Valerie clicked through a few of the offerings: a wine tour, a spa day, a club crawl with limo service. Over her dead body. She was going to keep Ad Astra the way it was. She wanted it to grow past her mistake and to keep helping people who needed it. She wanted to stick with it.
She wrote Alexis a reply, then considered all the ways it could be misinterpreted. It was easier to write it, though. Less challenging.
But sometimes conflict was inevitable.
She picked up the phone and felt sick after the first ring. Alexis answered and sounded pleased when it was Valerie. “Good, you got my message. When are you back? We need to get this going.”
“Alexis.”
“The company is such a mess,” continued Alexis. “You’re lucky I’m willing to come on board. Blair says I’m doing you a favor, but I know this thing can work.”
“Alexis.”
“I mean, you took it as far as you could, and that’s commendable.”
“Alexis. I never agreed to a partnership or to shift focus.” There. It was out, but Valerie didn’t feel more relieved.
“Yes you did.”
“No, I said I’d think about it. I should have said no earlier rather than let you believe it was an option. I’m not going into business with you.” She paused and put her shoulders back. “Because Ad Astra is mine. I decide what to do with it, not you.”
“God.” Alexis sounded furious, and although Valerie didn’t blame her, she also didn’t like it. “Are you kidding?”
“No.”
“I thought we were friends. How could you pull this, after I’ve done so much for you?”
Valerie wanted to defend herself and point out Alexis’s many deficiencies as a friend and an employee, but suddenly, she was tired. Tired of pretending to be grateful for scraps. Tired of putting herself second to make others feel like they were first. Perhaps they were friends, but it was a category of friendship she no longer wanted.
Alexis had no place in her life, not anymore. She didn’t need to argue or wait for Alexis to finish talking. All she needed to do was say goodbye.
So she did.
Then she followed it up with an email that didn’t have a single thank-you, or apology, or mitigating phrase, as she confirmed Alexis’s Ad Astra involvement was over, if that wasn’t clear, and at no point had Valerie agreed to partner with her.
She tested how she felt. Calm. There was no second-guessing, or worrying she’d made the wrong decision. She wasn’t freaking out about someone being mad at her. For once, she’d done the right thing for herself, and no one else.
Then she logged onto her website, reverted Alexis’s changes, and updated the passwords.
Spa days, really. If she did decide to shift her focus, she would have planned truly unique bonding experiences, customized to the group and utterly memorable.
She was startled by a heavy banging on the door of her bunkie. That had to be Penny, which meant her day was about to somehow get worse.
The knock came again, and she steeled herself. If she opened the door carefully, it would offer her some kind of protection from the vengeful knife or fist she was sure Penny would be wielding. She stared at the handle, calculating angles, before she realized it wasn’t even locked.
A third tap came. “Valerie?”
Oh, thank God. She opened the door to Nico.
“I thought you were going to be Penny,” she said in relief.
“Just me.”
Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, Valerie felt tired, and hearing Nico’s voice made her chest ache. She couldn’t even meet his gaze, so her last memory of him was going to be of his chin, rather than those eyes. A fitting end to the summer.
“Look, Nico, I know you probably hate me and I get it. I’m leaving. I’ll get Dalia to pick me up. I’m sorry. Please tell Roger.” They’d been united against Penny, but that was done.
“I don’t hate you.” Nico came into the bunkie and shut the door. “We can deal with the Badgertons later. We have more important things to talk about.”
