by J. L. Berg
And when he did…
It was like a fucking death sentence.
Or at least, it might as well have been.
I crumpled up the paper and threw it across the room, hating everything and everyone in that moment.
James, for choosing to be a doctor, especially mine.
Dean Sutherland and the fucking town of Ocracoke, for reminding me that everything ended.
And me. Most of all, me. For aspiring to be more than the piece-of-shit orphan I’d started out as.
All of a sudden, everything felt too small.
This room.
This goddamn city.
I needed air.
I needed space.
Picking up my phone once more, I made a split decision.
“Hi, Dean. This is Aiden Fisher. You sent me an email about the monument I sculpted for your town.”
“I did. I didn’t expect such a prompt reply. Or a telephone call,” he replied.
“Well, let’s just say, you caught me at a good time. I recently finished up a gallery showing and I’m in between projects. I’d love to come down and work on-site if possible. I think it would be just the inspiration I need.”
“On-site? Are you kidding?” The shock in his voice was palpable.
“Yes. Do you think that could be arranged? I’d need lodging with ample space to work.”
“Absolutely. When would you like to arrive? I can recommend rentals, or if you prefer, there is a charming inn—”
“No rentals, I hate cooking. And as for my arrival, how does today sound?”
We worked out the rest of the details, and soon I was headed for the airport.
Good-bye, New York.
Good-bye, James. Take your shitty test results, and shove ’em.
It was time for a change of scenery.
I took one last look in the bathroom mirror and tried not to smile.
It didn’t work.
I couldn’t help it. This was it.
All my hard work was finally coming to fruition. All those long nights, all the travel, every hour of dedication and putting everyone else’s opinions and ideas first.
It was all about to pay off.
But, first, I needed to look the part.
My hair was perfectly curled in that undone why, yes, I did wake up like this sort of way when, in reality, no one woke up this way. We all just paid a fortune for high-priced blowouts to make it look like we did.
My makeup was flawless, but it always was. I’d spent far too much time on YouTube learning how to make it so.
As for the sleek, fashion-forward dress I was wearing? Well, considering I worked for the company who designed it, let’s just say I’d gotten more than a few double takes on the way up to the office today. And I doubted any of them had anything to do with my stellar good looks or my overpriced blowout.
I did work in one of the top fashion houses in Miami after all.
Here, it was all about the clothes.
“Millie, your shoes are fantastic!” one of my coworkers announced, stepping out of a stall to wash her hands. She eyed my spiked Louboutin leather booties, just off the runway from one of my last trips to Italy.
Okay, sometimes, it was about the shoes too.
“Thank you,” I replied, deciding, after another glance in the mirror, a little touch-up on my lipstick wouldn’t hurt.
After all, today was a big day.
“Are you nervous?” she asked. “Excited? God, I would be a basketful of emotions.”
Pulling out my go-to nude I loved to rock at work, I shook my head, wishing I’d done a better job at paying attention when this newbie made the rounds last week introducing herself.
I wanted to say her name was…Sally? Sarah?
“It’s Sadie, by the way,” she said, her blue eyes meeting mine in the mirror. There was no shame but not a bit of animosity either.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’m usually better with names. It’s been a crazy week.”
She smiled, a genuine type of smile. One I hadn’t seen in a long time. “I get it. You’re about to be promoted to one of the highest positions in the company. That couldn’t have been easy.”
I let out a breath, thinking back to all the long nights without sleep, the endless travel, and the lack of a social life. “It hasn’t been; that’s for sure. But it’s not a guarantee. The position, I mean. It’s all rumors at this point.”
I was totally lying through my teeth.
That promotion was mine. I’d heard it directly from my boss’s lips late last night.
“Well, you’re an inspiration, Millie. Truly. I wish you nothing but the best today at the company meeting.”
“Thank you,” I said, watching her exit.
I returned to my primping, dabbing on a little lipstick before letting out a breath.
“This is it,” I said. “This is when everything finally begins.”
Wasn’t there a saying about famous last words?
When I entered the conference room, it was bustling with energy. Most often reserved for board members and key leaders of the company, today, the usually large space was bursting at the seams.
That was because today was the annual company meeting.
Today, we would recognize achievements across the board. From the support staff all the way up to the top.
And today, that would include me.
I tried to play it off as casual as I made my way in, but the moment I saw my boss and CEO, I broke out into an ear-splitting grin. Lorenzo Russo, sharply dressed in a suit that no doubt had been perfectly tailored to his body, gave me a brief nod before continuing his conversation with a board member. But, as I turned away, I couldn’t help but notice the small smirk that had formed at the corner of his mouth.
“Mills!” someone called.
I turned to find Kyle Tennant, one of my original friends when I’d started here.
“Over here.” He gestured, giving me a full view of the ensemble he’d picked for today.
“Jesus.” I laughed, taking the seat he’d saved for me next to him. “Going for shock value?”
He looked down at the plum-colored sequined top and shrugged. “I have to do something to get noticed around here. Not all of us are traveling the world, you know.”
Although Kyle and I had started here at the same time, both of us wide-eyed newbies like Sadie from the restroom, I’d surpassed him in rank within the first year. While I met with board members and made decisions about fall and spring lines, he was still grabbing coffee and running errands.
I rolled my eyes, giving him a nudge. “As glamorous as it sounds, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be sometimes.”
He gave me a hard stare. “Tell that to me the next time I’m at your house, crying in the middle of your closet. Have you been in there recently?”
My lips pressed together, trying to cover my growing smile. “Okay, yeah, that part is pretty great.”
He just shook his head before glancing down at my shoes. “Speaking of, where’d you get those beauties?”
With my crossed legs, I shook one foot in his direction. “Why? Jealous?”
“I’m jealous of your whole life, honey. But I’d take those the shoes for starters.”
I laughed as more people began to find their seats. I leaned in closer to him, catching the familiar fragrance of Chanel No. 5—Kyle’s favorite perfume. “How about this? When I get this promotion today, I’ll do you one better than a pair of shoes. What if I make you my assistant?”
He gave me a dejected stare. “Assistant? Are you fucking kidding me? I am nobody’s assistant!”
I placed a hand on his shoulder, still amused by the amount of sequins on it. Did he ever stop and wonder if that was maybe why he didn’t get promoted? Maybe they were scared to put him on design work when he showed up in such ridiculous clothes.
“Hear me out, okay?”
He let out a huff of air and sat back in the chair, clearly not amused. “Fine.”
His interest perked up. “Okay, I’m listening. So, I’ll get to go with you to all these ridiculous places you visit?”
“Yes.” I smiled.
“And help you with design.”
“You can give me your opinions. I can’t promise more than that.”
Because that’s all you’ll ever be able to give. No one is going to take you seriously in this company, a small voice in my head said.
I ignored it, like I’d been doing for years.
He briefly considered it before he spoke, “When you see what I have to offer, you’ll be begging for more. Will I have to get you coffee and cut up your food?”
“Cut up my food?”
“Willa, Lorenzo’s assistant, says he regularly makes her order him dinner and then cut up his food before he’ll eat it.”
I tried to imagine my sexy man of a boss doing this. “Um, no. I’m pretty sure I can cut my own food, but I might ask for coffee from time to time.”
“I guess I can do coffee, as long as I can get my own at the same time.”
I heard someone clear their throat next to us, and my attention went to the front.
“So, are we good?” Kyle asked.
I gave him a thumbs-up as Lorenzo took the stage. Well, there was no stage, but if there were, he would totally have owned it.
“Hey, uh, Millie…I think you have a bit of drool right there,” Kyle joked, pointing to my mouth.
I shot him a look before shaking my head and returning to Lorenzo.
“Thank you all so much for taking the time out of your busy day to come together as a team to honor and celebrate this wonderful company. Our annual meeting is always a special occasion because it truly humbles me to see the hard work that goes into making this company great and to recognize much you achieve on a daily basis, both in and out of the office. So, without further ado, let’s get this party started!”
Everyone laughed at his attempt at humor. It really wasn’t that funny, but with the addition of Lorenzo’s Italian accent…well, it helped.
Plus he was our boss, so of course we laughed.
“Here we go,” Kyle whispered beside me. “Wake me up when they get to you.”
“You’re terrible.”
“No, I get easily bored and this is fucking long.”
He wasn’t wrong. We weren’t a large company, but we were by no means small. This was just our corporate office. We had satellite offices in several other countries, and even though none of those people were here, Lorenzo felt the need to honor them anyway.
So, it could get a little long.
We celebrated promotions and retirements and even births and marriages. In Lorenzo’s eyes, those were equally important, although none of the top staff members even knew what it was like to be married, let alone have kids since we were all married to our jobs, but we celebrated everyone else with a smile and a round of applause.
Finally, he got to promotions in the corporate office. I hit Kyle in the ribs, causing him to sit up straight and pay attention. Just as Lorenzo was about to open his mouth, several beeps and buzzes filled the room, like everyone’s phone had gotten a notification at the same time.
Wanting Lorenzo to continue, I ignored my phone, but several others didn’t.
Including Kyle.
He casually pulled his phone under the table, like half of the room, and I watched as his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
And he turned to me.
Along with everyone else in the room.
“What?” I spat in a hushed tone in his direction.
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t even make eye contact with me. He just handed over the phone as everyone watched.
“What is going on?” Lorenzo asked, not bothering to conceal the tone of his voice. He was annoyed.
I looked down at the phone, at the email that had been sent out. The title: Guess Who’s Screwing the Boss?!
Holy shit.
In the body of the email was a video and a single sentence. I didn’t have to watch it to know what it was. I could see from the single-preview shot exactly what it was.
Lorenzo and me. In his office. Last night.
I guess we all know how she worked her way to the top.
A single tear fell from my cheek as I read the email. I forgot how to breathe as I looked up at Lorenzo. His annoyance turned to panic. His hand went to his pocket as he, too, found his phone and the email.
The email that ruined everything.
“Who sent this out?” Lorenzo’s voice boomed. “Who sent it?”
The room went silent.
I looked down at the sender. It was blank. Whoever had sent it didn’t want to be found. I swallowed hard as I handed Kyle his phone back.
“I guess our arrangement isn’t going to work out, huh?”
“What?”
“Me being your assistant? Was I going to have to sleep with you, too? Because you know I don’t swing that way.”
My vision was fuzzy as my only friend began ripping me apart in front of the entire company.
“Kyle, please,” I managed to say. “It isn’t like that.”
“It isn’t like what?” he bellowed. “It isn’t like I’ve been working my ass off every damn day for the past seven years while you fucked your way to the top?”
My eyes met Lorenzo as he just stood there, unmoving, unwilling to come to my aid.
“I didn’t—”
But what could I say?
I had.
I’d slept with my boss.
I was the cliché, the cautionary tale.
And because of a single email, I’d lost everything.
So, I did the only thing I could.
I ran.
The worst thing about being married to your job?
Outside of my coworkers, business trips abroad, and the clandestine affair I was having with my boss, I had nothing.
Less than nothing.
After fleeing the meeting that was supposed to make all of my dreams come true, I put an end to my career before someone else could.
Taking the high road or what was left of it, I resigned.
Effective immediately.
Lorenzo couldn’t even look me in the eye as I tossed the hastily written letter on his desk.
I guessed I knew where that left us.
It didn’t take long to clean out my office. There wasn’t much in it that was actually mine. A few pairs of shoes I had bought but never took home, a couple of family photos, and a sketchbook I hadn’t used or opened for years.
No one said a word to me as I exited the building, but their silence spoke volumes. I knew what they were thinking.
Slut.
Whore.
Gold digger.
I would have thought all that and more if it were someone else.
But it wasn’t.
I was the slut. The whore. The gold digger.
I tried to hold my head up high as I entered the elevator for the last time, but it was hard…so damn hard.
Because, in that moment, I kind of agreed with them.
I’d become everything I loathed when I fell for my boss. The hopeless romantic sap of a girl who believed this time was different.
This time, it was real.
I’d really thought I could change him. That, after years of womanizing and philandering, I, Millie McIntyre, could somehow tame the wild Lorenzo Russo with love.
God, what a fool I’d been.
Armed with my pathetic box of mementos, I headed for the parking garage, feeling the Miami heat hit me the second I stepped off the elevator. It used to comfort me, this heat. It reminded me of home—of warm nights out on the patio, roasting marshmallows like a regular family.
We were a regular family—most of the
time. If you didn’t count the steady stream of guests we had coming and going through the house. My family had come from a long line of innkeepers. My sister and I had been raised in a bustling business rather than a quiet family house. But I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Maybe it’d prepared me for the chaos of this life.
Well, maybe not this specific moment in life, but the majority of them.
I’m pretty sure nothing could have prepared me for driving home to an empty apartment with no plans of ever leaving it again.
Walking through the door, I took a cursory glance around. Not a single thing was out of place as I flipped on the lights, admiring the modern styling I’d paid a fortune for.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spent more than two nights here.
I guess that was about to change.
Heading for the kitchen, I kicked off my shoes, not caring where they landed, as I went straight for the wine fridge.
“Hello, pinot grigio. Where have you been all my life?” I said fondly, pulling out a perfectly chilled bottle. Not even bothering with a glass—because who was I kidding? I was going to drink the whole thing—I uncorked it and headed for the one place I thought would bring me comfort.
My closet.
Half a bottle later, my ass was planted on the floor of my giant walk-in, nestled between a pair of sparkly pink heels and a few sample pieces from the fall line I’d taken home last week. Looking down at them as I took another sip from the wine bottle, I realized that this right here, was my whole life.
This closet. This fucking job. These fucking clothes.
And now, it was gone.
Gone.
“How sad am I?” I said to no one.
But then someone actually answered back. Or at least, that was how I interpreted it when my phone began ringing a few seconds later. Picking it up from the spot where I’d tossed it on the floor, I let out a frustrated sigh.
“Great,” I said, seeing my sister’s name in big, bold letters staring back at me.
Do I answer or not?
“Hello?” I answered before I had a chance to change my mind.
After all, none of this was her fault. There was no reason to avoid her.
