Page 55 of Vixen's Guide to Christmas
“What happened?”
“He got the account. And the promotion.” She pauses for more than a few beats, and by the way she’s breathing, she might be holding back a tear. “It was a huge account for the firm, so they had this big office celebration party, champagne and all. And of course, Jeff gave a speech.”
“Of course he did. Let me guess, he didn’t thank you.”
“I would’ve liked to have just been mentioned,” she says. “Mind you, it wasn’t a secret that we were dating. So the fact that after he thanked everyone, from his bosses, to the assistants, to legal, to graphics, and even to the food delivery person for keeping him well fed during all the late nights he put in, but not me, stung. Not once. Not a thank you. Not anything.”
“Fuck, Kat. What an asshole.”
“He was. And I was livid. It’s one thing to use my ideas—and I know he did because he practiced his pitch speech on me the night before he gave it, and I saw the slides that I designed and put together—but to not even give me a passing ‘oh, and thanks Kat,’ sent me over the edge.”
“You didn’t go by Katherine then?”
“I did. Mostly,” she says. “When I presented to clients, I was more formal. But when it came to around the office, Kat felt fine. Katherine is such a serious name. And at that point, the only person who called me that was my mom, when I was in trouble, or Logan, when he was fucking with me. Kat, I thought, made me more relatable.”
“Makes sense.”
“It did, until the day that Katherine Smith was fully born. Which was also the afternoon after this party.”
“Part of me is scared to hear it. The other part of me is hoping you kicked him in the dick.”
“You’re right on both accounts. I tried to confront him at the office after the party settled down. Maybe not confront, but ask him why he seemingly forgot about me. He wasn’t in his office, and no one had seen him. I would’ve asked the assistant that served the group of mid-level publicists, but she wasn’t at her desk either.”
“Oh fuck.”
“Oh fuck is right.” Kat grips on to my arms tighter. “I eventually found them in a stairwell. Let’s just say they were using the rails for balance.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say. “No one should have to catch someone like that.”
“It sent me into a rage,” she says. “It was my final straw. Once he got his pants up, and the assistant quit acting like she was shocked that I existed, we had it out, in the middle ofthe office. It was like I had an out-of-body experience and just started screaming. For how he used me. How he was cheating on me. How three days prior he took my lunch that I was looking forward to eating.”
“The bastard,” I say. “I promise I’ll never take your food.”
She laughs at my joke. “I don’t know who I was at the moment, but I was absolutely causing a scene. I had to get dragged into my boss’s office to calm down.”
“What happened next?”
“I was suspended for a week and demoted to basically an assistant, with no roles in any accounts. Jeff and what’s-her-face got a warning.”
“Oh, that would piss me off more than them doing what they did.”
“It did. But the boiling point was when I went to his apartment that night to grab my things. I took Logan with me, not wanting to be by myself. Of course, she was there, looking smug as hell, like she won some sort of prize. I asked to talk to him about what happened, not because I’d take him back but…I don’t know…I wanted some sort of closure.”
“That’s understandable. What did he say?”
“That I was getting mad over nothing. That I overestimated how much I helped with his presentation. That I was delusional in thinking that I should get any credit when all I did was type a few slides for him. Oh, and that we weren’t that serious, and he doesn’t know why I acted how I did. For reference, we were together for a year.”
“Motherfucker,” I growl out. “I fucking hate this guy.”
“Join the club. We have matching hats,” Kat jokes as she turns around in my arms. “That was the day I realized mixing business and pleasure was the worst idea in the world. That getting your heart broken is one thing, but also someone usingyou in the work space, copying ideas, all-out using me? Honestly that was harder to get over.”
“That’s when Katherine was born?”
She nods. “It was a reminder of who I was in that space. Not that I was tempted again, but it was a good insurance policy. Tight buns. Light makeup. Strictly business. That was my persona until Logan told me one day that he wanted to hire me on full-time at GameTech. That I could leave the world where I had to see Jeff every day and get stares from coworkers whom I thought were my friends. The rest is history.”
“Except the rule.”
“Except the rule.” She finally looks up at me, her eyes a little sad, but I see hope in them as well. “I’m scared, Grayson. I know you aren’t Jeff. I know that in my bones. But putting myself out there like this when I said I never would again…that’s a scary place to be.”
