Page 5 of Love and Cherish

Like I always do. Cherish corrected. Because no matter what, she would always take care of Febe.

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“You need to get up to speed.” Febe’s chilled voice rippled through the room.

Haylee jerked her head up, her pen stilling on her notepad. Nerves had rumbled through Haylee’s stomach nonstop until the midmorning meeting. Well, to be fair, they didn’t stop even when the meeting started.

Moments like this only added to them.

“I’m up for the task, Ms. Aarts.” Haylee assured her, hoping the wavering of her voice wasn’t noticeable. She had never been one to care what others thought, but this job was different from all the others. It mattered so much more. She could make a difference here.

“Good.” Febe dropped her gaze to her computer screen.

Haylee never understood what was going through Febe’s mind. Surely, she couldn’t be expected to know everything Cherish did. Not yet anyway. She knew she was a fast learner, but the amount of information kept in Cherish’s head couldn’t possibly be learned in just nine months. Forget even a year of working there.

Febe was quietly brilliant for sure. Haylee had never seen a smarter woman in her life. She only hoped she could be half as smart someday. And Febe rarely raised her voice, but there was never a doubt in Haylee’s mind when the imposing woman was yelling in silence. She had this quiet sort of disappointment and anger that chilled Haylee to the bone. This was one of those moments that was right in the middle of anger and annoyance.

Cherish sat next to Haylee but didn’t seem fazed by the retort. Perhaps Febe wasn’t as angry as Haylee had first interpreted. She was always doing that, thinking the worst of situations when they weren’t really that bad. But on this side of the desk, Febe imposing over them from her side, she had no doubt who held all the power in the room, and Haylee was at the bottom rung of this ladder.

“Haylee, I need you to start collecting résumés.” Febe’s voice pulled Haylee from her internal spiral of hell.

Had she missed something? Haylee scribbled aimlessly on her notepad, trying to catch up with the conversation. “All right. Any position in particular?”

She hated asking questions because it always made her feel less than, as if she hadn’t anticipated correctly. It was her job as a personal assistant to do that for her boss, but no matter how many times she tried, Cherish always beat her to it.

“Just to keep on file.” Febe clicked on her mouse, doing something on the computer that Haylee couldn’t see. She wished she could. Anything that would give her more insight into how Febe thought, how her business mind worked, was exactly what she needed.

They worked in the top mental health company in the United States, and Febe’s business plan was on point. Learning from her could make or break a person. Wellbeing Works had been so ahead of the game when it came to other online services. Haylee had been awed when she’d discovered the company and learned all she could about the person who made it possible.

This could be exactly what Haylee needed.

A company that understood mental health, was supportive of their employees, and could help her do exactly what she had been passionate about since she was a teenager—helping those on the fringes.

This was a chance. She had Febe’s full attention right now. She could pitch her plan, and she could make all her dreams come true. Without thinking, Haylee leaned forward as the words spilled out of her mouth.

“Ms. Aarts,” Haylee said, with far more confidence in her tone than she’d ever thought possible.

Febe slowly raised her gaze, eyeing her as if she was a mere annoyance.

“I…uh…” Shit. She should have planned this better. What was her brother always saying? Think first, act second? That was a lesson she wasn’t good at learning. “I was wondering if you were thinking about adding a particular specialty to Wellbeing Works. I mean, we have all kinds of therapies out there for people, we have focuses on the queer community, on single parents, I just…” Fuck, she was screwing this up royally. Where was the courage and confidence that she longed for all her life? Right. Stuck back in her sixteen-year-old devastated self.

Febe stared at her, those cold blue eyes pinned on her. Her lips thinned, and she waited patiently for Haylee to continue.

It was now or never. “What about people who are trained to work with veterans and their friends and families? We could add a specialty for that. Since I’m looking for résumés…” she trailed off, not finishing her thought.

Her stomach was in her throat, threatening to spew bile all over Febe’s pristine desk. Why was she so bad at this? She just wanted to help those who struggled so much, those who sacrificed so much for all of them.

“We do work with veterans.” Febe went back to her computer, her focus completely off Haylee.

“I know that.” Haylee forced a smile to her lips, but it wasn’t genuine. “But what if we had people trained to work with veterans and their families? Then we could market specifically to them.”

Febe flicked her eyes to Haylee, giving her one hard look before turning her gaze to Cherish. The conversation was finished. Haylee knew that much, and the opportunity she had seized was gone.

Her hope fizzled.

“What’s on the agenda this week?” Febe asked Cherish.

“We have five therapists going on parental leave in the next four months, so we need to work on adjusting their schedules and finding other therapists who can take on their clients temporarily.” Cherish stared at her calendar. “They all want to take the twelve weeks offered by the company.”

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