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“You can’t fire me,” she said, with an amount of conviction that shocked her.
A slow, sinister grin spread over Jonathan’s face and turned her insides to jelly. “As CEO of this company, Ms. Green, I assure you I can do whatever I want.”
“We’ll see about that,” Lucy hissed, and turned for the door, severance offer still in hand.
In the hall, she took a hard left toward the office she should have visited after he touched her earlier that morning—the office she should have visited years before, when it all started.
By the time she was standing in front of Joanna’s desk, she was shaking. The cool, calm colors of the room and ocean shimmering in the distance did next to nothing for her nerves.
“Lucy? What’s wrong?” Joanna asked. She sat at her desk, startled by Lucy’s sudden appearance and authoritative closing of her boss’s door like she owned the place.
A hot ball of emotion jammed Lucy’s throat. She swallowed tears. She slapped the severance offer on the desk. “Your brother is trying to fire me.”
Shock rearranged Joanna’s face. She rapidly blinked and reached for the paper. “What?” Her eyes scanned, and Lucy began to breathe faster and faster.
“He just called me into his office and gave me this.”
“I don’t...” She blinked at the number. “I don’t understand. Why would he fire you?”
The truth Lucy hadn’t wanted to tell Joanna for several years sat on the tip of her tongue like a grenade. All the times she thought of confiding in her, the barrier of Jonathan being her brother stood in the way. How could she tell her mentor, her friend, something so awful? She had worried time and again that the act in itself would ruin her chance at advancement. The bind cost her many hours of lost sleep and several perfectly good manicures chewed to nubs.
But the time had come. She saw no other way. And she had no other choice.
“Joanna, Jonathan has been harassing me. This morning, he invited me into his office and asked how committed I am to my career. He touched my knee and insinuated there were things I could do to secure my promotion. I called him on it, and now he’s firing me with this severance offer to keep me from talking.”
Lucy had imagined the moment she shared this news with Joanna many times. In those scenarios, Joanna’s reactions ranged from rage to tears to denial and shouting at Lucy to get out. The situation was complicated and sensitive, and now that she saw Joanna’s reaction live in person, Lucy realized one of her scenarios should have included the sickly, pale sheen that washed over her face.
Despite that, the release of finally telling someone other than her two best friends the truth lifted a weight from Lucy so large, she felt untethered to the earth for a moment. And then she remembered her job was on the line, and the possibility that she really was fired suddenly felt too real, and it threatened to swallow her whole.
“I love this job,” she said, her voice wobbly. “We’re supposed to have lunch with Lily Chu today, and I’m going to sign her as a client. I can’t get fired.” Her words came out sounding numb and lost.
Joanna rose from her desk and rounded to Lucy’s side. She reached out like she was going to hug her and hesitated before she gently patted her upper arms. There was so much to be said, but Joanna focused on the immediate matter. An emotion Lucy couldn’t quite place nipped at her voice. “Lucy, I will take care of this. We are still going to lunch with Lily, so be ready in”—she flipped her wrist to check her watch—“an hour.” She grabbed the severance offer from her desk and shuffled Lucy toward the door. “Don’t worry,” she told her with a smile.
Lucy knew Joanna was using her expert chaos management skills on her. The situation would not be helped by shouting and door slamming, even if it felt appropriate. As much as Jonathan wanted Lucy to go quietly, Joanna probably wanted record of Jonathan’s quid pro quo to slide under the radar too. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to go unleash big-sister wrath on him behind closed doors, and the thought lifted Lucy’s heart a fraction.
As did the thought that Joanna really ran the ship at J&J. Even if she wasn’t officially in charge, Lucy had to put her faith in Joanna coming to her aid.
She stood outside Joanna’s door and caught Oliver’s concerned eyes.
So?he silently asked.
Lucy didn’t know how to respond, still stunned from it all. She held up a hand in a shrug.
Oliver narrowed his eyes and then used his hand to make a drinking motion with his thumb and pinky out.
Lucy thought for a second he was suggesting they ditch work and drown the morning’s sorrows in booze, which didn’t sound half bad, but then she realized his hand signal was a reminder that when Jonathan summoned her, she had been on her way to see the bartender to undo the wish that was ruining her life.
