Page 16 of Romance with Mr. Bossy Pants

“Will you cut it out already? You’re being ridiculous now. Why does this matter so much to you anyway?”

“Because I don’t want you to end up like the rest of them—scarred from the trauma and hard to move past it in your next role, or life in general. You say you made a mistake and fixed it. You changed your outfit because everyone is a hostage to his fashion. You stayed up late creating an entirely new proposal on such short notice—”

“I told him I could do that.”

Amber scoffs. “More like he intimidated you into doing it.”

“Listen, he wasn’t that uptight when I got to his place last night.”

Amber snorts.

“Uptight? Girl, the man, is rude and threatens your job constantly. Look, I know you need this job, but maybe you should consider your options. You can get a new job, you know. You got what it takes.”

“Maybe he just had a bad day,” I sigh.

Amber throws her hands up in exasperation. “Fine. But if he throws another tantrum at you, you’re calling me, and we’re finding you a new job. Got it?”

“Got it, I promise.”

I stand in front of the mirror. Today, I opt for a long sleeve black dress without a blazer. Amber looks at me funny.

“Too plain?” I ask.

“Not plain, just unlike Chloe.”

“Well, there’s no place for sunshine and rainbows at Andrews Enterprise.”

Amber rolls her eyes. My eyes spot a red scarf on the top shelf of the closet. “How’s this for sunshine?” I ask.

I wrap the scarf around my collar, forming a tie-like knot in front of my chest.

“It’s beautiful,” Amber says. “Hold on. I should take a picture.”

“What for?” She takes a few shots before I can stop her.

“I’m setting up a profile for you on Glimr.”

“The dating app?”

“Yep. You’ve been single for way too long. Time to get you back into the dating pool.”

“Oh, jeez. This was your bright idea yesterday? To help me with my dating life?”

“Sure was! There’s no harm in trying, right?”

“I dunno, Amber. After Greg—”

“Forget about Greg, Chloe. There’s no loser bigger than him in all of San Francisco. Plus, that was over a year ago and you’ve only been on a couple of dates since then.”

“I told you. I was too busy trying to land a better job.”

“Right. Let’s not forget that Greg is the reason you had to find a new job in the first place.”

“All the more reason not to date anyone right now!” I protest.

She chuckles. “Greg was your coworker first. That complicated things. It was obviously gonna get weird if you guys broke up. And you did. It got messy in the worst possible way after you caught him with his trainer. But that’s in the past now. I’m thinking something casual with someone different from your usual type.”

“I guess,” I sigh. “I really can’t afford to switch jobs, again.”

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