“What?” she says defiantly, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
“You’re a piece of work,” one of them mutters.
“This person doesn’t work here anymore. Please make sure to confiscate her laptop and phone and escort her out,” I say, refusing to look at her.
“You can’t take my phone!”
“It’s thecompanyphone,” I tell her. “You have to turn it in the second you’re terminated from the company.”
“You can’t fire me!” she screams.
“I already did.” My throat feels raw. “If I speak to Jeremiah, she’ll advise me to sue you as well.”
That shuts her up. Guess she didn’t think that far ahead. “You’ll never do that! If you do, I’ll tell everyone what a shitty human being you are.”
“You mean you’ll continue with your past behavior?” I ask, pain ripping up and down my chest. I turn to security. “I think I’ll survive. Gentlemen? Please.”
“Wait!” she shouts, but the men loop their arms around hers and drag her out. She screams an endless string of cuss words, all directed at me. Everyone on the floor stares. Julio’s eyes are so wide, they seem to take up half his face.
“Julio, I’ll need you to brief me on the day’s agenda, please.”
He swallows, then blinks. “Uh. Yeah. Sure. Can you give me, like, a minute?”
“Of course. You’ll be taking over all of Bianca’s duties, auditing all the tasks she’ssupposedlydone and making sure they’re completed properly. You can select an assistant to help you. Oh, and you’ll be getting a raise, effective immediately.”
“Yes,ma’am.”
I throw myself into my work. I need to figure out how to salvage the collaboration Bianca has damaged, and come up with a way to convince the shareholders to give me another chance at tomorrow’s meeting.
* * *
Around eleven, Julio comes in with a huge bouquet of purple freesia, white lisianthus and roses.
“This came for you.” He hands it to me.
“Thank you.” A few lavender sprigs add to the gorgeous scent. The tension headache eases, and I can breathe better.
A corner of Julio’s lips turns up. “Glad the flowers made you smile.”
Did I just smile? I guess I did. “I’m all right, Julio.”
“I just… I’m sorry about…” He jerks his thumb in the direction of Bianca’s now-empty desk.
“I know.” I keep the smile on my face. It isn’t his fault that I made a huge mistake with my friendship.
He clears his throat, then leaves.
I pluck the card buried in the large blossoms.
Been thinking about you. Hope you stay strong. Remember, you did nothing wrong.
–Sebastian
I sigh, and a gooey feeling pulses in my heart. This is sweet. I might’ve screwed up in the friendship department, but maybe I didn’t totally mess up in husband selection. Suddenly, I no longer feel so alone.
I pull out my phone.
–Me: Thank you for the flowers and making me smile. I needed that.
