personal things were on her desk. Her plants, the cacti and the aloe that
 
 June liked, were all packed away.
 
 What did you expect? She knows what’s coming. That’s really why you
 
 called Beth.
 
 June wanted to think she hadn’t taken the coward’s way out, but she
 
 knew she kind of had. She knew Beth would go to Arabella and tell her that
 
 she knew and that she was going to have to have a conversation as soon as
 
 she got back. She could have called herself. She could have talked to
 
 Arabella, but she didn’t have the lady balls.
 
 Well, she was going to have to have them now.
 
 Arabella stood up. She didn’t let June get more than a few feet into the
 
 office when she dipped her head. “I know you’re mad at me. I’m…I just
 
 wanted to say that I’m incredibly sorry. I’ve packed up my office.
 
 Everything that I could file, I tried to file neatly so that the next person
 
 could make sense of it. I made sure all the files that anyone might need are
 
 in the shared folders. I don’t expect a reference. I would never ask for that. I
 
 —”
 
 “I’m going to give you severance,” June blurted, cutting Arabella off. It
 
 hurt to see the pain on Arabella’s face. That pain was real, and June was
 
 very sensitive to what other people were feeling. It cut through any
 
 remaining anger she might have had and just made her feel utterly
 
 exhausted.
 
 Arabella blinked at her. “Why would you do that?”
 
 There was only one answer and June never had a problem telling the
 
 truth the way other people did. She always tried to be tactful, but she never
 
 skirted away from it. “Because I have to. Because I know you need it. I
 
 know you have people depending on you. I know that’s why you did this. I
 
 also know you didn’t mean to do it to me personally. I get that things are
 
 rough and that when they get that way, people get desperate. I know you
 
 know that since you got found out, that means you don’t have a job