Hatefully Yours

by Callahan, Kelli

  I had to prove that I could actually be a leader. To do that, I had to manage a group of brand new associates, which Fulton described as herding cats. I had to give them guidance, keep them focused, and decide which ones had a future at the company. My future hinged on the team’s success—if I couldn’t lead them to greatness, then there was no way that I would be trusted with more responsibility—or an office on the top floor.

  “Trenton, we were just about to do our introductions. Would you like to get us started?” Fulton smiled and motioned to me.

  “Yes sir.” I nodded. “Hello everyone, my name is Trenton Rigsby. I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together.”

  “You know the drill. Tell them where you’re from—how long you’ve been here—all that jazz.” Fulton rolled his hand to insinuate that I needed to keep talking.

  “Right.” I nodded again. “I’m originally from a small town called Cabot Beach. I started working at Remington Global right after I graduated from college—almost four years now.”

  I quickly scanned the room. Everyone had a paper nameplate. I realized that I hadn’t really made eye contact with anyone. That was obviously nerves. I normally didn’t have any problem holding the attention of everyone in the room. Thankfully, my new team seemed to be hinging on every word that I said—except for one woman that was seated to my left. I looked at her nameplate and felt a twinge—like a sharp stabbing pain in my stomach. It had to be a coincidence. I was almost afraid to look up from her nameplate, but I had to—and that’s when I realized that it was no coincidence.

  Brooke? Oh my god!

  “Please excuse your new boss.” Fulton laughed and took a step forward. “This is new for him too. Mel, why don’t you take over from here. Where are you from?”

  “Hello! I’m Mel! I grew up in New York, went to school in Florida, and now I’m back home!” She smiled.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” I gave her a slight nod before I looked back towards Brooke.

  The introductions were underway. It seemed like a pendulum was swinging towards the one person in the room that I knew—and every time it swung her way, it got just a little bit closer to making contact. Brooke obviously recognized me. She started sinking into her chair and would have probably crawled under the table if it was an option. My head was spinning. My heart was beating hard in my chest. My pulse seemed to get faster every time someone made their introduction, and I was forced to acknowledge them. Then everything came to a grinding halt because there was only one person left.

  “Hi.” Brooke cleared her throat and tried to sit up. “My name is Brooke. I’m also from Cabot Beach…”

  “Wait.” Fulton looked at me and then glanced at Brooke. “Do you two know each other?”

  “Well…” I tried to control my breathing.

  “Cabot Beach is a small place.” Brooke nodded. “I think we’ve met a time or two, right? I believe you know my brother?”

  “Boone.” I nodded quickly. “Yeah, we went to high school together.”

  She’s playing it off, but I can see it in her eyes—this is a disaster waiting to happen.

  I was glad that Fulton didn’t push for any more details about my history with Brooke. I was going to have to talk to him, but I preferred to do that in private. There was absolutely no way that I was going to be able to work with her—and no way in hell she could report to me. It had been five years, but to say that things ended badly would be an understatement. It would have been safer to say that our history was apocalyptic. My world certainly felt like it ended the day that I read the letter she sent—the one that ended with Hatefully Yours.

  I don’t think five years can erase that kind of hatred.

  “Alright, you’ll have plenty of time to talk with Trenton tomorrow. We’ve both got some work to do, so I’ll turn this back over to Evelyn.” Fulton turned towards our hiring manager and motioned to her.

  Thank god.

  “You okay?” Fulton walked up to me and spoke low enough that the others couldn’t hear what he said.

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “We need to talk—but not here.”

  “I’m booked solid until tomorrow morning. Can you swing by before the team gets here?” He motioned to the group.

  “Sure thing.” I nodded quickly.

  I glanced at Brooke one more time before I left the room. She didn’t make eye contact. She was giving Evelyn her undivided attention. I needed a fucking drink—probably more than one. I returned to my office and waited until it was acceptable for me to leave before I took off. Normally, if I wanted a drink, I stopped at one of the bars between the office and my apartment, but I wasn’t in the mood for social interaction. The solitude of my apartment was a much better option. I didn’t even change out of my suit before I poured a highball glass to the rim with whiskey, downed it, and immediately poured a second one.

  Fuck! Of all the companies in the entire damn world that she could end up…

  My head was a mess. It was hard for me to put Brooke in the past after I got her letter, but I managed to build a new life that was free from the memories of what happened in Cabot Beach. I swore I would never revisit them because they were too fucking painful. I came to terms with the fact that I was a scumbag the night Brooke graduated from high school—a scumbag that didn’t deserve her. Boone’s words resonated with me, and I truly believed I made the right decision, even if it hurt to simply let go.

  “Trenton, are you home?” My door opened and my on-again-off-again girlfriend, Maria, walked into my apartment.

  Fuck, why did I give her a key?

  “Yeah, I’m here.” I exhaled sharply. “I didn’t think you were coming back until the weekend.”

  “The director needed a break.” She put a bag on the counter and dropped her purse in one of the chairs. “I have to go back tomorrow.”

  “Ah,” I responded with an emotionless nod.

  “What’s wrong with you?” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you drunk? Didn’t you just get off work?”

  “I’m fine.” I shook my head back and forth. “Just a long day…”

  “Tell me about it.” She poured a glass of whiskey and sat down across from me. “I had to do the same damn scene fifteen times because that bitch Annie couldn’t say her lines without laughing—what a fucking amateur.”

  “Annie?” I raised an eyebrow. “Oh right, your co-star.”

  “Co-star?” Maria scoffed. “No, she’s a fucking disgrace. I need a bubble bath…”

  “Go ahead.” I took another drink of my whiskey.

  “You don’t want to join me?” She stood up and looked over her shoulder.

  “Not tonight.” I shook my head back and forth.

  “Your loss…” She grinned and left a trail of clothes as she walked to the bathroom.

  Of all the nights when I was looking forward to being alone…

  Maria was an actress with a starring role in a popular soap opera that filmed in upstate New York. We met at a charity event where we were seated at the same table. I had no idea that she was an actress with more baggage than a 747 when I asked her out. We had broken up so many over the last year that I lost count, but we were always a drunk-dial or a lonely night away from picking up where things left off. I kept saying I was going to end things for good, but I never got around to it—instead of telling her that I was done, I gave her a key to my apartment when she decided not to renew her lease until she found out if the studio was moving the filming location of her soap opera to Los Angeles at the end of the year.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to join me?” Maria’s voice echoed from the bathroom—loud enough to drown out the sound of the water hitting the tub.

  “I’m sure.” I sighed and took another drink.

  “I’ll make it worth your while…” She stepped out of the bathroom and lit a cigarette.

  “No.” I shook my head. “What the fuck, Maria? I told you not to smoke in my apartment.”

  “Then come over here and do something a
bout it…” She grinned, and a cloud billowed from her lips.

  “You…” I stood up and put my hand to my head. “You need to leave. I’m not in the mood to put up with you tonight.”

  “Put—up with me?” The smile disappeared from her face. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? You’re the one who gave me a key to your apartment!”

  “I gave you a key so that you would have somewhere to stay after you let your lease expire. That’s still months away…” I exhaled sharply. “I didn’t expect you to just stop by whenever you wanted without calling first.”

  “What the hell crawled up your ass, Trenton.” She narrowed her eyes, and her nostrils flared. “I thought you would be happy to see me.”

  “This is over.” I shook my head. “It’s been over for a long time.”

  “You know what? Fuck you. I don’t need this.” She walked back into the bathroom, and I heard the water cut off. “Your tub sucks anyway—I’d rather stay in a hotel.”

  We had a few more verbal exchanges while she got dressed—then she put her key on the counter and left. She slammed the door so hard that I was surprised it didn’t come off the hinges. Our relationship—if it could even be called that—had been on life support for months. It never felt right. The warning signs were there from the beginning. It was only a matter of time before one of us woke up and realized that we were treading water with no intention of moving forward. We didn’t want the same things out of life. I hoped to have a family at some point—she once told me that she would rather jump off a cliff than let a baby ruin the figure she paid good money for.

  Now I can drink in peace and try to figure out how to get rid of the other problem that just sprang up in my life…

  Chapter Eight

  Brooke

  The bad dreamed turned out to be a total nightmare. My new boss was Trent Rigsby—the guy who broke my heart—the guy who was on the receiving end of the most hateful letter I ever wrote. I knew he went to school in New York, but I had no idea he was still there—and it was a huge city. My chances of running into him had to be a million-to-one odds, but those odds definitely weren’t in my favor. It felt like my entire world was crashing down around me. My first instinct was to run—to put New York in the rearview mirror and never look back—but that wasn’t a feasible solution to my problem.

  “Hey roomie!” Hannah, one of the girls that I was living with, greeted me as soon as I walked into our apartment.

  “We made Sangria if you want some.” My other roommate, Jessica, walked out of the kitchen with a glass in her hand.

  “I could definitely use a drink.” I exhaled sharply and nodded.

  “Surely your first day of work wasn’t that bad.” Hannah raised her eyebrows in surprise.

  “You have no idea…” I sighed and walked into the kitchen.

  Hannah reminded me of the bleach-blonde tanning bed addicts I hated in high school—the cheerleaders that thought they were God’s gift to the opposite gender and felt like their presence on the football field was the entire reason the team won the big games. Jessica was almost her exact opposite. She had raven colored hair, pale skin that she lightened with makeup and wore t-shirts for bands that were past their prime before she was even born. I probably wouldn’t have hung out with either of them when I was younger, but I needed a place to live, and the only other place I could afford was with an older guy that seemed like a total creep. At least with Hannah and Jessica, I wasn’t worried that someone was going to spy on me every time I took a shower.

  “Alright, tell us what happened.” Jessica looked up at me as I walked back into the living room with a glass of Sangria in my hand.

  “Well…” I shook my head and sat down. “My new boss is my—we used to be…”

  In love? I don’t know if that’s entirely true. Trent obviously never gave a damn about me.

  “No way…” Hannah seemed to catch on to what I couldn’t figure out how to say. “Oh my god!”

  “Yeah.” I nodded and lifted the glass to my lips.

  “Does he still have a thing for you?” Jessica raised her eyebrows inquisitively. “Do you still have a thing for him?”

  “It was a long time ago.” I shook my head back and forth. “Things ended badly…”

  “That’s going to be awkward as fuck.” Hannah apparently thought it was funny because she laughed before she took another drink of her Sangria.

  “It doesn’t have to be.” Jessica shrugged. “I worked for one of my ex-boyfriends once—before I got fed up with the corporate world. He gave me a promotion just so I wouldn’t be in the same department as him.”

  “I don’t think Trent is going to be giving me a promotion.” I shook my head and took a sip of my drink. “I’m sure he’d rather fire me…”

  “Then you have to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Hannah nodded. “Find a way to make yourself valuable before he has a chance.”

  “I have no idea how to do that.” I sighed.

  Hannah and Jessica kept throwing out suggestions, but none of them sounded feasible. Remington Global was a huge company, and Trent was an Emerging Leader. He was a lot more valuable to the company than I was—I wasn’t even a cog in the wheel yet. I would be lucky to last a week if I didn’t find a way to repair my relationship with Trent before he decided that he didn’t want to look at me anymore.

  It had been five years since I sent that letter, and I was a completely different person than I was back then, but my heart still had a scar with his name on it. I didn’t feel like I owed him any sort of apology, nor did I think I should have to grovel just to keep my job, but I had bills to pay—and my share of the rent was due as soon as I collected my first paycheck.

  “Alright, this stuff is going to my head.” Hannah put her empty glass down on the coffee table. “I think it’s time for me to call it a night.”

  “You aren’t going to eat dinner first?” Jessica looked at our roommate with a concerned expression on her face.

  “Nah.” Hannah shook her head. “I have to fit into that dress for my sister’s wedding, remember?”

  “Oh, right.” Jessica nodded.

  “Besides, I ate a few pieces of fruit from the Sangria.” Hannah smiled. “That will hold me over.”

  Hannah went to bed, and Jessica went to the kitchen to make dinner—leftover spaghetti and garlic bread. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, so I took my plate with a smile on my face, even though I normally tried to eat a lot healthier than that. It was going to be a struggle to pay for my lunch every day if we kept going to places like Famous Sid’s, and my roommates hadn’t asked me to chip in on groceries—yet.

  Things would be better after I earned a few paychecks, but it was going to be months before I was comfortably back on my feet. I was too busy during my last semester of college to work as much as I normally did, and my bank account definitely suffered. The only other option was to call my parents and ask them for money. I was trying to avoid that if possible. My dad already thought it was bullshit that I decided to move to New York instead of return to Cabot Beach—he was quick to remind me that Broussard Industries had a marketing department. I never thought my parents would point to my brother as someone I should model my life after, but they were pleased with his decision to return home after college.

  Hopefully, I don’t have to beg my dad for a job because I failed to make it on my own…

  * * *

  I could have used a lot more sleep than I got, especially since I was going to have to come face-to-face with Trent as soon as I made it to the office. Somewhere in the middle of the night, a thought struck me—there was a chance Trent never actually read the letter I sent him. I left it in his mailbox, but if what Boone told me was true, then Trent was gone by the time my pen left a trail of angry ink on the paper. He didn’t have much of a relationship with his father, so it was possible that he discarded the letter entirely. I wasn’t sure if that was a better alternative, or not, but it could certainly make my life easier at Remingto
n Global.

  I had every right to hate Trent for what he did—just like I had every right to ignore Keely when she tried to reach out to me. He filled me with hope, made me believe that there was a chance he could actually like me, and then he simply crushed my heart. Maybe he did want to sleep with me, but he found someone that was willing to give him what he wanted before I even made it to the party. If it was that easy for him, then I dodged a bullet—but I may have loaded the gun that would eventually do more than put a hole in my heart.

  I worked so hard to get to this point in my life, and I don’t want to go back to Cabot Beach with my tail between my legs.

  “Good morning.” Hannah looked up from her coffee cup and smiled as I walked into the kitchen.

  “Hey.” I blinked a couple of times. “Did you sleep it off?”

  “Yeah.” She laughed. “I don’t know why it went to my head like that—normally I don’t feel like I’m going to pass out after a couple of drinks.”

  Probably because you eat less in an entire day than I do when I have a snack…

  “You should have at least had a plate of spaghetti with us.” I poured a cup of coffee and sat down. “It was amazing.”

  “Jessica is a magician in the kitchen.” Hannah nodded. “I keep telling her that she should go to culinary school instead of wasting her time serving drinks to people that don’t care how much pride she takes in making sure they are perfect.”

  “That Sangria we had last night certainly was…” I sipped my coffee and nodded.

  I could go for a glass right now. It would make my day a lot less stressful…

  “Stop it, you two.” Jessica startled me when she suddenly appeared at the door. “If you keep saying so many nice things about me, some of it might go to my head—worse than the Sangria went to yours last night, Hannah.”