your favorite things.Go fuck yourself. We are done.”
After the anger dissipated, I cried myself to sleep that night. I woke up the next morning with the sobering realization that my eight-year relationship with the man I thought I was going to marry was over, and now I had to drag myself out of bed and go to work at his family’s company. And don’t forget the fact that the girl he cheated on me with also worked there. Lucky me. Despite my puffy eyes from crying all night, I managed to make myself look presentable for work. As I settled into my desk for the morning, I was just about to open my emails when my desk phone started to ring. My heart rate picked up the minute I read the caller ID. It was Lisa from HR.
“Hey, Lisa, good morning. What can I do for you?” I tried to keep my tone upbeat.
“Good morning, Addison. Can you please come to my office?” Lisa said in a rather serious tone, one I wasn’t expecting.
“Sure thing. I’ll be right over.”
I hung up the phone and quickly headed to Lisa’s office, my heart beating out of my chest. Lisa never called me. What could this be about?
I walked into Lisa’s office, and she asked me to close the door behind me. I did as she said and sat down across from her.
She gave me a slight sympathetic smile. “Addison, I’m just going to cut to the chase here. Unfortunately, we have to let you go. We have decided to reorganize the finance department,and your position is being eliminated. I’m terribly sorry. We do have a six-month severance package that you will be receiving, but this is effective immediately, so you will need to get your belongings and vacate the office.”
I stared at her, completely dumbfounded.Wait, what? What did she just say?
Lisa said my name, pulling me from my shock. “Addison?”
I shook my head, confused. “I’m sorry, did you just say I’m being fired?”
“No, not fired, laid off. We are sorry to see you go, but your position no longer exists,” Lisa restated.
I just nodded, unsure of what to do or say. First, my fiancé cheats on me, and now I’ve been laid off from his family’s company, where I have worked for the last six years.How convenient for him.I stood and walked right out of Lisa’s office without saying another word, grabbed my things from my desk, and walked right out of that office for the last time. As I walked to my car, my phone vibrated in my hand, and I looked down to see that Harper was calling. I immediately picked up.
“Hey, girl! Want to grab lunch today?” she said cheerfully into the phone.
“I think I need a drink more than lunch right now,” I said. “I hadn’t told you yet, but yesterday I found out that Noah had been cheating, so I ended it, and now I just got laid off.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, the beginning of a headache forming.
There was silence on her end, followed by “That motherfucker. I’ll grab the emergency kit and meet you at yourplace in twenty minutes,” she said, all business in her tone, and immediately hung up.
