Page 19 of Hot Mess Christmas Express

Chapter Eleven

“I’m sorry, come again?”Sienna asked, sure that she hadn’t heard her boss correctly. There was no way.

“We’re letting you go,” Bob Sargent repeated. “I’ll need you to come in some time after the first of the year to complete some termination paperwork, but as of today, Cosmas is no longer in need of your services.”

“Fired. I’m fired,” she repeated. Her boss’s words echoed in her mind, making less and less sense each time. “You’re firing me on Christmas?”

The chaos of the shopping center parking lot buzzed around her, making this moment even more surreal. This wasn’t really happening, was it?

“Christmas was two days ago, Miss Sloan. This is the kind of attention to detail that one could wish you would apply to your job, making it so we weren’t in this situation.”

Sienna let out a huff. Leave it to Bob fucking Sargent to get nitpicky over phrasing when firing an employee. The snake.

“At Christmas, Bob. Happy now?”

“Well, I’m never happy to have to let someone go, but I just can't have a rep who the doctors aren't comfortable with.”

“Not comfortable with?” she screeched, drawing some strange glances from other customers. She knew it was a mistake to take her boss’s call while out shopping with her sister, but she’d been worried that if she hadn’t, he would just call over and over until she did. He’d done that plenty of times before, and she didn’t have the energy to deal with it today. If she’d only known. “Who isn’t comfortable with me?”

“Miss Sloan, the particulars don’t matter. What matters is that’s how our customers feel. Combine that with your wild hair colors, your often non-traditional choices in clothing, and your mediocre sales numbers, this simply is no longer a good fit.”

“It’s been two years!”

“Which is more than enough time for us to have assessed this. I’m sorry, Miss Sloan, my decision is final. I shall see you on Monday in HR to complete the paperwork.”

There was a click on the other end of the phone, and Bob was gone. Had he really just hung up on her? The bastard. Sienna closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath, telling herself it would be okay. This wasn’t the end of the world.

Except, it kind of was.

She might have hated the job. It might have been sucking the life out of her. But it was what was keeping her afloat. Sure, it meant she had no time to put into the business she’d wanted to start up, but it was paying the bills. The bills that weren’t going anywhere.

“That didn’t sound good,” Kellie said, suddenly appearing at her side.

“I just lost my job.”

Saying it out loud stung all over again. On top of everything else, this really was the last thing she needed. She really was the hot mess Christmas express.

“River Street Tap is right there. Let’s go get a drink, and you can tell me what he said.”

Sienna hightailed it across the parking lot, yanking the door to the pub open with all her might. Right about now she didn’t care if she ripped it off its hinges. Doing damage to something might actually make her feel better. She would have to settle for a drink though—and maybe something deep fried. Eating her feelings was always a surefire way to lift her spirits.

The small wooden sign sitting on the hostess station told them to seat themselves, so Sienna scanned the room, her eyes landing on a small table up against the far wall. Weaving through the restaurant, she let out a sigh, trying not to dwell on the pit that was growing in her stomach. Searching for a job was the last thing she wanted to be doing to start off the new year. As much as she didn’t want to go down that road, maybe this was the universe telling her it was time to give up on her dream and go to work for her family. It wasn’t like she’d gotten her graphic design business moving—at least not in any real way—and she knew that Ian would gladly accept her help. He’d been not so subtly dropping hints since she’d accepted the Cosmas gig that if it ever didn’t work out, he had a spot for her. It was an offer she’d never taken seriously, but now she just might have to.

“Isn’t that Doctor Christmas?” Kellie asked as she sat in the chair across from Sienna.

“Who?”

Kellie jerked her head in the direction of the bar. “Caleb. That’s him at the bar, yes?”

Sienna leaned forward in her seat, twisting slightly to see around a table of college-aged women. Sure enough, Caleb and the groomsman who had interrupted them at the post-wedding brunch were sitting at the bar, each with a highball glass filled with amber liquid in front of them. They were midconversation with an attractive blonde bartender in a low-cut blouse, who appeared to be sticking her chest out at him. A moment later, Caleb magically produced a pen and wrote something on a napkin, handing it to her.

“Did he just?” Kellie asked, not bothering to finish the question.

“No,” she answered quickly. There was no way. They’d made plans for New Year’s Eve. Well, they’d made plans to make plans, but that was the same thing. Sort of. There had to be another explanation. “He’s a doctor. So maybe he was just giving her the office number.”

Even as she said the words, though, Sienna knew she didn’t quite believe herself. That was what she wanted to believe—that all he had done was written down the practice’s number on that napkin and told her to call and make an appointment. But with the way this day was going, that napkin was more likely to contain a marriage proposal.

Without another word, Sienna popped up out of her seat, making her way over to Caleb and his friend.