Page 111 of Fake It 'til You Make It

‘Why on earth would you be jealous of me?’

‘Because you are and always have been everything I’d like to be. Intelligent and successful, sure, but decent and liked by everyone, loved by everyone. Your family, your friends, the people who work for us, even the goddamn tech world. I’ve always been the sidekick. The glorified salesman.’

‘What? That’s… absurd.’

‘Be that as it may…’ He steps back from the doors and holds his hands out from his sides. ‘I’ll sign the documents.’

The doors literally close on our friendship and on everything I thought I knew about the dynamics of our relationship.

54

ABBEY

Five days after Ted telling me he loves me

‘Are you sure about this?’ Dad asks from the driver’s seat of his car. We’re parked outside departures at Calgary airport. ‘The offer stands for you to come into business with me.’

‘I know, Dad. And I can’t wait to work with you one day, when the time is right. But first, I need to prove to myself that I can get where I want to be on my own.’

‘You sound like me when I was your age.’

‘Well then, it’s true that I’m the apple and you’re the tree.’ I lean over and kiss his cheek. ‘Wish me luck.’

‘You don’t need it. They’d be mad not to hire you.’

‘You have to say that, you’re my dad.’

‘And an astute businessman.’

Smiling at his biased vote of confidence, I head into the airport to catch my flight to meet with Ted’s accountants about a potential job as a business strategist.

I use the flight time to run through my resumé, which isn’t actually great for a business strategy role. Most of my experience has been informal. But like Ted says, they’ve seen an example of my work.

Ted. Garghhhhh. I’d get a lot more interview prep done if I could stop my mind wandering and my face breaking into Cheshire Cat-style grins every five minutes when I remember… helovesme.Me.

Five days has felt like forever. Completely the right thing to do, going our separate ways, him back to San Francisco to put his past to bed – which sounded awful to me, yet when he relayed the sushi scene and the showdown with Roman, he seemed…fine.

I didnotlike that Fleur had been naked in his apartment. Not one single bit. Yet, the way Ted spoke about her, there isn’t a shred of doubt in my mind that they’re done.

I also spoke to Shernette before I agreed to the interview today. It turns out Greg has been running his mouth drunk to some of my old colleagues about how I took the fall for his mistakes becausehechanged my numbers in that report. He should really learn to hold his beer.

Shernette and my dad had the same advice – they both encouraged me to speak with my old boss and set the record straight on why I quit and that report I thought I’d messed up.

It turns out my old boss never would have fired me and she wasn’t surprised to hear the truth about the report.

In her words, I’d ‘never made a mistake with numbers’. Apparently, I was her most diligent auditor. So she was only happy to give me a reference – and it’s a great one, too.

My nerves build, as does my imposter syndrome, on the flight over but when I’m collected in arrivals by a driver holding up a board stating up my name, I try to remember all the people who are supporting me in this roll of the dice.

I’m wearing a tweed-style work dress that fits me perfectly and makes me feel kind of… work hot?Sonot what I used to wear to work and I… really like that? I may not have had my capsule wardrobe in Canada but I had something even better – girl time with Mom, Dee and Shernette, who helped me choose some clothes for today and who glared like guard dogs at anyone in our hometown who dared to stop and whisper as I passed by. My Lady Guard.

I’m whisked in a fancy executive car to the offices of WBO – big four accountancy firm – where I meet Ted’s client relationship partner, Matt.

‘Abbey, at last we meet,’ he says, friendly and warm, settling my nerves in an instant when he shakes my hand.

I should have expected as much from someone Ted recommends.

The interview, it turned out, was more of a casual chat over coffee and less than an hour later, I’m stepping through the big glass revolving doors onto the sidewalk of San Francisco’s Financial District with my small suitcase dragging behind me. Leaning my head back, I breathe in deeply and smile up at the Transamerica Pyramid.

---