personal things were on her desk. Her plants, the cacti and the aloe that
June liked, were all packed away.
What did you expect? She knows what’s coming. That’s really why you
called Beth.
June wanted to think she hadn’t taken the coward’s way out, but she
knew she kind of had. She knew Beth would go to Arabella and tell her that
she knew and that she was going to have to have a conversation as soon as
she got back. She could have called herself. She could have talked to
Arabella, but she didn’t have the lady balls.
Well, she was going to have to have them now.
Arabella stood up. She didn’t let June get more than a few feet into the
office when she dipped her head. “I know you’re mad at me. I’m…I just
wanted to say that I’m incredibly sorry. I’ve packed up my office.
Everything that I could file, I tried to file neatly so that the next person
could make sense of it. I made sure all the files that anyone might need are
in the shared folders. I don’t expect a reference. I would never ask for that. I
—”
“I’m going to give you severance,” June blurted, cutting Arabella off. It
hurt to see the pain on Arabella’s face. That pain was real, and June was
very sensitive to what other people were feeling. It cut through any
remaining anger she might have had and just made her feel utterly
exhausted.
Arabella blinked at her. “Why would you do that?”
There was only one answer and June never had a problem telling the
truth the way other people did. She always tried to be tactful, but she never
skirted away from it. “Because I have to. Because I know you need it. I
know you have people depending on you. I know that’s why you did this. I
also know you didn’t mean to do it to me personally. I get that things are
rough and that when they get that way, people get desperate. I know you
know that since you got found out, that means you don’t have a job