Lori stares him down, saying nothing. She has a frozen smile on her face, the sort you might see on a plastic doll head.
A few people get up from the table, grumbling to each other. I grip the armrests, wondering if I'm supposed do the same thing.
Lori walks over to me, her eyes cast to the side. “Thank you so much for trying,” she murmurs, still not looking at me. “I really wish you could've worked out differently.”
“I just… I don't know… is that it?”
“That's it!” Mickey growls sarcastically. “Just pack up your shit and go, Dahlia! It's the traditional Friday afternoon layoff!”
“Oh, can it, Mickey,” Barb drawls. I've never heard her so annoyed. “You're in IT. Those jobs just fall off trees, from what I hear. What the hell am I supposed to do now? I'm almos
t retirement age!”
Lori presses her lips into a thin line and stares at the table in front of me. I'm sure this is hard for her, but I'm not feeling sympathetic enough to reassure her.
“Well, thanks for the opportunity, I guess,” I murmur, then stand.
Stiffly, I try to walk from the conference room with his much dignity as I can muster. My mind races: what do I need to do now? Anything? Just put my phone back in my purse and go?
As it turns out, that's all there is. I don't even have a plant on my desk. I don't have anything personal here at all: no pictures of my family, no quirky cubicle decorations to pack up. It’s like I never settled in anyway.
So maybe it's not that big of a deal? It sure feels like a big deal.
I almost want to cry as I hand the parking lot attendant my parking slip, thinking this will be last time I will be able to see this poor guy. Alfredo. He has a wife and kids, but they live in Ecuador. See? I know more about Alfredo than a lot of other things. Am I going to miss him?
Almost in a daze, I drive to August’s apartment. He opens the door for me with a charming smile that seems to fade almost instantly.
“What's wrong?” he asks me immediately.
I shake my head in confusion. “I was fired? I think?”
“What happened?” he barks, holding my elbow and drawing me inside, then closing the door firmly behind me. He wraps his arm around me and guides me to the sofa, steering me like a small boat.
“Something about revenue…” I murmur. “Something about financials? I don't really understand. “
He smooths my hair with his palm, sighing. “Oh, you were laid off. Not fired. Laid off, can't be helped sometimes.”
“Yeah, but I —” my voice chokes off. How can I explain? About Kirkman? About hoping there would be more? He wouldn't even understand.
“There will be other jobs,” he says in a strong, confident voice. “Lori Coleman was just your first job, wasn't going to be your last job anyway, right?”
“I guess so,” I admit.
“Exactly,” he says. “So, your plan to find a new job is simply accelerated. People get in these situations on a regular basis. But you don't to say you were fired. You can say you were laid off. Everyone everyone will understand what that means. It's okay.”
“Okay,” I sniffle, feeling a little bit better. How does he do that? Just a couple of kind words and I already feel better?
He tucks his hand under my chin, tipping my face toward his. For the first time since I got here, I see him, really look at him. It's like waking up from a dream, finding him here in real life.
“Oh… hi,” I smile, almost wanting to giggle. It's so strange to be sitting here.
“Why are you laughing?” he smiles.
“I'm just really happy to be here,” I tell him honestly. “I am having a hard time believing this is real.”
“Oh, it's real, believe me,” he growls. He cups my jaw in his hands and pulls me closer, kissing me deeply. I melt into him, arching my back like a cat. I'm overwhelmed with a desire to wrap my body around him all over again. It's like magic, like some secret knowledge tattooed on my cells. And he is the wizard who unlocked all this.
I squirm under his touch, pulling my knees up.