Page 2 of Return to Rosewood Beach

“Come on into my office for a minute, Julia,” he said, not quite making eye contact with her.

“Um, okay.” She turned to Kenzie, wondering what was going on, but the secretary avoided eye contact with her as well.

Straightening her shoulders, Julia followed Marshall inside his office. He gestured for her to take a seat in the chair placed on the opposite of his desk, and she sat down, trying not to squirm.

“I hope this won’t take long, Marshall.” She gave him her best polite smile, trying to hide the way her insides were wiggling like jelly. “I don’t want to be late for the meeting. You shouldn’t be either.”

Marshall inhaled slowly through both nostrils, and then he exhaled. “Julia, you’re not going to be at the meeting. There’s no need for your services in this new advertising deal.”

She felt as though the floor was tilting slightly, she was so stunned. “What—what do you mean?” She shook her head, notsure what to make of his statement. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Marshall inhaled slowly and then exhaled again. “I mean, that as a matter of fact—” He paused, taking another inhale and exhale. It was clear to her that he was searching for his words. “We’ve decided to do away with your position altogether.”

Her jaw dropped, and her body felt hot and then cold all over.

“You’re firing me?”

Marshall cleared his throat delicately, still avoiding eye contact.

“On a Monday morning? Ten—no, seven minutes before a major meeting with a potential client? You realize I studied for this meeting, Marshall? I did work on this.” Her shock was quickly giving way to anger. “Am I really being fired?”

“I wasn’t choosing that terminology, but?—”

“You couldn’t find one moment this weekend to tell me? You couldn’t even send an email or a text? I had to get all dressed up and come down here so I could pack up my desk while everyone’s here to see me walk out?”

Although his expression remained blank, the tips of Marshall’s ears were starting to turn slightly pink. “I’ve been busy preparing for this meeting.”

“What kind of a lame excuse is that? I’ve been busy all weekend preparing too. And for what? I did all that work for nothing.”

He cleared his throat. “I concede that I should have found the time to let you know sooner.”

She stared at him, still reeling from the news. Her anger was beginning to shift into an unpleasant feeling that was similar to getting punched in the stomach. For a few moments, she struggled to get any words out, and then she stammered, “Why am I being fired?”

He glanced at his watch, frowning and twitching his shoulders a little.

“It’s nothing personal, Julia, just the usual downsizing that all companies have to do from time to time. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to discuss this right now. I have the meeting with Cutie Pie, and I don’t want to be late.” He hesitated for a moment, and then said, “I’ll send you the details via email, along with information about your severance package. And the final documentation of your termination, of course.”

A million thoughts seemed to race through her brain at once.

She wondered why Marshall thought that it was unpleasant to say the word “fired,” but he seemed to have no problem using the word “termination.” She wondered why he couldn’t have just taken a few minutes to fire her over email if that was how he was choosing to really explain the whole thing to her anyway. She wondered what on earth she was going to do, where was she going to go next.

Marshall cleared his throat gently and Julia stood, feeling stunned. She didn’t say goodbye to him, she simply walked out the door and down the hallway to her office. Her one consolation, she thought bitterly, was that most people would be in the meeting while she was leaving Caldunski Inc. with her stuff and she wouldn’t have an audience for her departure.

She had to blink back tears as she took down her pictures, utensil holders, and knickknacks and began to stuff them all into her purse. It was a large purse, and they almost all fit, but not quite. She had to sneak past the meeting room to get an empty cardboard box from the mail room. She could hear the sounds of the meeting going on, and she winced, wishing she could be in there to share all of her ideas.

As she was leaving the building, a wave of nostalgia swept over her. She’d been so excited for that job, so sure that it washer next step in climbing the ladder of success. Now there she was, being ushered out with her tail between her legs.

She took a back door out onto the sidewalk, since she didn’t want to walk through the lobby and be seen by everyone who was getting into the elevators. She wasn’t dressed for showing up to the office to clean out her desk—she was dressed for a meeting. It looked like she’d done something terrible within the first five minutes of work and gotten thrown out on her ear.

She strode across the sidewalk, feeling dazed as she tried to hail a cab. Her head was spinning, and she knew she needed to try to concoct some kind of plan, but she was still reeling from the shock and disappointment and hurt of it all.

What on earth had just happened?

CHAPTER TWO

Julia took a sip of her salted caramel crew cold brew coffee, trying to find a sense of peace in the middle of the busy coffee shop. She took a deep breath, looking out at the bustling New York sidewalk through the window beside her, and then closed her eyes for a moment.

It was Wednesday, two days after she’d been fired. She’d been completely useless the day before, allowing herself to eat only slices of pizza and watch movies all day while wearing fleece sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt. After her one day of vegging out, however, she was feeling restless and ready for action again. She’d already started putting out feelings for new jobs, although nothing looked promising—or interesting—to her.

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