AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I swallowed hard. This one was on me.I’m so sorry, Shane.
It’s fine. Enjoy your success.
I turned back to Sara, hoping she didn’t notice how suddenly shiny my eyes were. “On second thought, I’ll help with the paperwork for now, then we can pass it to the legal team later.”
“Great.” She smiled. “Looking forward to taking the tech world by storm with you, Ana.”
I smiled back at her the best I could. “Me, too.”
Chapter 14
The drive home sucked. Yes, I’d gotten the S.J. account, but at what cost? Shane’s job? My job was one thing, but the possibility of him losing his hadn’t even been on my radar. My success was never supposed to be at someone else’s expense—especially not Shane’s. I should have at least shared my plans with him, but it wouldn’t have changed anything. Melvin had me blocked on all sides.
Speaking of Melvin, about an hour after I got home, a text came through.You have a lot of nerve taking that meeting without me. I won’t forget this. Consider yourself on notice.
I rolled my eyes and flopped back onto my couch, staring at the ceiling. He’d told me to consider myself on notice once before. And, incidentally, that had been what started this whole mess. I sat back up. Well, this timehewas on notice, too. I should have taken the high road and not responded, but I was feeling petty. And angry.You cut me out after all the hard work I’d put in and the promises you’d made.
There was a pause, during which I imagined him sweating andstomping and kicking random chair legs.You are obligated to come to me before meeting with any potential client. You’re my subordinate. Your work product doesn’t belong to you; it belongs to the company.
I did the work, and I need this project in my portfolio, I wrote back.So I landed the biggest account of your career and saved our jobs. Artemis can’t execute that interface without my direction and you know it. If you want to keep that account, you can’t fire me.
I’m not firing you. Yet. But you will regret the stunt you pulled today.
I threw my phone down next to me on the couch. Great, Indiana was a stuntperson now, too.
There was a soft knock at the door, and I sat up, startled. On high alert again, I went over to look through the peephole, then sagged with relief. I opened the door, and Nancy held out her arms. I fell into them and let her hug me. She rubbed my back soothingly for a few minutes.
“You didn’t flick your lights when you got home, so I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” she said gently.
“I forgot.” I sniffed, the fight thoroughly leaving me. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re clearly not okay,” she said, pulling back to look at my face before settling me back into the hug. “But you will be, honey. Does this have to do with that young man with the radio voice?”
It did, but there was so much more to it than that. Too much to explain to Nancy and not enough energy to do it. So I just nodded and tried to keep my tears in check.
“I figured as much. You know George and I are always here if you need us. Did you know George was the biggest ass when I met him?”
I pulled back and looked at her. “George is so nice.”
“He is,” she said. Then she thought for a moment. “You know, maybe it was me who was the ass. We’ve been together for forty years, so sometimes I forget.”
Could you really get to a point in a relationship when you couldn’t remember which one of you was the ass? That seemed impossible to me.
“Regardless,” Nancy said, waving off my thoughts, “one of us sucked, and we figured it out. Forty years later it won’t matter which one of you was the ass either. If it’s meant to be, it’ll work out. Promise.”
She grabbed me back into the hug, and I let her hold me for a few more minutes before I pulled away. “Thanks, Nancy. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”Like, for real. WTF.
“Anytime, darling.” She waved good night and went back upstairs toward her part of the house.
I shut the door with a soft click and pushed my shoulders back. I was done feeling like this, and I wasn’t going to let Melvin intimidate me any longer. Or ruin my life. Or Shane’s.
I woke up the next morning still on the couch, having slept in my clothes from the day before. My oversprayed hair was practically standing up on its own, and my makeup had run under my eyes. I didn’t like the person I saw staring back at me in the mirror.
As always, despite the mess I’d made, the first thing I did was check my email. A few messages from the S.J. Sporting team about setting up some meetings. Nothing from Melvin. There was, however, a message from Evan Smith. Why was he writing to me? Then I read the subject line, and my heart dropped into my stomach.
From: Evan Smith
To: Indiana Aaron
