"Can you talk to me tomorrow? I still have a lot of work I need to finish up on."
Byron crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "I think you're going to find your agenda will be very free."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Listen, babe," he lifted his hands as if he were a preacher. "The firm is taking a different direction. We need to be a little more cutthroat, a little more aggressive."
She pushed past the part where he called her babe and gritted her teeth. "Fine, I'll make sure to be a little more cutthroat and aggressive."
William wagged his finger at her. "I don't think you understand. You're old school. And though there is a time and place for that, we are not looking at managing the accounts of coffee shops and cookie grandmas. We are stepping up our game. Pop! Cosmetics is putting us on the map, at the forefront."
"And I sealed the deal. I got that account. I worked my ass off for that account."
William examined his fingers, as if he just got a new manicure. "Yeah, you did good. But, I think it's time we part ways. Don't you?"
Her fingernails dug into her palms as she tightened her fists. "Part ways? What exactly does that mean?"
"And I thought you were the one with the Masters degree. It means your services are no longer required at Mason Arts. You have tonight to pack up your desk. All of your accounts are taken care of, even your coffee and cookie accounts."
Chloe took in a deep, ragged breath and placed her palms flat on the top of her desk. "You're firing me?"
"I thought parting ways was a nicer way to say that, but if you like it to be blunt, then yeah, you're fired."
"Why?"
"Your productivity is down, you spent too much time going after Pop! That deal should've been locked up a month ago and we should've already been moving on it."
"There were other people involved in it. Gloria Vandenberg was choosing between our firm and another firm. She chose us."
"She did choose us," he said sternly. "And we'll take it from here. No hard feelings, doll. I happen to know there's a few openings at Stockton Advertising." He tapped his hand on the door jamb as if to say he was done with their conversation and walked to the elevator and disappeared.
Chapter 19
Chloe lowered herself down to the chair behind her desk. Her entire body shook, and tears clogged her throat, though they didn't reach her eyes. Anger, the vile taste of anger filled her mouth where words should be. Oh no, she was not going down without a fight. She had worked her ass off for that firm, and he was going to dismiss her just like that?
No, no, no.
Her first call was to Gloria Vandenberg, but she wasn't in the office and she didn't answer her personal cell phone. She called Tyler and let him know they had let her go from the firm, and he promised he'd pull his advertising dollars the first thing Monday morning. He wasn't gonna work with the company that discarded their employees like the Masons did.
The next few phone calls weren’t quite the same. Though they appreciated the information, they were staying with the firm through their contract, and then maybe they shop around.
The outer office was now dark, as maintenance had turned off the lights. Chloe sat alone in the office, which had been her home for nearly the past decade. What was done was done, she decided. She let out a deflated breath.
What was the use in sitting there and being angry? The Masons didn't want her. Jason didn't want to work with her. Deborah was there to take over. No one needed her anymore. Who would've thought that she’d be washed up just shy of thirty?
Chloe turned in her chair to pick up an empty paper box she had meant to discard but now she would pack in. Looking out the window, for what she knew would be one of the last times, she watched as the snow fell, illuminated by the streetlights.
Unemployed at Christmas time, she thought to herself. Unless she wanted to work part-time retail, she had nothing. No one hired someone a few weeks before Christmas. Maybe she would take this as an opportunity and just go home. The people of Aubrey Heights would fill that void in her. The sense of community, the feeling of Christmas, it would all surround her. The big city and its cold and callous people could just be put on hold until after the new year, she decided, as she put her personal items in the box.
Maybe she was meant for something better than selling cosmetics to the masses. Maybe deep down inside her she was still just a small town girl who wanted to celebrate Christmas all year round.
Chloe picked up the stapler from her desk, intent on putting it in the box, she stopped. She supposed that was corporate property, and she set it back down but not until she had run her fingers over it and thought about the day she had hit Jason with it.
She hated to think he was in on the takeover of Mason Arts. Again, she had truly missed him not being there. Obviously, it wasn't meant for them to work together. Things were different now, especially since William was running the show and Deborah was now involved.
Chloe's phone rang, and she pulled it from her purse. She smiled as she looked down at the caller ID and saw Tyler's face pop up on the screen.
"Is your passport current?" he asked before she could even say hello.
She had no stamps in her passport, though she did keep it up-to-date. "It's current."
"We are taking off January fifteenth. I happen to know that your schedule is totally free, as per our conversation earlier," he joked. "You're going with us to Brazil, and I'm not going to take no for an answer."
"Tyler, as much as I love that, I'm sure your wife would prefer you not take me along, and I'm probably going to need to have a new job by then and not going to be able to take off work."
"You have a job. I want you internally."
Chloe leaned back in her chair and took in the sight of her half-dismantled office. "What do you mean?"
"You can work from anywhere in the world, if you want. Needed Bean Coffee could use an internal Advertising Director. I've already talked to my dad about it. I'll give you until after Christmas to decide, but I think you should think about it."
Chloe laughed, and laughed hard. Who would have thought an ex-boyfriend from college would be her saving grace. "You're serious? You're offering me a job?"
"Ah, a new career." Tyler left on the other end of the phone. "You think about it. I'd love to have you."
"I'll think about it," she said feeling the smile tug at her lips. "This means a lot to me."
"Are you headed back home?" he asked as if she'd already mentioned it, but she hadn't. He simply knew her that well.
"It's Christmas and Aubrey Heights, where else in the world what I want to be?"
"I have been telling Gwendolyn all about it," he said as he sighed into the phone. "I think maybe we will come and visit you, right before Christmas."
"I can't think of anything better." Chloe took a deep breath and let all the uncertainty settle around her. "Tyler, thank you."
"I'll talk to you soon," he said before the line went dead.
Chloe tucked her phone back into her purse and finished loading the box with her personal items. She had the contacts she needed in her phone, and everything else belonged to the company.
Instead of locking her office door, she set the key on her desk. She stopped by Jody's desk, and took a sticky note and wrote thank you on it and signed it. She left it for Jody to find the next day, and then she turned toward the elevator.
She pushed the arrow that would summon the elevator to take her down to the lobby. As she waited, she looked around the dark office and she felt the sadness tug at her. Change was good, she reminded herself. She would embrace the change that had come her way without her asking for it.
Tomorrow she would make the drive back home, and plan to stay until the new year. It sounded like maybe she already had a new job, and maybe she could talk Tyler into letting her work from Aubrey Heights and not in the city. Could she do that? Could she handle small town again?
The elevator door opened and Chloe stepped in. As
the door closed, she resigned to the fact that it was worth a try. The big city had squashed her spirit. Perhaps she needed her small town to build it again.
Chapter 20
Four days off in a row was unheard of in Jason's professional life. It was no wonder his mother was always after him to take it easy. He had hardly known what to do with himself after he took a couple personal days and then laid low for the weekend.
It had taken everything inside of him to not go into the office on Sunday, as it had become quite a ritual. Instead, he went Christmas shopping. Now, with a small tree on his coffee table, and a few ill-wrapped gifts underneath, he felt as though the Christmas spirit had touched him.
Usually, he was on Amazon frantically shopping for Christmas and having it shipped. He did splurge for gift wrap, but this year he had done it himself. Now all he needed to do was to remember to ship it.
Maybe he could play the woeful man in this scenario. He’d stayed away from the office, and Chloe, for four days. He’d gotten over the tug she had on him, emotionally. He felt as though he could go into the office as her coworker. However, wouldn't it be nice to have lunch together, and maybe she could help him ship those packages?
He rinsed out his coffee cup and put it in the dishwasher. Grabbing a banana off the counter, he pulled on his coat, hung his scarf around his neck, and headed out into the cold.
The snow had kicked up, and a freeze had taken hold. It was days like this he liked city-living less than usual. Sure, in a suburb, he'd have had to brush off his car to make the drive into work. But, he could enjoy his cup of coffee, listen to his music, and stay warm until he hit the parking lot of his office. As it was, he had twenty-three blocks to walk in misery.
As he passed people on the street, bundled from head to toe, he realized he was warm from the inside out. There were no stitches left in his forehead, there was warm coffee waiting at the office, and knowing that Chloe was going to ignore his wave as he passed by her door had him nearly laughing out loud.
He looked forward to getting to work on the Pop! Cosmetics account fully after the first of the year. Seeing Chloe in full action, in charge of the team, excited him. The entire process excited him. He'd seen her work ethic, and how she buried herself in her office for hours on end. She had what it took to run the campaign, and to manage the people. This was going to be her shining moment, and he was happy to be part of it.
Did the people of Aubrey Heights know what a gem Chloe was? Had she worked in one of those small stores growing up, and had they taught her leadership?
Had she taken Tyler Ashby back to Aubrey Heights in college?
What the hell did that matter? Jason walked around a man digging through a trashcan in the doorway of the building.
He thought in four days he had managed to wrap his head around the fact that Chloe Richardson was only a coworker. If that were the case, it wouldn't matter if she had taken Tyler Ashby back to Aubrey Heights in college. It wouldn't matter if she took Tyler Ashby home with her last night.
But for some reason it did matter.
The warmth that he had felt during his walk, disappeared as he walked through the front door into the elevator. He didn't want Chloe to just be a coworker. But he had made himself a promise not to get involved with anyone from work, ever again.
This was going to take even more thought.
* * *
The office was already bustling when the doors to the elevator opened. As he stepped off the elevator, Jody quickly caught his eye. Usually, she welcomed him with a smile, a muffin and if she had one, and sometimes even a story about her grandson. Today the woman looked absolutely frazzled. She couldn't have even been at work more than fifteen minutes, but her day didn't seem to be going quite right.
One sight Jason was not accustomed to, was seeing Chloe's office door open. Usually, she would've been there for hours already, and her door would be closed because she would be busy working on details.
However, he could see the door was open, the blinds were up, and there was someone sitting in her chair. He walked closer to the door and stood there. When the woman seated behind the desk lifted her head, Jason thought perhaps his heart had stopped.
"I would've expected to see you hours ago," Deborah King said as she stood from behind the desk. "You usually worked on Sundays and were always at work bright and early on Monday mornings. What changed, Jason? You’re not getting sloppy, are you?"
He stepped into the office and shut the door behind him. "What are you doing here?"
The devilish smile that the woman wielded formed on her red painted lips. "Perhaps you should check your emails on the weekend. Were you busy with extracurricular activities?"
"What I do on the weekend doesn't affect you. What are you doing here? And what are you doing in Chloe's office?"
Deborah sat back down in the chair and folded her arms on top of the desk. Tapping her bright red fingernails on the wood, she looked up at him. "Check the name on the door of the office, darling. I thought you more observant than that."
Jason's heart began to pound in his chest as he opened the office door and looked at the nameplate. DEBORAH KING
"That's right. Maybe you should get to your office and get busy before they change the name on your door too," she said snidely.
Jason gripped his messenger bag tightly in his hand. He didn't like where this was going, not one bit. He had moved to Mason Arts to get away from the woman staring at him as he walked away. It would be a cold day in hell when he worked with her again.
Jason's step quickened as he walked toward his office. His name was still on the door, and it was still closed. As he took his keys from his pocket, and unlocked the door, Byron Mason stepped out of his office.
"Good morning, Jason. How is your extended weekend? Tell me you did something fun," the old man smiled optimistically.
"I just relaxed. Nothing fun."
"That's too bad."
Jason watched the man watching him. He needed some answers. "Have you spoken to Chloe this morning?"
Now the older man's face retracted its smile. "I'm sorry you didn't know, but Chloe resigned."
"Resigned? She just landed the biggest deal this firm has ever had. Why would she resign?"
The man standing in front of him shrugged. "Chloe has been with us that she was in college. She was an intern. A spark of brilliance, that's what she is. We brought in a new colleague, and William told me Chloe didn't like it, and resigned."
Jason bit down on his lip and pushed open his office to work. He doubted very highly that Chloe simply walked away from a job she loved as much as she did.
"I assume Deborah King is taking Chloe's place?"
The smile was back on Byron Mason's face. "Do you know Deb? Oh wait, you’ve worked together before, right?"
"Right," Jason got out the word. "I passed by her this morning, in Chloe's office."
Byron nodded. "We decided it was the best place for her to be. I'm sorry Chloe felt as though she had to go. I'll miss her. I've never seen anyone work as hard as that girl."
Byron retreated back into his office and closed the door. Jason did the same.
He looked out over the white blanket covering the city and wondered where Chloe Richardson had gone.
Chapter 21
A fresh new blanket of snow covered the ground. Chloe held her coffee mug in her hand and looked out the kitchen window. The backyard where she used to run as a child was now a white wonderland begging for her to come back. Would it be so bad to jump into the snow and create a snowman like she would have years ago? Maybe a snow angel, or an igloo. Perhaps that was exactly what she needed. A few minutes of being childish and foolish would make her feel much better, she decided. She took another sip of her very grownup coffee and then considered that hot chocolate would have been equally appropriate, and tastier.
The adult Chloe wasn't having any fun at the moment. She still couldn't believe that William had fired her in the way that he had. He didn't do
cument anything, or send her to H.R. He'd just dismissed her.
Maybe what she couldn't believe was that she hadn't fought him. She should have called his father, raised a ruckus, and stood her ground. She should have been in that office that morning talking to H.R. herself. But she hadn't. Instead she'd packed up nearly a decade of work and dumped it into a box, which now cluttered her kitchen counter back in the city.
Chloe poured the rest of the coffee down the sink and rinsed her mug. Now she stood in her parents' home having a pity party.
After William Mason had left the office, she had packed up her belongings, gone home, and packed a suitcase. She was in her car four o'clock the next morning and headed back to Aubrey Heights. One thing was for sure, she'd always belong in Aubrey Heights.
Now, as she wandered through the quiet house, she wondered what Jason thought when he got to work that morning. Or, had he been in on it the entire time?
Chloe plopped down on her mother's sofa and picked up a People magazine that laid on the end table. Flipping through the pages she looked at the models, their makeup, and the parties. Had she stayed at Mason Arts, would Gloria Vandenberg have invited her to some of these parties? Would she have walked red carpets? Would she have had her picture taken by the paparazzi, simply because of the company she was keeping?
She tossed the magazine back on the table. Now she was just digging for things to feel pitiful over.
What she had to remember was that she had a job offer. Not only did she have a job offer, she had an invitation to go to Brazil, of all places. Needed Bean Coffee was doing some good in the world. She was asked to be part of that.
A warmth she hadn't felt in days crept back through her. Who cared if Jason Mitchell was part of her getting fired? Who cared that Deborah King was probably sitting at her desk? Who cared that William Mason thought so little of her that he dismissed her? Tyler Ashby and his beautiful wife Gwendolyn wanted her to be part of what they had.
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