Page 1 of Julian's Curse

Iwatched Jess clean her desk, shying away from her gaze all the while. I didn’t know how Amanda had found out, but she’d fired her minutes ago through an email to the entire office.

Neither I nor Sophie had said anything to our boss, but Misha’s omnipresence seemed a viable explanation. It was the first time in my career that I was grateful to him; despite him being a spineless sycophant, he’d taken Sophie’s side in this. She had suffered too much over Mark’s implied infidelity. Because of Jess’s cruel lie, the two of them had broken up for at least a year, a painful period for a fragile heart like hers. And this wasn’t an analogy. I’d only recently discovered that Sophie suffered from cardiac arrhythmia, and in her case, it was serious enough to kill her.

Jess finished filling her stationery box, and then began to walk in my direction, her eyes locked on mine. She tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder, in desire to possibly shake off the entire situation. I’d need to face her, and I dreaded it.

“Lucie,” her voice trembled, looking like she was about to begin sobbing. “I’m sorry for what I did.” With mascara streaming down her face, she looked almost pitiful. I’d been there a few times myself, though never because I’d attempted a scheme straight out ofMean Girls.

I nodded. “I’m not the one you need to apologize, Jess.”

“I tried to text Sophie, but she’s not responding,” she muttered dejectedly.

Some things were better left be, and this was probably one of them. An apology when she’d already been caught would not have seemed genuine. Besides, I wasn’t reading any true remorse in her energy. She’d probably still date Mark if she could manipulate him into it.

“Would it be okay if I listed you as a work reference?” Her eyebrows shot up hopefully.

I looked away from her raccoon eyes, then let out a breath in frustration. Of course, she had an agenda for this conversation; just another reason to be glad that she was on her way out.

“Jess, I don’t think you want to do that. I don’t have anything good to say.” I couldn’t believe how much I sounded like Amanda Hart, our draconian boss. It gave me a little bit of guilty satisfaction.

“Never mind,” she sulked, then headed toward the door and kicked it in annoyance. The Christmas snow globe that she used to keep on her desk, despite it being summer, fell to the ground with a thud, glass splintering everywhere. The uniformed man working nearby jerked at the sound, then lifted his head to identify the cause.

“Jess?” I called her name one last time, halting her in her tracks. “I’ll tell Sophie you said you’re sorry. It may be best if you leave her alone, though.” I narrowed my eyes to let her know it was a warning.

I suddenly became conscious of our coworkers watching us, and while a part of me was used to attention at this point, I hadn’t been able to tune it out this time around. I glanced at my screen, seeing the office chat now blowing up with supportive emojis. Almost everyone could feel the bitter sting of Sophie’s absence. There was nobody to restock office coffee or organize potlucks, and there would be no more work parties at Sophie’s lavish Coronado mansion. Most importantly, everyone’s best friend disappeared from our routine.

Jess hesitated, her brow furrowed as though she were still wondering what to do about the literal and figurative mess that she was leaving behind, then murmured a brief “thanks” before disappearing through the exit.

Seconds later, more uniformed workers arrived to help with the installation of a camera system and a metal detector, Amanda’s newest security decisions.

I’d become a high maintenance hire, but I also knew that it was not the emotion that Amanda wanted me to feel. When I had started working atApogee, San Diego’s largest lifestyle magazine, we’d been pulling in an annual revenue of around $200 million a year. Since then, it had almost tripled with business pouring in, some of it being the result of Julian’s indirect association with the magazine, some part of it hopefully being due to my workaholism — but there was no way to deny that becoming his girlfriend had skyrocketed my career, whether I liked it or not.

Amanda though, was a force to reckon with as well—she’d nurtured this extra gas pedal and maintained the momentum, while involving a few tech companies in the launch of a newlifestyle app, a savvy business move that crownedApogeea billion-dollar venture. As a result, my salary had quadrupled, and another raise for me was not out of the realm of possibility. It was starting to feel like nothing was out of the realm of possibility these days.

I no longer had a problem paying for my student loans, groceries, or anything whatsoever – a stark contrast with my first year in San Diego. My professional life felt phenomenal, except for the fact that Sophie had left a void behind. But I had to be joyful for her because she was pursuing a career in real estate, a smart choice for someone with her skillset and background. Argh, real estate had never been the field that I’d been interested in—yet it had shaped my life so much already. And I was learning a lot about it from Julian, enough to understand most of his business jargon, enough to know that it was interesting now to me too, to learn about how exactly he’d built such an empire in it.

I was about to delve back into work when I spotted a twiggy Black female barrel through the glass door. She seemed petite, in comparison to the two suitcases alongside her and the heavy bag she was carrying, making me wonder how she’d transported it all up by herself. Not noticing the glass on the ground, she passed through it, the suitcase making a cracking sound as it rolled over it.

I was about to go help her when she halted in her tracks.

“Lucie, right?” She wiped her forehead. “Thank goodness that I didn’t have to go far.”

“Yes, hi, can I direct you somewhere?” I walked toward her to assist with her items.

“Appreciate the hand. I am Kali, the new assistant,” she examined me closely. “Mandy, I mean Amanda, said that I am to report to you.”

Amanda had left for a fashion show in Milan that same morning, and she hadn’t given any heads-up about a new hire before she left. But I’d grown accustomed to the fact that working for her often meant flying by the seat of my pants. “Yes, definitely, we were expecting you,” I tried to sound more confident than I felt. As I spoke, my mind quickly ran through the checklist of how I’d approach this unexpected onboarding.

The simplest solution seemed to be seating Kali next to me, so I pointed to Sophie’s old desk and offered it to her. At the same time, I silently cursed the fact that Rebecca, our office whiz, had started grad school and was no longer around to help with the usual username and system setup.

“Don’t sweat the details,” Kali grinned, sensing my stress as I stumbled through my thoughts. Her easy smile helped to calm some of the panic rising in me, especially since I had no clear plan of what steps to take next.

“This is actually the first time I’m helping a new hire,” I admitted. “Are you friends with Amanda?” I queried, noting that she had called her Mandy. It felt like the perfect way to kick off some light conversation. As an introvert, I still sometimes struggled to avoid being awkward in introductions, but it had definitely gotten easier with practice.

“We went to school together. She’s helping me because I fell on hard times.” She hinted, while she tugged her suitcases toward her new desk. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had come straight from the airport. Kali seemed to shy away from my gaze, and I sensed there was a lot of unspoken pain behind her words. But I didn’t think it was my place to press for more details. Maybe, at some point, she’d share more when she felt ready.

“I also started here when I was also going through a tough period. My career atApogeeturned my life around.” I shared with her, reminiscent of the prior year. “Here,” I handed her my old welcome package. “This stack is a great place to start.”

My phone dinged, and I remembered it was almost three o’clock. I would be running late for my lunch with Julian. Still, I needed to pay attention to Kali now that she’d just arrived.

---