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He jumped on the counter as I grabbed a tin of food from the cabinet.
“Get off,” I scolded, but it was no use.
Ever since I brought him home from the shelter last year, he’d made it obvious he wouldn’t be adhering to any rules I tried to set. When I ended my last relationship, I desperately needed some form of companionship. Replacing an unsupportiveboyfriend with Edward had been the best trade-off imaginable—even if he didn’t let me sleep in.
“Here you go, brat,” I said, setting down his food.
He rushed to it like I had been starving him for weeks.
I started my coffee pot before trudging into the living room which I had transformed into my home office. It felt like ages since I had curled up on the couch and watched some TV with my morning coffee. Now I plopped into my plush green chair and powered up my computer almost immediately after rolling out of bed.
Staring out into the dark sky, I longed for summer months when at least the sun would be rising by now.
A long yawn escaped as I opened my email and fired off a few responses regarding an upcoming event this weekend. Keeping our budding business afloat while working a demanding full-time job had been exciting at first. And it still was—don’t get me wrong—but I was completely burnt out. These long hours were kicking my ass. It had been ages since I did anything for myself.
Whenever I contemplated the idea of simply sitting down to enjoy a movie or online shop, a wave of guilt settled over me and I cursed myself for being lazy. But my brain longed for a break. Forget the physical burnout of working so many hours, the mental burnout fatigued me even more. Soon my brain would be mush and I would have done nothing to try to stop it.
When Lila and I were working at the coffee shop the other day, she called me out on completely forgetting to book an event space for a book discussion we had planned months ago. I had denied it at first, but when I looked through my outbox, I found the email I sent to the bookstore still sitting in my drafts. I was not the kind of person who let things slip through the cracks, and it ate me up inside that I missed something so simple.
I knew she was right about investing more time. We couldn’t continue down this path. If we wanted our business to thrive, it needed our full attention.
Feeling spontaneous for once, I grabbed a sharpie and circled the last day of the year in my cat of the month calendar and wrote one word in big bold letters.
QUIT.
I capped the pen and set it down, regarding my newfound goal. The date was only a couple months away but it felt right. We would be finishing up this new product launch and I could exit on good terms. It would also give me a little time to prepare mentally and financially.
Edward jumped up on my desk and walked across my keyboard, begging for my attention as usual. I scratched under his chin and he purred in appreciation.
“Don’t you worry. One day I’ll have a life again.”
I tappedmy fingers against the table, checking the time on the clock for the tenth time since I sat down. Footsteps approached the conference room. I held my breath, waiting, but they continued past the room, fading into the distance.
Today was my first one-on-one meeting with Nathan. I had been sure to be a few minutes early after our first infamous run-in. We had a few other meetings in a group setting this week and surprisingly all had gone well. We hadn’t spoken much, but maybe that was the key to successfully working together. Keeping my self-imposed deadline of December thirty-first in mind, I needed this launch to go as smoothly as possible.
New year. New me. New life.
I hadn’t had a chance to tell Lila yet. I still wanted to mull it over on my own before solidifying the plans. I had to be absolutely sure. If I backed out on this, she might back out on me. I couldn’t lose her as a partner or as a friend.
I watched as the clock moved past the hour mark, signaling Nathan was a minute late.
A few seconds later, he walked through the door. As usual, not a hair on his head out of place. He looked perfectly casual in a simple T-shirt that probably cost hundreds of dollars and jeans that hugged him in all the right places. Must be nice being rich. Money could make even the simplest of outfits look flawless.
“Morning,” he said, setting his laptop down and opening it across the table from me.
“Morning.” I bit my lip, trying to keep my big mouth shut. Unfortunately, prudence wasn’t my strong suit. “Nice of you to join me.”
He looked up, eyebrows knit in confusion. “Excuse me?”
I shrugged. “It’s past nine.”
He looked at the clock and then back to me. “I’m only a minute late.”
“I thought you started all of your meetings on time.” I really couldn’t help myself.
Maybe I was delusional, but I swear I saw the corner of his mouth twitch—as if holding back a smile.
“Touché, I suppose,” he said, clearing his throat. “I presume it’s fair to say you aren’t a big fan of the new leadership.”
