Page 98 of Accidentally Amy

She nodded. “The Boston employees didn’t seem surprised, for the most part, and I think they were happy with the severance.”

“Good,” I said.

“I felt really bad for my new generalist, though,” she said, pursing her lips. “She seemed shocked.”

I rubbed the back of my neck and wondered if I had any more Tums in my desk. I said, “It’s never easy, is it?”

“No, but I think she’s really young and was putting a lot on this job.”

“Ah.” I wanted to puke.

“She was one of those applicants who was so…enthusiasticin her interview that I just had to hire her. She seemed to really love it here.”

I swallowed and wished she’d stop talking.

“So what brings you down to our floor?” she asked.

“Uh.” I tugged at my tie and seemed unable to come up with a word. Any words at all.What the fuck is wrong with me?I said, “I misplaced my phone and thought I’d check down here.”

She glanced down at my pants, where I was certain the shape of my phone was obvious.

I said, “I have to go now.”

Once I was in the elevator, I pulled out my phone and texted Izzy:Are you okay?

I hadn’t realized how certain I was that she wouldn’t respond until the vibration of my phone scared the shit out of me.

Izzy:Fine. HBU?

HBU?I responded withI just saw Pam.

Izzy:Ha ha samesies

I hated this. I didn’t want work to ruin what we had. I didn’t want this hanging between us. I texted,So again—are you okay?

Izzy:I’m fine. Ellis is very generous with their severance packages.

I didn’t know what to say to that. I texted,Can I call you?

Instead of her answering, my phone started ringing. Izzy was callingme.

I lifted the phone to my ear. “Hey.”

“So I have two questions,” she said, and the sound of her voice made me miss her like I hadn’t seen her in years. “I don’t want to be a hard-ass, especially since you’ve kind of been my favorite lately, but I need answers.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck.“Okay…?”

“Okay.” She cleared her throat before saying, “When did you find out Ellis was firing me?”

“You didn’t get fired, you were part of a workforce reduct—”

“Blake.” Her voice was tight. “When?”

Fuck, I didn’t want to answer that. I sighed and said, “Yesterday morning.”

“Oh—wow.” She breathed out a noise between a cough and a laugh that was definitely not good. “More than twenty-four hours.”

“Well, I was—”

---