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1
BLAIR
“FIRED?”Iscreech,myjaw hanging open in shock as I gape at my boss. “What the hell, Dwayne? I thought I was coming in here to accept a promotion. You know, the one you’ve been promising me for the past two years. The one I more than deserve.”
“A promotion?” Dwayne grunts, gaping right back. “Be serious, Blair. How could you possibly think you were going to get that promotion? You sent a meme of a donkey getting fucked to the whole company with the caption, ‘When life gets you down, find an ass to fuck.’ And as if that wasn't enough, you had to include our entire client list as well. Do you have any idea how many people are on that mailing list?”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes, almost certain that at this point, there’s really not much I could say to save what’s left of my career. “That meme was hilarious,” I deadpan, watching as the corner of his mustache-covered lip twitches with irritation. But what’s new? Dwayne and I have had a love-hate relationship since the day I started at SC Corporate Management almost six years ago. “Everybody loved it. Besides, management has everyone walking on eggshells. Our clients and our team needed a good laugh and a reminder that not all of us here have our heads shoved so far up our asses that all we can smell is the foul stench of our own shit.”
He gives me a blank stare. “It was inappropriate.”
“Inappropriate is trying to match a striped peach tie with a salmon button-down, but you don’t see me trying to have you fired over it,” I mutter, arching a brow and trying to resist the urge to drop to my knees and sob. But hell, if I’m going to go down, I might as well go down swinging.
“Start packing your things, Blair,” Dwayne says, striding around his oversized desk and putting an end to our conversation. “You have fifteen minutes to get yourself sorted out, and if you can’t do that, I’ll have no choice but to have security escort you out.”
“Security?” I blanch. “Is that really necessary?”
Dwayne makes a show of gazing down at his watch. “Make that fourteen minutes.”
Fuck me. If I didn’t like these heels so much, I would have shoved one up his scrawny ass by now. Assuming there’s enough space with his head already up there.
Knowing damn well that Dwayne will follow through on his threat, just for the purpose of getting to humiliate me in front of my colleagues one final time, I clench my jaw and turn on my heel, stalking out of his office.
This isn’t exactly the first time I’ve been fired, and not even the first time I’ve been fired for sending inappropriate memes, but it’s certainly the first time he’s been such an ass about it. Truth be told, I’m one of the best publicists here, and the second our clientele finds out I’ve been kicked to the curb, there’s going to be heat on Dwayne’s ass to do the right thing and bring me back.
Dwayne might be my boss, but the clients we work for look to me for guidance. They barely tolerate Dwayne, and it’s easy to see why. Hell, he probably only fired me so that he doesn’t have to give me my Christmas bonus, and being only two weeks before Christmas, I could have really used the cash.
This time though, I’m not sure I’ll be coming back, even after Dwayne pulls his head out of his ass and comes begging. Working for SC Corporate Management has always been a dream of mine, and the day I got the call that my application had been successful, I gave up my whole world to fly halfway across the country and start this new life here in New York. I got myself a cute apartment and made it my own, figured out where all the best coffee shops are, met some amazing friends, and of course, adopted one of the best nail technicians in the city.
Work was insane, but it was exactly what I was searching for. I flourished in my position and quickly worked my way up the food chain to become one of the crucial members of this incredible company. Only now, the thrill I used to get every morning I walked through the doors doesn’t quite seem so bright anymore.
Maybe it’s time for a change and Dwayne’s bullshit is actually a blessing in disguise. Hell, maybe it’s time to start my own PR firm. I’ve always thought about it but never had the balls to take such a big step. I’m only twenty-eight, and though there’s still plenty for me to learn about this insane business, I have the connections. There are plenty of clients who will happily follow and support me.
Shit. This is New York. What hope do I have when it comes to starting my own firm and competing against these huge powerhouse businesses? I’m kidding myself thinking I could do this.
Stopping by the storeroom, I grab a cardboard box and make my way back to my office. I mutter a string of ridiculous insults as I go, and with every step I take, I can’t help but feel the eyes of my colleagues on my back. They all saw the meme. Hell, most of them were laughing with me about it first thing this morning, but the second I was called into Dwayne’s office, they all knew what was going to happen. I suppose I did too, but I didn’t want to believe the asshole was that petty.
Who am I kidding? Of course he is.
I’ve always had an open-door policy, but as I walk into my office, I pull the door closed behind me, needing privacy from the prying eyes as I drop the cardboard box onto my disorganized desk. I’ve got way too much work to do to have to worry about being fired, but I suppose it’s somebody else’s work to handle now. It’s no longer my problem.
A heavy weight settles into my chest. I like this stuff being my problem.
Damn it.
Dropping my ass to my desk chair, I search through my drawers and grab all of my personal stuff before dropping them into the box, then just to be an ass, I take the potted plant and put it in too. Once the drawers have been emptied, I work on my desk, and my gaze settles on the picture of me and my nana from my college graduation nearly six years ago. She was always my biggest supporter, even if it meant having to deal with the insane distance. Two weeks after this photo was taken, I was gone.
All Nana wanted was for me to be happy in what I was doing, though there’s no denying it, she was worried about my heart. When I left for New York, giving up my home wasn’t all I walked away from.
Nicholas Stone.
He was my high school boyfriend and was everything to me. Nick was my first real love, and having to walk away from that left one hell of a scar on my heart. I think a part of me will always love him, but that’s ancient history now. We were together right until the day I left, but during those college years, it was tough.
The distance never really worked for us, and I could feel the castle we’d built around us beginning to crumble. Calling it quits was the most difficult decision I’ve ever made, but had we continued, we would have ended up hating each other, and I couldn’t bear the thought of that happening to the man I was so deeply in love with. It was time to go, and tearing myself away from him destroyed me in a way I’ve never truly recovered from.
It’s been nearly six years since I last laid eyes on him, and honestly, he’s a big part of the reason why I haven’t headed back to our beautiful small town of Blushing, Colorado since the day I left. But Nana has nothing to worry about—at least, she didn’t. She passed away in her sleep last month, and due to the ridiculous amount of work I have going on here, I couldn’t make it back to Blushing for her funeral. I regret my decision not to go, and truth be told, I think the day Dwayne denied my application to take personal leave was where this downward spiral at work began. I had respect for Dwayne before he denied my leave, and since then, all I can seem to do is picture blowing him up like a hot-air balloon and watching him sail away into the sky, the same way Harry Potter did to his bitch of an aunt.
Ahhh, shit. Who am I trying to kid? I’ve been picturing something a little more brutal, but I’ve been trying to reel in my violent thoughts. It’s almost Christmas. Isn’t it the time of year for peace and joy? I doubt thinking about strapping my boss to the front of a car and ramming it into a brick wall is going to help me find my zen this time of year. So for now, I’ll settle with the hot-air balloon.
