And that was a world I didn’t want to step into after experiencing it firsthand myself growing up.
“Knock knock.”
“Katie?” I asked.
My best friend’s voice ripped me from my trance.
“Don’t be alarmed, but I come bearing gifts of food and a curiosity to know what your office looks like. Oh, swanky office. I like the cream-colored walls,” she said, grinning.
“I have no idea if you’re being sarcastic or not,” I said.
“That tired, huh?”
“More like that overwhelmed.”
“With what? I thought you were just training,” she said.
“Doesn’t mean the job isn’t already taking a toll,” I said.
“I think I know why it’s taking a toll.”
I leaned up in my seat as Katie pulled up a chair next to my desk. She divvied out the food, setting my cheeseburger and fries in front of me. She pulled out chocolate chip cookies before handing me my soda, the silence in the air filled with tension.
“Don’t say it,” I said.
“It’s because you’re working for Brett,” Katie said.
“Come on. Can we talk about something else, please? He’s been on my mind all morning, and I’d like to think about literally anything else.”
“All morning? That bad?”
“Yes, that bad.”
“Well, I warned you when you said you were going to interview for the job that this might happen,” she said.
“I didn’t think it would be this bad, honestly. He’s ten stories above me, but it feels like he’s in the office next to me.”
“Have you seen him yet?”
I shook my head. “I’ll have to eventually. My job requires it.”
“What is your job, exactly?”
I plucked a french fry from the pile in front of me. “I’m the overall manager for the consultants Greyson Consulting hires. I keep tabs on their paperwork, approve and deny requests for vacation. I deal with their invoicing. Things like that.”
“So, you’re their secretary?”
“No. I’m their boss,” I said.
“Oh, nice. Wait, so if you’re their boss, that means you have to report to Brett whenever something goes wrong. Right?” she asked.
“Yep. According to my job description, there will be monthly meetings with him I’ll be required to attend as well as weekly one-on-one meetings so I can update him on things regarding the consultants. My first major project is figuring out how the company can expand their consulting practices.”
“And what does Greyson Consulting, well, consult on?” she asked.
“Financial matters. Everything from questions about retirement and investment accounts to helping people manage their everyday finances.”
“And he wants to expand that somehow?”
“Supposedly, investing is changing with the times. Things like robo-investors are starting to become popular with the younger generations. I don’t know—I’ve got a lot of material to read on it before next week. But, yes. My first main project is to figure out how we can expand our consulting services to attract the younger generations,” I said.
“Sounds boring as hell,” Katie said.
“You’re telling me.”
“And yet, you applied for the job.”
“I needed the job. I’m still taking care of my mother, and my student loan bills have to be paid.”
“You’re taking care of your mom? Still? Isn’t that a job for your future stepdad?” she asked.
“We aren’t talking about him,” I said.
“Okay. Then, let’s move on to another question. You think your flame will relight with Brett?”
“That’s what you want to know? The girl who was absolutely hell-bent on convincing me he was cheating back in college, and you want to know if we’ll start dating again?”
“More like, I want to know if you’re going to make a stupid decision with your life again,” she said.
“Well, then the answer to your question is no. You were around when we split up. You saw how badly that went down. Hell, you were there for the entire rise and demise of our relationship. Rumors flying and tears being shed. Yelling in my dorm room over his damn sister and trying to get you to shut up long enough to enjoy my relationship with him.”
“Hey, I know what I saw. And after all the things I saw on campus, I’ll never trust that son of a bitch again. He knew what he was doing. He knew he was playing you, and he knew he could,” she said.
I rolled my eyes. “The answer to your question again, Katie, is no. There’s no spark. There’s no interest. There’s no reason for you to panic and start up the rumor mill again.”
“They weren’t rumors, Olivia. I saw him with my own two eyes.”
“Yeah, but you were the only one who saw him. Hell, his sister couldn’t stand me, and even she said Brett wasn’t that type of person.”
“His sister was also a pathological liar. I mean, come on. She tried to convince Brett that the reason you lost all that weight junior year was because you were addicted to cocaine. You had mono,” she said.
“Look, it’s in the past, and I don’t want to dredge it up. Okay? So, can we talk about anything else? Please?” I asked.