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That’s why I’m stepping away indefinitely to tend to personal matters.
I hate that my time with you has come to an unexpected end. I’ll sincerely miss each and every one of you. Some of you, I’ve known my whole life. Rest assured I’m leaving you in the most capable hands.
Sincerest wishes,
Lincoln Burns, Chief Executive Officer
I read the email, blinking back tears, and turn to Cheryl.
“So who’s our new CEO?” I ask.
“Oh, God, I have no idea. Did you know about this?”
I shrug glumly.
“...he said he might do this, the last time we got into it. I just didn’t think he was serious.” I bite my lip, hating the instant crash in office morale I can feel in the air.
The COO strolls right past us to Anna’s office.
That’s never happened before. We stare after her.
“Why is she down here?” I whisper.
“How should I know?”
I try to glue my eyes back to ad projects on my screen, but I’m too distracted by the impending doom. We whisper back and forth, wondering why our lowly marketing team is being visited by C-level staff.
“I knew something was seriously wrong,” Cheryl moans, rubbing her face. “We’re going under, aren’t we? We took on too much with that wedding line. Burns knows it, and he’s jumping ship before we’re underwater.”
“Lincoln wouldn’t have resigned if he thought we were going under. He’d stay and fight until he turned it around.” I may loathe the man for using my heart as a punching bag, but I’ll give him his professional due.
I also know the real reason for the turnover in leadership.
Linc just doesn’t know what to do. He’d rather exit his family business than deal with me.
Sure, there’s also the Wyatt factor, but ugh.
I used to think I hit my all-time low when Jay ghosted on my wedding day. Anything had to be better after that.
I was wrong.
Cheryl stares through her computer screen and glances at Anna’s door. “She’s been in there for a while.”
The COO comes out of Anna’s office and goes straight to the elevator without speaking to anyone else.
Anna steps out about a minute later and walks up to us.
“Dakota, do you have a few? I’d like to talk.” she asks.
My stomach sinks.
“Good luck,” Cheryl mouths from her desk.
I nod, square my shoulders, and head to Anna’s office, ready to face the music, although I’m not even sure what I’m facing the music for. An HR formality, probably. They want some kind of statement to cover the company’s butt based on whatever Lincoln said about us.
Hell, maybe they think I should resign, too. That would tie up any loose ends.
“Why are you so tense?” she asks as I pass her.
“...I don’t know.”
She smiles. “Have a seat. I’m not here to put you in front of a firing squad.”
Not a huge relief, but I comply.
“So, Lincoln’s departure is a pretty big surprise. No one expected it.” Anna moves to her desk and sits. “The board will work to hire a new CEO, but in the meantime, leadership is being reshuffled.”
“Reshuffled?” A lump forms in my throat. That doesn’t sound good.
I should have just quit when crap went down.
“Jane’s going to be our acting CEO—”
“Jane?”
“The COO.”
“Oh, right.” I see her around but never knew her name.
“I’ll be acting COO in the meantime. It’s not permanent. Jane will return to her position when it’s all said and done.” She whispers, even though we’re alone in her office. “But just between you and me, I’m confident she’s planning to leverage her temporary CEO experience to take a stab at being CEO somewhere else once Lincoln is replaced. And if that happens, I’ll be staying in Jane’s position permanently.”
I nod. What does any of this have to do with me?
“While I’m COO, you’re going to be marketing manager.”
My heart jumps, sticking in my throat.
“What? But there are people who have been here way longer—”
“Doesn’t matter. You already review other people’s work when you don’t need to. Your suggestions are always good. People find it easy to ask you for advice and accept your criticism. There’s no one better for this role. It may be temporary, but it’ll be awesome experience on your resumé.”
I’m stunned, glued to my seat.
“Thank you. Um, when do I start?”
Anna clasps her hands and leans forward. “Today, if you’re ready.”
After Lincoln, I don’t know that I’ll ever be ready for anything again. But I wanted a distraction, didn’t I?
Ready or not, here it is.
It barely takes a few weeks to figure out I hate the new job.
All I do is go to meetings, approve creative from multiple teams, convince them they like their job, and run reports. I miss writing so much it hurts.
I also miss sparring with Lincoln over Regis rolls every morning. Anytime I go upstairs, I fight back tears at the sight of Jane in his office.
