Cora steppedinto Sylvia’s office, her legs shaky beneath her. As soon as she crossed the threshold, a memory hit her. Her first day atMorsel, nine years ago.
“Welcome aboard, Cora,” Sylvia had said, her smile warm and encouraging. “I have a feeling you’re going to do great things here.”
She barely had time to blink before the warmth of that first day was replaced by the ice in her boss’s voice.
“Close the door,” Sylvia ordered.
Cora did as instructed. Based on Sylvia’s scowl, she’d gone from rising star to falling meteor in less time than it took to burn toast. The wall clock ticked louder with each second, counting down to what felt like a professional execution. Cora swallowed.
Her boss’s voice cut through the silence. “I expected better of you, Cora. Your negligence has cost us dearly.”
Cora stiffened. “My . . . negligence?”
Sylvia slapped down a copy ofFood Trends Monthlyon her desk. “I trusted you,” Sylvia said, a flicker of sadness crossing her face. “I didn’t just hire you; I mentored you. I handpicked you from business school because I saw your potential.”
Sylvia’s words hit hard. Only a few weeks ago, she’d been handing out praise.Outstanding work on this section, Cora. Your attention to detail is exactly why I put you on this project. That acclaim, once a source of pride, now tasted like rotten lemons.
“I don’t understand,” Cora said. “What does this have to do with me?”
Before Sylvia answered, there was a knock at the door. The director of human resources walked in, placed a folder on Sylvia’s desk, and left without even glancing in Cora’s direction.
Sylvia opened the folder, her eyes skimming the pages before she nodded to herself. “You signed a non-disclosure agreement on your first day atMorsel.”
Cora nodded, confused. “Yes, but I still don’t see what?—”
She shoved the magazine across her desk toward Cora, her finger tapping the byline. “Are you going to deny knowing Alex Jameson?”
“Of course not,” Cora said. “I read his work regularly.”
Alex was her so-called rival over atFood Trends Monthly, a lackluster forecaster with ideas so far off the mark they were laughable. But she’d never met him in person.
“So you admit to having an intimate relationship and sharing proprietary information with him?”
“Anintimate...what? No.” Cora stared at her in disbelief. “I’ve never met the man.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you sure about that? Maybe at a social event?” She tapped the photo beneath the byline.
Cora leaned in, and her stomach dropped as she saw a familiar face grinning back at her. Brad. Her ex-boyfriend. Or, rather, not Brad.
She blinked. “Wait. That’s him? Alex Jameson?” Shehadn’t seen a photo of him since they broke up, and certainly not in a food magazine. Food trend forecasters didn’t usually get the celebrity treatment. No one pinned posters of them to their bedroom walls. Their names might trend. Their faces? Not so much.
Her head spun. Why was Brad, who had claimed he didn’t even know what a Michelin star was, in a competitor’s magazine touting her forecast? Brad, who had pretended to listen while she ranted about Himalayan salt and listed the virtues of mood-enhancing microgreens. Brad, who she’d thought was just a guy who liked takeout as much as she did.
Sure, she’d never been to his apartment, but she’d just assumed it was because hers was nicer. Or cleaner. Or had a better selection of delivery menus. It had crossed her mind that maybe he was married, because he always wanted to meet at her place and seemed fine staying in with takeout instead of going to a restaurant. When she’d asked him about it, he’d told her he just preferred to be a homebody.
And that was fine with Cora. Food trend forecasters weren’t exactly a social bunch. They didn’t get wined and dined like the travel or fashion reporters. The closest thing to a fancy event she had attended was an overly competitive tasting of brownies made with grasshopper flour at the farmer’s market.
Cora let out a short, bitter laugh. “Do you call being dumped by a man who lied to you an intimate relationship? The mostintimatething we did was share a pizza. He took the last slice, by the way, which should have been a red flag. And he said his name was Brad.”
Sylvia’s face remained hard. “Whatever you called him, you shared confidential information with him, and now we’re facing the consequences.”
Cora leaned forward, desperation creeping into her voice. “I didn’t know he was Alex Jameson. I certainly didn’t knowhe worked forFood Trends Monthly.He told me he was a software developer.”
“No excuses,” Sylvia snapped. “This disaster happened on your watch, and nowMorselis facing a major scandal. We’ll be lucky if the magazine survives it.”
Cora opened her mouth to protest, but Sylvia silenced her with a raised hand. “There’s nothing to explain. You’re being placed on indefinite unpaid leave, pending an investigation by our legal team. In simple terms, you’re fired. HR will be in touch about the final arrangements.”
Final arrangements. As if she was a corpse, not a person who had poured years into this job. Cora’s heart sank, and she struggled to catch her breath. Everything she’d sacrificed—her personal life, her relationships, her identity—were all being ripped away in an instant.
