Page 87 of Dump and Chase

“I know what she wants.”

“Good. So do us all a favor, me, you, Tangi, your family, her family, the entire world … don’t fuck this up. And don’t mention New Year’s Eve.”

ChapterForty-One

Tangi

The day before New Year’s Eve, Ethan left for an eight-game road trip that would keep him away for two weeks, and the distance had come at the right time for a few reasons. First, it was the anniversary of our breakup, and it best we weren’t around each other on that day. Second, I’d spent a lot of time trying to figure out what my heart wanted. It wanted to trust Ethan, to welcome him back into my life, but I couldn’t do it. I’d opened myself up to him once before, only to find out he thought we were having closure sex and that he had a fiancée.

So I wasn’t ready. Not yet. I had to know he was in the right headspace and not getting caught up in baby madness or jumping from one relationship to the next. I also owed it to Baby Kildare-Grant to make the right decision.

I made sure to go to bed before midnight on New Year’s Eve. I wanted nothing to do with the day. I then threw myself into work and dealing with injuries. I was counting down the days until Jill came for her short visit. She’d be staying one night, so I prepared Ethan’s room—with his permission—and picked out a great Greek restaurant to eat at, but when Jill was due at my place, she texted to say she preferred we hang out and order in. So I arranged for the restaurant to deliver. From her text, I could tell Jill was exhausted. Her words were brief, and refusing a night out meant she’d had all she could take.

I met her in the lobby of the building, and when she got out of her Uber, I was vibrating with excitement. By the time she got to the door, I was squealing. We threw our arms around each other.

“Look at you!” she said, leaning back to take me in. “You finally look pregnant. Sort of.”

“I may not be big, but that’s all baby in there! Now let’s get you out of the rain.”

“I prefer it to all that snow we had,” Jill said as we walked to the elevator. “It took days to dig out, and I hate that you weren’t able to come home.”

“I was pissed too. It would have been nice to see everyone. It gets pretty lonely around here sometimes.”

Jill arched a brow. “But it seems you made the best of it.”

“Right. We’ll talk about that inside.”

Jill took one look at the condo and let out a long whistle. She dropped her bag and headed straight for the balcony, not caring that it was cool and rainy. She stood out there a few minutes, taking it all in.

“That view!” she said.

“I know. It’s gorgeous. Aren’t you cold?”

“My thick Minnesota blood can take it. And in my next life, I’m going to come back as a hockey star so I can live in a place like this.”

While she took in the view, I poured her a liberal glass of white wine along with a tall glass of sparkling water for me. I got her back inside and we sat on the plush sofa and sipped our drinks, although mine was hardly interesting.

“Tell me about work,” I said, wanting to avoid the Ethan conversation for as long as possible.

Jill drank some wine, then set it down on the coffee table. Her grim expression told me everything.

“Ever hear of the glass cliff?” she asked.

“No.”

She got more comfortable on the sofa. “It’s when a woman or someone from a visible minority is promoted to a position, usually something high up, where the chances of failing are high. Think Theresa May or Ellen Pao. They’re good examples. The company or political party is usually in some sort of crisis, so they make a ‘diversity’ hire so the company looks progressive, except what they’re really doing is setting up that person to fail. And when the business fails, who gets the blame?”

I winced.

“Yeah. Hence the glass cliff, because that’s about the only time we get promoted to positions like that. We’re expendable.”

I had to google Ellen Pao later, but I nodded along. At least I knew who Theresa May was. “What’s going on at Richardson’s?”

“The Canadian expansion is a mess. The supply chain is a mess. I think the mastermind who came up with expanding to Canada has never been here. This isn’t the United States. For one, the land mass is larger and the population is ten times smaller. We can’t get stock to stores in time. Stores are half empty. The company has lost millions, and soon it’ll be billions, and they want me to be the PR face of it. And I’ve stupidly gone and accepted the job.”

“Oh shit. I’m sorry.”

“I knew it was going to be bad, but I had no idea what a catastrophe it is. I’m only telling you this, but I don’t see these stores making it to next Christmas. And that means I’ll be canned and blamed for not spinning it correctly. I know what they’re up to.”

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