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Johnson’s phone rang, cutting him off. When he looked at the caller ID, he cursed under his breath.
“I have to take this, if you’ll excuse me a moment,” he said and pressed the phone against his ear before either of us could respond. When he left the boardroom, Mackenzie and I were alone together.
“Are you okay?” I asked, stepping closer to her.
“I’ve been better,” she admitted. “It will be good to have this out of the way.”
I nodded and took another step closer. “Listen, about the presentation…” I leaned in. “We have to talk about this.”
“Are you… drunk?” Mackenzie asked with a frown. “God, Troy, you smell so much like booze!”
“Oh,” I said, shaking my head. “No, I’m not… well, okay, maybe I’m tipsy, but I had to talk to you.”
“About what?” she asked. She looked suspicious now.
“About the project. You can’t present.”
“Why not?” Mackenzie asked.
“Because you won’t get it.”
Mackenzie frowned. “Excuse me? Why wouldn’t I get it? I’m as good as you are.”
“That’s not what I mean,” I said. “Mine will be what Johnson wants, and you won’t get the contract, so you—”
“I thought we were in this together,” Mackenzie said. “I mean, I knew we were going for the same contract, but I thought this petty competition thing was really just about work. Why are you being like this?”
“I’m not being like anything. I’m trying to tell you—”
“That my presentation is crap and you’ll win,” she said. “Yeah, I heard you the first time.”
“I’m just saying, Johnson expects something different from what you’re going to show him. He and Toussaint both.”
“Oh, thanks for that,” Mackenzie said sarcastically. “All this time you’ve been telling me how good my presentation is, and now you change gears on me? What the hell, Troy?”
It was coming across all wrong. Damn it, I really shouldn’t have had anything to drink.
“Just hear me out,” I said. I was getting more and more urgent. “You really just have to take my—”
“I don’t want anything from you,” Mackenzie snapped. “You may think that you’re better than me but I guess we’ll just have to see what Johnson and Toussaint think, won’t we?”
“I know what they—”
“Will you stop?” Mackenzie hissed. “I thought we were better than this. I thought we were above it. I can’t believe…” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you.” The last part she added in a soft voice, so soft that it almost broke my heart.
“Mackenzie,” I said firmly. “Please, just—”
“No,” Mackenzie said, her voice hard. “Don’t say anything else. I know that you’ve been through hell and back but to kick me when I’m already down is low, even for you. I don’t care what we are and where we’ve been; you don’t get to do that to me just because this is about work. You don’t get to break me down and get in my head, and you sure as shit don’t get to tell me that I’m not good enough.”
“That’s not what I mean at all.”
“I know work is everything to you because you lost your brother, but that doesn’t mean you get to step on everyone around you.”
“Don’t you dare bring him up,” I said, my panic turning into anger. “You have no idea—”
“I think I do,” she sneered. “You’re not the only one that’s been through a tough time. You don’t own the monopoly on heartache. The rest of the world carries on just fine without letting it affect who they are and what they do, and if you can’t get with that picture, then that makes you an asshole, no matter how hard you want to play the victim.”
Her eyes widened as if she was as shocked at her words as I was. I stared at her. Her words stung like she’d physically slapped me.
