Page 13 of Unbossly Manners

Chip’s words reverberated in my head, poking the far reaches of my mind.

You’re the worst person I’ve ever been with.

They pummeled me as I walked to work.

You should come with a warning label.

I was drowning in them by the time I went up the elevator to my office and into the break lounge. Why did shame come with every word he’d said? I knew I had nothing to feel bad about… and yet, I did. To my core, I felt like a shitbag.

Fuck him.

He had no right to manipulate my emotions. But it didn’t matter how much Wonder Woman badassery I tried to instill in my inner monologue. He’d shredded my self-worth. Not completely. But enough. Enough to make me scared of being with another guy.

My phone buzzed.

“Finally,” I grunted into my AirPods, as I poured a large cup of coffee.

“I missed you, too, mi amore,” Selena said.

“Sorry.” I sipped the hot liquid, enjoying my first zap of caffeine. “I don’t have time for pleasantries. I’m meeting with my boss in five minutes.”

“What was with the cryptic message last night. Is this a tampon scale SOS?”

I chortled on my swallow of coffee and wiped droplets off my chin. Selena was referring to our first meeting. I may be intimidated by sex, but I’m not squeamish and when she sheepishly knocked on my dorm room door our freshman year and told me a tampon was stuck inside her, I found large plastic tweezers in my roommate’s science lab kit, latex gloves, and with the help of some KY, slid that sucker out of her.

An incident like that bonds you for life.

“It was close,” I said answering her question.

There was traffic noise on the other end of the phone. “Where are you?” I asked.

“JFK. Waiting for my Uber.”

“I’ll tell you everything later, but can I stay with you?”

“You know I’d always say yes, but I rented my place out for the next month. I’m crashing at Fariha’s.”

Fariha was Selena’s ex-girlfriend. Toxic, manipulative, and sexy as hell.

“I thought you were never speaking to her again.”

Selena would never seriously get back with Fariha, but she loved any excuse to sleep with her.

“Well, I kinda have to. We share a pig.”

“It’s Fariha’s pig.”

Selena had lived with them for a year and liked to claim she’d formed an attachment with Hamlet.

“You eat bacon, you know.”

“That’s different,” Selena said.

A text beeped on my phone.

“Shit. I have to go. It’s my boss. I’m meant to be getting her coffee. ” I pressed the espresso button on the machine. “Come by the office later if you’re not too tired.”

Creamy black liquid dripped into the mug, the strong smell of coffee like a warm hug. As I waited, I eyed the doorway, then put my hands on my hips and held my Wonder Woman pose, breathing deep into my lungs for five counts. Normally, I would’ve started my day like this at home, looking in the mirror, but this morning had not been typical.

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