AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sam smiles and squeezes me against her side. "You always do."
"What if I can't? What if I've finally pushed my luck too far this time?"
"It doesn't work that way," she assures me. "You can start over as many times as you need to. But hey, nothing's happened yet. I mean, when you saw the termination letter, you said he hadn't even signed it yet. The way I see it, it's not game over until someone tries to explain why they're firing you. And you can explain all the reasons you have for suing them. They've really got it coming to them if they let him get by with this."
Sam's right. He hasn't signed it yet. If anything, finding that stupid letter on his desk did me a favor. It gave me an advanced warning of what's to come, and now - I still have time to try and stop it.
"I can't let this happen," I decide, jumping to my feet. "I can't let him do this. I haven't been perfect. I know that. It was a mistake to sleep with Ashford again and complicate our working relationship even more than it already was. But it takes two to tango. He's just as guilty as I am, and I'm not going down for this alone. Either we both stay, or we both go. Or…if anyone gets fired, it should be him. He's the one who tried to keep me from getting the job…and now this."
"The guy certainly blurs the lines between personal and professional," she huffs. "That's for sure. What are you going to do?"
"I have to go talk to Sturgill. I don't know what he told them, but I have to go plead with him not to fire me."
24
Vanessa
Ispend the rest of the night trying to get through to Sturgill, but his damn receptionist won't let me talk to him.
"Can I schedule a meeting with him then?" I huff after countless calls, hounding her and not getting anywhere.
"Sure, he has an opening three weeks from now."
"Three weeks!?" I shriek. "It can't wait that long. I'm an employee of Bardot. I'm the head of research. It shouldn't be this hard to talk to my own boss!"
"It is when your boss is Sturgill Bardot," she defends. "Ma'am–"
"Dr. Lopez," I correct her.
"Dr. Lopez," she sighs with frustration. "I assure you I've told Mr. Bardot you're trying to get in touch with him. If he has any earlier openings, I'll reach back out to set something up with you. In the meantime, I suggest getting in touch with your direct supervisor…"
"I don't have a direct supervisor!" I scream. "The only person I work with is…I can't talk to him about this. I have to go higher up, and since there is no medical director on staff at the moment, I have no choice but to talk to Sturgill."
I wait for her reply, but the line is silent. "Hello? Hello!?" The phone beeps, disconnecting the call.
"Dammit! She hung up on me."
"Still no luck?" Sam asks. She's been camped out nearby on the couch this whole time, staying close by for emotional support. Which as it turns out has been very much needed.
"Sturgill can try to blow me off all he wants, but I'm not going to go down without a fight," I rant, pacing the living room back and forth. "He's going to see me whether he likes it or not."
"You want me to come with you?" she offers.
"God, I wish you could come with me," I mutter. "But there's no way he'll see me if I bring another person. He'll just assume you're a lawyer and start avoiding me even more! I hate that I have to do this without you."
"Now there's an idea," she smiles, getting up from the couch. "I'll just pretend to be your lawyer!"
"Do you know anything about law?" I ask, though I'm pretty sure I already know the answer.
"Not even a little bit," she admits unapologetically.
I burst into laughter. "I love you, girl. You're one of the few people on this planet that can actually make me laugh when it feels like the world is ending."
I feel a stabbing pain as I think to myself - Joshua is another one of those select few people. Or at least he was. Ironically enough, he's also very talented at making me cry more than anyone else I know. If that's not a sign of bad news, I don't know what is.
"I love you too," Sam says, hugging me close. "When are you going to try and talk to Sturgill?"
"I think my best chances are when I go into work at the usual time tomorrow," I decide. "I'm too upset tonight, and I probably need to put some space between when I go to see him and all of the harassing phone calls I put in to his secretary today."
