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But ... there’s also this nagging feeling that Colewouldput the needs of the company first, before any of us. I know he prides himself on running this place like a well-oiled machine. What if heisbehind this?
I have to know. Now. I was going to wait and try to catch Cole later, but this will drive me crazy. I have thirty minutes to kill before I need to be down on the beach for surf lessons, and if I wait around until the end of the day to talk to Cole, I’ll probably lose my nerve. So after I leave the cafeteria, I head straight to Cole’s office, waving at reception as I pass them by. The two women give me a sheepish wave back, like they know something I don’t.What? Am I really the last person to hear about these rumors?!
I grow queasy, and I’m tempted to turn back, but then I think of how desperate Lara was at breakfast. She and Camila have been so kind to me; this is the least I can do. No one understands Cole like I do. He and I can talk this through. I’m sure there’s a simple explanation for the layoffs. There has to be.
After I’m done, I’ll carry the good news back to Camila and Lara, and the others, and we won’t have to spend the rest of the day worrying over something that’s not that big of a deal. Probably just watercooler gossip that’s gotten out of hand.
I walk down the executive hallway, experiencing déjà vu from the other night when I went to Cole’s office to ask him for advice about Blaze. That seems like small potatoes now, frivolous and silly compared to what we’re about to talk about. I brace myself as I pass office afteroffice. Every door is shut except for Cole’s. He’s left his slightly ajar, just like last time. I’m about to knock and see myself in when two voices drift out into the hall.
Cole and Todd are inside talking.
“How did Annabelle take it?” Todd asks.
“Hard, but I think ultimately it was the right decision for the company. We offered her a severance package and the option to stay on in a different department, which she ultimately refused.”
I go absolutely rigid with shock. My hand—the one that’s poised, ready to knock—stays frozen in the air.
“Good,” Todd says, sounding a little too giddy about it. “I knew I could count on you. Little by little, we’ll continue trimming the fat. There’s a storm headed our way that should help us. With any luck, we’ll sustain some damage, which will help justify continued layoffs.”
“That could work,” Cole confirms.
I finally move, inching just a little closer and pressing myself against the wall. A terrible feeling settles over me as I continue eavesdropping. I feel like I’m listening in on two diabolical villains plotting to take over the world. Up until this point, I always had Todd in a league of his own. Gross, smarmy Todd with his perpetual bad breath and his beady little eyes. Now I realize I might have been wrong not to include Cole right along with him.
It’s easy to miss. Cole, unlike Todd, carries himself so well. He’s handsome and well dressed. I genuinely thought he cared about his employees, about ...
“Who’s next on the chopping block? Paige?” Todd suggests my name like I’m nothing, a speck.
My chest painfully constricts as I hold my breath.
“Yes. She’ll be gone by next week,” Cole promises without a single ounce of remorse. His tone is so clipped it snips something inside me.
Gone?
WHAT?
He could be talking about a perfect stranger, a nameless nobody.
The realization makes it feel as if I’m losing my footing and falling backward.
How could I have been so stupid?So oblivious?
This is their plan? They’re going to fire me?
For a year, Cole and I have shared a playful rivalry, one I assumed was filled with shallow hostility and harmless banter. I thought we shared a perverse sense of loyalty to each other, even some kind of strange little friendship, but I was wrong. To Cole, apparently, the rivalry was the real deal all along.
We were never friends. I mean nothing to him. He wants me gone.
All of that iscrystal clearnow.
The realization comes as such a sharp betrayal I feel physically sick from it.
Leave it up to Cole to hurt me where it matters the most. He’s really thought this one out. This is his grand finale: strip Paige of the thing she loves the most! Torture the girl who’s never had a real home until now!
It’s brilliant. I have to hand it to him. If he succeeds in firing me, I’ll no longer have a place here at Siesta Playa—no more work family, no more camaraderie. I’ll be back at square one.
I shudder as the thought sinks in.
I’ve built a sanctuary for myself here, and with the snap of his fingers, Cole plans to take it all away.
