Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 56462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“Earth to Mila,” my friend, Carolina, says, waving her hands in front of my face, snapping me out of my internal misery. We’re at our company’s ridiculous idea of a Christmas party, and unfortunately, this was a mandatory event. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Christmas party. There’s nothing better than watching Jan from Accounting get wasted off two martinis and slutting it up for Nathan in HR. She’s been twerking on him for the past twenty minutes, and as amusing as it is, I’m not feeling it tonight.
“Sorry,” I murmur, plastering on a fake smile and lifting my glass to my lips, hoping the cheap wine can somehow dull the ache in my chest—an ache that wasn’t put there by the loss of my father only a few short months ago. No, this is a whole new ache. This one is as fresh as they come. “Stuck in my head again.”
As of a week ago, I had it all. The perfect boyfriend, Brandon, who I’d hoped was going to propose for Christmas, and a best friend, Amelia, who was my rock through this past year, who held me up when I fell to pieces and was there to wipe my tears when the pain became too much.
But unfortunately for me, my boyfriend was involved in a tragic accident when he slipped and fell straight into my best friend’s vagina. It hit me out of nowhere. I was completely blindsided. I’d gone over to Amelia’s apartment to surprise her with an early Christmas gift for being such an amazing friend, and turns out, I was the one who got the surprise.
I walked straight into her apartment to see my boyfriend bending her over the couch I sleep on, screwing her brains out.
My heart fell right out of my chest, shattering into a million pieces, and since then, I’ve been a ghost of the woman I once was. In the space of ten months, I’ve lost everyone important in my life. My whole support system has crumbled. Mom. Dad. Amelia, and Brandon.
I do still have Carolina, the woman currently staring at me as though I’ve lost my mind. While I’ve known her for a few years, we’re just colleagues, and our friendship doesn’t often expand outside of working hours.
“Come on,” Carolina says. “We’re at a party, and even though it’s a shitty party with even shittier wine, you should try to have some fun. I know it’s been an awful year for you, but tonight is your chance to relax and let off a little steam.”
I shrug my shoulders, glancing out at the pathetic excuse of a Christmas party around me. Carolina and I work for a prestigious law firm in New York, and honestly, we’re more than lucky to be here, but I’m starting to wonder if any of it is even worth the long, grueling hours. We each finished our law degree, and after interning here, we secured positions. However, the empty promises of promotions are starting to land on deaf ears.
Both of us are at the bottom of the barrel, basically doing all the grunt work for the real lawyers while we idly sit by, waiting for someone to realize that we’re more than just paper pushers, and might actually know a thing or two about what we’re doing here. I suppose I’m partly to blame for that. I could have pushed myself to be noticed and valued, and I was in that mindset until this year went to shit. Now, I don’t even know if I care about this job or the career that could blossom from it. I’m not fulfilled here anymore.
Carolina and I became fast friends and have spent every lunch break—assuming we get one—together for the past four years, and yet, I can’t quite figure out why our office friendship hasn’t translated into a real outside-of-work friendship. Point is, I’m twenty-six, and I thought at this stage of my life, I would have so much more than just . . . this.
I scoff as I gaze at my friend. “I don’t know if I can afford to relax. Every time I do, someone seems to drop dead or stab me in the back.”
A cheeky grin rips across Carolina’s face. “Well, look at it this way. There’s no one left to drop dead or stab you in the back, so what do you have to lose?”
“Damn,” I laugh, throwing back what’s left of my wine. “You’re going in hard tonight.”
Carolina laughs. “Let your hair down, Mila. Let’s get wasted on the company’s dime and have a great night. There are only a few days until Christmas, and from tonight until after New Year’s Day, you’re officially on break, so who cares if you wake up tomorrow with a killer hangover and a man in your bed? As long as he rocks your world. It’s a win-win, girl. What could go wrong?”