He gives me one last kiss before striding out of his office.
I head back to the conference room, practically floating, butthe vibe of the room, with everyone clustered into groups and speaking in low tones, instantly brings me back down to earth.
“So, what do we do now?” Heather asks Emily.
Emily sighs. “I’m not entirely sure. I assume Ella and I need to discuss moving forward with the smaller PR team. So, as Mr. Langford instructed, let me know your preference regarding staying on the team or returning to your previous positions. At this point, I don’t know what the numbers look like and how many of you would stay on; I’ll have to speak to Mr. Langford about that.”
“I don’t want to go back down to the marketing and PR floor,” Daphne complains. “Would the team still work up here on the executive level?”
“I don’t know that, either.”
“Uh,” I inject, hesitantly. “Probably not. I just informed Asher that I won’t be part of the new team. I don’t want to do my own PR since it’s now my real life, and that feels even more weird than this situation already has been. Anyway, the reason we’re all up here is because of the . . . unwanted attention I got downstairs. Without me on the team, that’s no longer an issue.”
Daphne huffs. “So, what are you going to do then?”
“I’m not sure. Asher and I are going to discuss it.”
“Must be nice. You just snap your fingers, and yourCEO boyfriendgives you whatever job you want.”
“Daphne,” Emily warns.
“I’m not demanding Asher give me a job, I just don’t want to work on my own PR team. I’m qualified to work in other positions, plus I’m not even from PR, I’m from marketing.”
Daphne’s face contorts into anger. “It’s just really convenient how well everything worked out for you.” She shoves up from her seat, still glaring at me “You weren’t even supposed to be on this team, and then Emilyinsistedon adding you. Then you somehow magically become the candidate chosen, andnow you’re Asher Langford’s girlfriend with all the perks. It’s not fair!”
Everyone is quiet, looking back and forth between Daphne and me.
“Daphne, I would stop if I were you,” Emily warns again.
“I’m getting really tired of the narrative that I somehow wormed my way into this,” I say, snapping back at Daphne. “Emily added me onto the team because she respects my work. Matthew suggested me as a candidate to Asher. And the rest just happened because of all that.”
“Oh yeah, Matthew just happened to suggest you after you leeched yourself onto him!”
Anger races through me, but I also want to laugh. “Matthew and I became friends organically. That’s how friendship works. It sounds to me, Daphne, like you’re sore you weren’t the one chosen. But if you remember correctly,none of uswere supposed to be chosen.”
“And yet, you were!”
After weeks of putting up with Daphne’s snide remarks, I finally let go and tell her everything I’ve wanted to from the beginning.
“What do you want me to say? Sorry? Sorry that Asher didn’t want to choose any of the women the board suggested? Sorry Matthew noticed that Asher and I have a natural chemistry? It’s not like Asher’s options were limited to the women on his PR team and you were slighted by not being chosen. His options were so vast he could have practically picked any woman in the world. But he chose me. And not that you deserve an explanation, but what Asher and I have, what we are to one another, is not something you can manufacture. It might have started that way, but it didn’t stay that way for long.”
Someone coughs pointedly from behind me, and I turn around.
“This is an exciting turn of events,” Matthew says, wearing asmug grin. Three executives from the board stand behind him: Janet, Henry, and Alan. “As much as I live for drama and want to wholeheartedly grab some popcorn and watch this play out, I can’t.”
Daphne scowls at him then glares at me again.
“Don’t get me wrong, sweetie,” Matthew says to Daphne in a condescending tone, “it’s not Ella I’m protecting—it’s you. I was just in the board meeting where Asher referred to Ella as his future wife and threatened everyone on the board within an inch of their lives if they disrespect her again. If he’s willing to toss threats like that at his board members,” he tosses a casual thumb in Janet’s direction, “what do you think he’ll do to some PR girl who disrespects hisfuture wife?”
Daphne’s nostrils flair, then she swallows hard.
I flinch.Future wife?Did he really say that in front of the board?
Everyone looks at me, but I don’t know what to say. No matter that I’ve been with Asher for two months, I’m still not used to constantly being the center of attention. I knew I would get attention from agreeing to date Asher, but I didn’t think I would practically have a spotlight shined on me in my everyday life. In my work life. I grew up performing under spotlights on a stage, but this isn’t a stage with practiced choreography or a public appearance with pre-determined expectations—this is an awkward spotlight, and I don’t really know how to react. You’d think I’d be better at it by now, but I’m not.
Everyone continues to stare at me as if they’re expecting an explanation, but I don’t know what to tell them. Asher is a bulldozer who gets what he wants and asks questions later. The fact that he referred to me as his future wife at work is not something I could have anticipated.
“I know this turn of events is abrupt,” Matthew says, drawing their attention away from me. “It might seem like it’s coming out of nowhere, but it was obvious to anyone close toAsher and Ella that this was an inevitability. So, abrupt or not, you all need to get on board with this. As of today, Ella is no longer your coworker. She is no longer your team member. She is now Mr. Langford’s official girlfriend, andper his words, his future wife. You’d do well to treat her as such if you value your jobs.
