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“Parisa, may I have a word with you in my office? It’s about your application for the Marketing Director position.” Mr. Evans startles me.
“Yes. I’ll be right there.” I take one last glance at Seth’s desk before I push my chair in and walk to Mr. Evans’ office. When I arrive, the door is open a crack, but I still knock softly before peeking my head in. “You wanted to see me?”
“Parisa. Please come in and shut the door behind you.” Mr. Evans doesn’t even look up from his computer.
Slowly, I round the door and close it behind me before taking a seat in front of the large mahogany executive desk. I intertwine my fingers in my lap as I wait for him to finish his typing. My heart thunders in my chest as a bead of sweat trickles down my back. This can only go one of two ways. He called me in here to tell me I got the promotion, or I’m fired and it’s Seth’s and he’s not here today because he’s out celebrating. Both of those scenarios cause a knot the size of a bowling ball to form in the pit of my stomach.
“Thanks for coming in Parisa. Sorry it has taken us so long to come to a decision. A lot of things have come up that caused us to postpone the decision. But you’ve done some outstanding work for us, and we would like to offer you the marketing director position.”
A wide smile covers my face. I just got the promotion. I’m internally doing a happy dance. “Thank you so much, Mr. Evans. I promise I won’t let you or the company down.”
“I know you won’t. We’ll get all the paperwork ready for you and get you settled into your new office later this week.” Mr. Evans stands and rounds his desk and I follow suit. Mindlessly, I trail behind him as we make our way toward the door.
“Oh wow. My own office.” I envision how I’ll decorate…My. Own. Office. Will I have a view of the lake? Maybe I’ll get the morning sun or perhaps the afternoon light? Mr. Evans stops in front of the open doorway, startling me. “Thank you again. One question. Does that mean Seth got the assistant position?”
“You didn’t hear? Seth put in his resignation this morning. We’ll have to find someone else for the assistant position.”
“Oh.” I try to keep the disappointment out of my voice, but fail. Seth quit. He didn’t even say anything. Did he know I was getting the position and didn’t want to work under me? His ego couldn’t handle that I won and he lost. By the time I’m walking back to my cubicle I’m no longer sad Seth left, instead I’m fuming. Once I reach my desk, I sit down and shake my mouse to wake up my computer. My leg bounces as I wait for the screen to load. That jerk couldn’t even tell me himself. He took the coward’s way out. My fingers shake as I pick up my phone. Then I slam it back down. No, he can’t get away with this. I pick up the phone again and start to dial his number, but slam the phone back down. I jump from my seat and stride toward the elevator. Olivia is downstairs and I need someone to talk me off this ledge. I jam my finger into the down button and the elevator opens. The thirty second ride to the first floor does nothing to cool my temper. My heels echo as each step stomps on the marble floor.
“That son of a bitch quit!”
A wide-eyed Olivia turns around with a phone pressed to her ear. “Yes, Ms. Day. I have you down for Wednesday.” She pauses while I mouth sorry. “Okay. See you then.” Olivia sets the phone on the receiver. “What are you talking about?”
“Seth quit. That son of a bitch quit. He couldn’t handle that I got the promotion and he didn’t, so he quit.”
“Well one, you got the promotion!” Olivia squeals with delight and claps her hands. “But two, Seth quit?”
“Thank you. And yes! Mr. Evans called me into his office to offer me the position and when I asked if Seth got the assistant job, he told me he quit.”
“That doesn’t seem like Seth to just quit. Did he know he wasn’t going to get it?”
“I don’t know. We got into a fight. He won’t answer any of my calls so all I can guess is that he can’t handle the idea that I beat him.”
Olivia stands up, palms on the desk, leaning forward. “Back up the gossip train. You and Seth always fight but why are you calling him, repeatedly?”
I blow out an exasperated breath. “Well, we didn’t tell anyone but we’ve maybe, kind of, been seeing each other.”
“Shut up!” Olivia slams her palms on the desk.
“I know. I never expected it to happen either but—”
“No. Not that. Trey was right.”
“What?”
“We all had an idea something was happening between you two. And it was Trey who mentioned it.”
“Oh. So, when I thought we were hiding it, everyone actually knew?”
“Pretty much.” Olivia lifts one shoulder and lets it fall and leans forward. “But give me the deets.”
“Deets on what?” A familiar, masculine voice sounds from behind me before propping himself on the desk next to me.
“How everyone knew about Seth and Parisa,” Olivia states.
“Oh, how she’s been banging the polka dots off his bow tie.”
I smack Trey in the stomach, which is followed by an oomph. “Can you be a little more discreet?”
