Page 98 of Unbossly Manners

Analise and the rest of the executive team had been speaking to our lawyers all weekend and figuring out the best course of action. It was Sunday afternoon, and I hadn’t moved from the sofa, except to receive my unending food orders, and to pee.

I called Analise and gave her a rundown of what I found out about the owner of FireVision, then said, “I think you should talk to her.”

The line was quiet.

“Hello?”

“I’m weighing up the best and worst case,” she said.

“Best case, she’s furious one of her employees went behind her back and put her company at high risk for a lawsuit. Worst case, she plays dumb, tells Brody he’s been found out, and we have to sue them. Either way, we still have proof he worked for her. It looks horrible from a PR standpoint for her company, and it will damage their chances with NOW once we reveal what happened. I don’t know legally how we should approach her, but I think you should confront her. How she reacts will be very telling.”

“This is good, Peyton. I like this strategy. Let me discuss with the team and I’ll get back to you.”

“I want to be on the call if you move forward,” I said before she hung up.

In my contacts I found Jackson. He’d texted several times and in a fit of anger, I blocked his number. It was all “hey, let’s talk”, “I’m sorry”, “I was confused”, blah blah blah… vomit.

I clicked unblock in case he needed to contact me regarding work stuff. By now he should’ve realized he’d been blocked from my life in a personal capacity.

“That sounded positive,” Selena said, digging her thumb into my heel.

“Analise said she’d call once they had a plan.”

We sat in silence for a bit, watching Meg Ryan race across Manhattan.

“Kat texted,” I told Selena. Her hand stopped working my foot.

“What did she say?”

“She asked me to call.”

“Will you?” Selena asked.

“Hell no. She’s doing Jackson’s bidding.”

Selena sighed. “Maybe you should listen to him. I know he was an ass, but come on. He was going through some major shit, and he was in a bad accident, and his company was taken over by an interloper. He practically declared his love to you in the lounge.”

“I don’t disagree that he has hard stuff he’s dealing with or that he’s a good guy. He’s thoughtful and caring and loyal. He’s just not those things to me. He hurt me. And he chose her. I’m not mad at him. I don’t even blame him. But I want better,” I said.

Selena walked to her small kitchen and put on a pot of water to boil.

“Stupid kiss. Stupid Jackson.” I threw the pillow at Tom Hank’s head. “I’m over it.”

“Bullshit.” Selena fake coughed.

“I am!” I scowled.

“You are so not. You’re wallowing. And that’s fine. But don’t act like you’re anywhere close to being over him.”

Selena poured the spaghetti noodles into the boiling water. She heated the oven and spread baby carrots over a pan, spraying them with oil and sprinkling salt and pepper.

The intercom buzzed. I glanced at Selena. We weren’t expecting anyone.

I pressed the button.

“‘Ello?”

“Baby girl, it’s your Mamacita.”

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