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“You have to be able to enjoy things, to enjoy this time in your life. Life is too short to waste it like that.”
“I will, I will. I just want to be prepared.”
“You’ve always been prepared, Brady. It’s why we love you.”
“I know.” That was what I was afraid of.
***
Chapter 20
Cici
I shouldn’t have been surprised about the reception to my news in our little Grove Communications family. It was still early, only a few weeks after we’d found out ourselves, but it was extremely important that they understand and be a part of the plan. Peter stared for several huge, long moments before breaking into the biggest smile I thought I’d ever seen on the man. Luna, of course, smirked knowingly, as if she’d just been waiting for me to give up the story, and of course Ashlyn just gushed all over again.
That hurdle taken down, I sat down at my desk and made a game plan. I was almost twelve weeks along. I had things to do, baby stuff to buy, and I was feeling more and more comfortable with the idea that in twenty-odd short weeks, Grove Communications was gaining another employee. Maybe this one was unpaid and potentially crying, but I still planned on putting them in the business plan.
“Tell me, oh mighty search engine. How does one continue to run a company while toting around a brand-new, fresh-from-the-oven crotch goblin…” I typed a myriad of pregnancy keywords into the search engine.
“Your father used to talk to himself too. All the time, actually.”
I didn’t even lift my eyes from the Google search, but I frowned. “And he was a genius. What’s your point, Luna?”
“I wanted to see how you were handling everything.”
That got my attention. I raised my eyes to look into her glacier-blue eyes. “What do you mean? I think things went over really well.”
“I wasn’t implying they hadn’t. I just…” Luna’s voice faded off. For the first time in all the years I’d known her, she seemed at a loss for words. Her slight frame was rigid, tight as she stood just inside my office door.
“I’m good, Luna,” I said, this time with emphasis. I didn’t love the direction this was going.
But her gaze was like steel. “What are you going to do about the company?”
I rose from my chair, my bare feet settling on the tile floor as I looked down on her. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“Everyone else can coo and whisper and smile with you about your news. But someone has to be the realist. You’re our biggest business developer. You handle all our plans, our contracts, even our finances. What are you going to do when your little bundle of joy arrives? Just disappear for a few weeks and leave us all here, waiting?”
“Excuse me,” I stuttered.
“You need to think like the owner of a company, Cici. Your father would have a backup plan or five. And we wouldn't have let him get in this situation in the first place.”
My entire body was shaking. Somewhere in the back of my mind, it occurred to me that the door was open wide and that there was no way that Ashlyn and Peter hadn’t just heard Luna’s entire rant. But my brain wouldn't digest that right now. The only thing I could feel, spreading from my aching chest to every bit of my body, was white-hot rage.
My voice was deadly quiet when I was finally able to speak. “You have overstepped your bounds, Luna. I have respected your decision to continue working. I’ve allowed you to stay, to sit up there at the front desk, doing whatever it is that you want to do. I’ve never asked. I’ve never questioned what the hell my father was thinking when he hired you all those years ago. But today, right now, you’ve taken it too far.”
The silence was as sharp as knives as I stared down at her. I could almost feel the blood as it pulsed down to my fingertips. Luna was stoic, her face still and emotionless as she looked up at me.
“Take the rest of the day, Luna.” I turned and went to sit at my desk, dismissing her with a twist of my shoulder. “Start again on Monday. And don’t question me like that again.”
“Will do, Ms. Grove,” Luna’s voice was quiet but solid. It almost seemed like she was unaffected.
That only made one of us. Inside, my entire body quivered, my lungs ready to explode from the desire to burst into tears. But I swallowed that down, savoring the pain and betrayal that filled my mouth.
Luna left the room.
I busied myself at my desk. Making noise, brushing aside pens and even typing until I heard the doors of the office close. Then, calmly, I slipped my heels on and made my way down the hall and out into the glaring light of day.
The first tear slipped out when I opened my car door. The second as I buckled my seat belt. And as I pulled out into the street, finding the closest highway to me and turning onto it. The city flew by, melting into the San Francisco suburbs as I sped along, my head aching as the slow, steady stream of tears made their way down my face.
