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“Not feeling well?”
“We feel sick, but it’s not from food poisoning.” Donna could barely look Maisie in the eye. That spelled trouble, and instantly, Maisie’s stomach tightened.
“What’s up?” Maisie asked, a chipper tone in her voice despite her nerves being on high alert. She loved it. She’d always wanted to be the perpetual ray of sunshine in people’s lives. Who knew all it took to unlock that power was a single night of extraordinary sex?
“I think you should sit down.” Cheryl motioned to a chair.
“Okay.” Maisie found she was having to work a little harder to fight against the negativity that was threatening her mood. Maybe an additional night of out of this world sex would be the cure. Like a booster shot. Fortunately, Maisie was already on top of it. “You know, I’m starting to get a little worried with how you two are acting, and that’s kind of the last thing I want this morning, so—”
“You didn’t get the job,” Cheryl blurted out.
Maisie’s eyes widened, the taste of bile hitting the back of her throat as the meaning of those awful words sank in. “What?”
Donna perched on the lip of the table with extreme care, so as not to topple over their display. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. That promotion you wanted? The rat bastards gave it to Jillian.”
“They gave it to—who’s Jillian?” The news had barely started to make sense in Maisie’s head.
“Nate the frickin’ tater tot’s new girlfriend, that’s who.” Cheryl’s lip curled in disgust or possibly in a spot-on Elvis impersonation. Given the context, Maisie was going to go with the former.
Maisie’s good mood vanished, her perpetual sunshine dimming with an icy blast of reality. “I didn’t even know he was dating someone.”
“Apparently so. I heard through the grapevine he’d started dating Jillian in the mail room, but I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“She worked in the mail room?” Maisie spluttered. “And, she got the job I’ve been busting my ass for, even though she doesn’t have any experience at all?”
Not only were the last vestiges of sunshine extinguished inside her soul, but dark storm clouds rolled in. Maisie would have laughed over the absurdity of the situation if it hadn’t meant her entire future had skidded to a halt right then and there. There was no way she’d be able to go back to college now. Her last promise to her dad was about to splinter into a thousand disappointing fragments, and she’d be stuck in a dead-end job, barely able to make ends meet, for the rest of her life.
“I’m so sorry, honey. Maybe you should get a lawyer.” Cheryl hunched down, putting her hands on Maisie’s knees. “This has got to be illegal.”
“I can’t afford a lawyer.” Maisie tried to beat back a sob but failed. What was the use of holding back her tears? She couldn’t stop them now if she tried. “I don’t understand why this is happening.”
“Oh, honey.”
Maisie couldn’t tell which of her friends had said it, but it didn’t matter. Both of her coworkers were hugging her, and she wished it helped. It made her feel even worse. They’d always championed Maisie because they saw how hard she worked. The same could not be said for the powers that be at Taite and Greene, who apparently only cared about who Nate was fucking.
The injustice clogged her throat, and the knowledge she’d ever been into that jerk made her feel dirty. Her sobs came out both wrathful and pathetic at the same time.
“Go on, Maisie. You shouldn’t have to work right now,” Cheryl soothed.
“We’ll cover the closing and cleanup. Don’t you worry. We won’t tell a soul. The next time I see Nate, I’m going to kick him so hard in the nards he’ll wish he became a celibate monk in a faraway monastery.” Donna looked like she meant to fulfill the threat, and Maisie was grateful.
“You two are the best. I mean it.”
Maisie hightailed it out of the convention hall, the chemical smell of burning butter substitute churning her stomach. All she could see was the memory of her father’s expression as he’d told her how far in life she would go. What a crushing disappointment she’d turned out to be.
Outside, she didn’t know where to go. Home was the only thing she could think of, but it wasn’t like she could change her plane ticket. Every penny had to be saved, now more than ever. She’d have to start looking for a job. And the college had made it clear how little time she had left to save up the rest of her tuition.
Oh God.
Maisie’s phone vibrated with an incoming text, momentarily saving her from finding out how quickly her thoughts could spiral.
Drew.
Some of Maisie’s earlier hope returned. Drew wanted to see her, and she was maybe the one person on the planet who could put things right. Now, how to get to the arena as quickly as possible?
A smile teased Maisie’s lips as she remembered the last time she’d traveled that way. Instead of pulling up her ride share app, she located the card the driver had given her and dialed the number.
“Hello, is this Miz Destiny? I need a ride to the Southpoint Arena.”
