Page 117 of When in December

“I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, if you celebrated. I called you in here before the end of the year to give you some positive news,” Michelle said from where she sat across from us at her desk.

I took a deep breath. I thought there would be more lead-up about how both projects were a success and that she was proud of specific things within our work.

But Michelle didn’t sugarcoat things. I used to admire that about her.

“I am happy to congratulate Alison on receiving the promotion,” Michelle announced quietly as we sat in front of her in the same seats that we had sat in when she first put down the gauntlet over a month ago.

It’d felt like it was so much longer.

I schooled my face into a look of unhurt, though my aching heart sank deeper into my stomach. I turned toward Alison and plastered one of my best smiles on my face.

She didn’t see through it.

Neither did the formidable Michelle Maven.

No one ever did.

“Congratulations, Alison. I saw the work you did on your home. It was remarkable,” I said.

It wasn’t a lie. Alison’s projectwasamazing. It was classy and modern and had a hint of antique to work well with the original architecture of the building. It was exactly the kind of home that Home Haven readers would ooh and aah over.

Alison’s wide smile faded before she dipped her head in a small nod. “Thank you, Poppy.”

“Thank you for coming in to see me today,” Michelle said. “I won’t keep you longer than necessary, so please get out and enjoy the rest of your day. Your calendars should list upcomingprojects. I hope you both are as excited as I am about what Home Haven has in store.”

Alison pushed back her seat and rose, thanking Michelle before heading toward the door leading back into the main office space. I did the same.

“Poppy, could you please remain for a second?” Michelle asked.

Alison caught my eye, holding the door open. She gave me another small smile before shutting the office door behind her.

Michelle cocked her head at me as I slowly lowered myself back into the chair I’d sat in a moment ago.

Smoothing out my pants, I took a deep breath. I was wearing the stretchy dress pants with the bows on them again. I’d worn them the first day that I started on the cabin. I remembered the way that Aaron’s eyes had caught on them in what looked like disgust, but I’d noticed that when we were in bed, it was almost like he was still remembering them on my legs, tracing his fingers over my skin in small twists and loops.

That moment that had brought us together.

Back together.

But that wasn’t meant to be. A lot of things weren’t right now.

Maybe it wasn’t the right time, or the universe had other things in store for me soon. Or maybe that was all bullshit. Because when it came down to it, all the affirmations were just words. What mattered was what you did with them afterward.

How do you make each positive phrase true?

“Poppy,” Michelle started, catching my attention, “I wanted to check in with you.”

“Of course.”

“I know the promotion was previously discussed with you before all this mess. In this case, Alison simply had what I was looking for, for the magazine, as a lot of our smaller projects andminor home DIYs were already included. We needed a big piece to fill the spread,” explained Michelle.

I nodded.

“It had nothing to do with the quality of your work,” she went on, making sure that I understood how she had come to the decision.

I did.

What I didn’t—what I held inside myself, knowing that it wasn’t polite or professional—however, finally broke free as I met her gaze, still held tightly on mine.

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