Page 34 of We Met Like This
Rebecca’s office was slightly bigger than Rob’s, but she didn’t have the corner windows like Rob did. She did have a wall of bookcases that Rob didn’t. I could always tell Rebecca got into this field for the love of books while Rob for the love of sales and contracts and numbers.
I once googled Rebecca. She was in her late thirties, had started her career in New York, and had moved out here when her husband got a promotion at his company. She also liked to say,I did it for the sun. “Hi, Margot. How can I help you?”
“Hi, Rebecca. Friday at eleven, I’m having a meeting with Rob about my future here at the agency. I was hoping you could sit in. Give your advice and opinions. If you have time.”
“Really?” she said, a smile lighting up her face. “That’sgreat news. He’s always said you were happy with your current responsibilities.”
“He…” At one point in the past Rob had told me he discussed my promotion with the other agents and the three of them thought I wasn’t ready. Either she had misremembered their conversation or he’d been lying. They seemed equally likely to me. “He has?”
“But things change, right? I’d love to sit in on a meeting.”
“Gr—great. I— Thank you,” I finally spat out.
“Will you have Cole put that in my calendar?”
“Of course.”
I did just that, and after Cole added me to the schedule I went back to my desk, reeling with this added information that once again proved Rob was holding me back, sabotaging me.You sabotaged yourself, Audrey would’ve said. I felt so stupid.
I swiveled my chair back and forth, trying to bring my anger levels down. I’d been a willing pawn in his game for too long. I was taking charge of the narrative. Friday. Everything would be better on Friday.
Speaking of anger… I pursed my lips and tapped my phone to life. I hadn’t talked to Audrey since brunch. I had thought she would reach out, smooth things over even more after calling me a glorified intern. She hadn’t. I typed a message to her:You hurt my feelings Saturday.
I erased the words that sounded juvenile and instead typed:I set a meeting with Rob for Friday about a promotion.That wasn’t at all what I needed to say to her, but maybe it was what she needed to hear—that I could take charge of my life.
That’s awesome! Remember to practice.
I grumbled a “Don’t tell me what to do” under my breath and reminded myself it was Rob I was actually angry at, not Audrey.
The office phone rang and I answered it with my normal greeting.
“Margot, how did it go? Any progress?” It was Kari.
“Rob is avoiding me,” I said, then clamped my mouth shut. I shouldn’t have said that.
She just laughed. “That makes two of us.”
“I’m sorry. I haven’t given up.”
“Can I send you some pages? Help you understand what I’m fighting for?”
“Yes! Please! I’d love to read some.”
“Great! I’ll send along my first fifty by the end of today.”
“Romantic thriller with a horror-style ending.”
Miles paused the television.Love Island.That’s what he and Sloane were watching. A reality show where they threw twenty hot people together in a house, made the women wear bikinis twenty-four seven, and hoped anyone fell in love by the end. I checked up on all the past contestants on social media. Very few of them had stayed together. Having to wear regular clothes must’ve broken the magic spell.
“Genre-bending?” Sloane asked.
I’d been reading in my room for the past hour and came out, head buzzing. “Kari Cross’s newest manuscript.”
“Kari Cross? The romance queen?” Sloane asked. “Pass.”
“You’d pass if you heard the concept?”
“I love her romance. Horror-style ending?” Sloane said,sitting forward on the couch. She always did that when she turned on her work brain, like she was ready to spring into action. “Isn’t that the exact opposite of a happily ever after?”
