Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Leaning back in my desk chair, I abandon my packing task. “It happened again,” I say with a heavy sigh, feeling completely defeated.
“Ahh, shit,” she mutters. “You got your period in that white pantsuit again? I swear, I told you to leave a change of clothes at the office. What do you need? Tampons and that cute outfit you bought from Zara last week? The one with the matching blazer? I’m just leaving the gym, but if you can hide out in your office, I’ll be twenty minutes tops.”
“What?” I grunt. “No. I didn’t get my period. I got fired.”
“Ooh,” she says before her tone drops and she says it again. “Oooooh.”
“Yeah.”
The outside noises fade away, and I can only assume she’s stepped into one of her favorite coffee shops on her way home. “Shit. Are you alright?” she asks.
“Yeah . . . I don’t know,” I tell her. “I think it’s still sinking in. I love my job, but sometimes Dwayne makes it so hard to enjoy what I’m doing.”
“Ugh. Dwayne is such a little asshole,” she says. “I swear, that guy makes it so freaking clear that he’s not getting dicked-down on the regular. I mean, why does he need to be so worked up all the time? People who fuck simply aren’t that depressing to be around.”
“Tell me about it.”
Rena fades away as she puts in her order for a latte and a turkey sub on a whole wheat roll before coming back to me. “You know,” she says, a deep thoughtfulness in her sweet tone. “You’ve been talking about moving on from SC Corporate for months now. Maybe this is your shot to start your own business. You’re so good at what you do, but you’re doing it all for a lousy paycheck at the end of the week. If you were the one calling the shots, you’d be raking it in.”
“I mean . . . I thought about it, but I don’t think I’m ready.”
“No one is more ready than you are,” she tells me. “You’re literally one of the best corporate publicists in the country. Clients will flock to you. All you need is a team working under you who knows what they’re doing, and then nothing will stop you.”
I let out a heavy breath to suppress my hope and excitement for a dream I’m not sure I could pull off. “I don—”
“Don’t even think about telling me no. This is happening,” she says. “Take the Christmas break off to actually relax for once, and then start up in the new year. I’ll swing by tonight and we can start hammering out all the details. I’m sure there’s a bunch of licensing things you’ll need, a small office space, or maybe you can work from home while you’re just getting started. Oh! Then we can work out a business name and start playing with some branding options. You know that shit gets me all kinds of hot and bothered.”
A grin stretches across my face, and I find myself sitting up a little straighter. “You really think I can do this?”
“You’re Blair Wilder. Of course you can do this,” she says. “Besides, if you’re not going to do it for yourself, then do it for your nana. She was so proud of you at SC, but she would have loved to see you open your own firm.”
“Shit. Don’t play the nana card. That’s not fair.”
Rena laughs. “Never said I played fair.”
“Good point,” I say, rolling my eyes. “But you know as soon as the clients catch wind that I’ve been fired, they’re going to put pressure on Dwayne to bring me back, and I—”
“No. You’re going to say no and tell him where to shove his bullshit job, and when those clients get pissed that you’re gone for good, they’re going to leave SC Corporate Management and find you.”
“You really think?”
“I know, and so do you,” she says. “Now, order yourself an Uber and get your ass out of there. And do yourself a favor, go out in style. Really kick Dwayne in the balls on your way out. Make sure that when he does beg for you back, it’s really going to be a shot to his ego.”
A sly grin pulls at the corner of my lips. “Alright, girl. I’ll see you tonight.”
“That’s the spirit,” she says. “Talk to you later.”
The call goes dead, and I put my phone back down on my desk before opening one last email. Then with a fierce courage blasting through my veins, I select the mailing list that got me into this trouble in the first place—the full company.
----------
From: Blair Wilder - Senior Publicist, SC Corporate Management
To: All
Subject: Fired!
I’m out, Bitches!
That’s right, you heard me. Dwayne did it again! Apparently yesterday’s award-winning meme was deemed inappropriate, despite how those with an actual sense of humor might feel about it. Though we all know if Dwayne could take a dick as hard as he takes a joke, we wouldn’t be in this position . . . again.