Page 50 of Finding Forever

“I offered you a lawyer weeks ago, and you declined. Do you remember?”

How could I forget? I regretted it every time I blinked. A lump formed in my throat at his stern tone and I hated to admit that some of the things he said were true.

“Anything other than an order signed by a judge just gives the illusion of control. But I don’t think you ever had control when it came to him. You just put up with whatever he did and I don’t understand that. Because you don’t deserve that. And neither does Mycah.”

“Don’t talk to me about what I deserve,” I said around the lump.

Why was I so upset with him? He was right. And his ex-wife was the devil’s secretary. I was fully aware that Maverick was just a convenient scapegoat, but there was nowhere else for my anger to go at the moment, so I aimed it at him.

“You know what Maverick, I have to go.” Before he could say another word, I hung up and put my phone on airplane mode, knowing that he would try to call me back right away.

Unable to sit at my desk, hot with embarrassment a second longer, I made a beeline for the employee bathroom and locked myself inside. On wobbly legs, I made it to the mirror and spent who knows how long staring at my expression. To my own eyes, I looked shaken. Devastated. Not okay.

When did my life become a poorly written soap opera? Of all the places that Chris could have dropped that news, he had to do it at work. In front of Sera. The woman already had enough ammunition against me and I’d just given her even more.

I splashed cold water on my face and took a few deep breaths before heading back to my desk. I didn’t have the luxury of staying in here all day to hide from the world, but I needed something to make me feel semi-normal.

On the walk of shame back to my desk, bitter bile rose, but I reminded myself that I was on the clock. There could be no vomiting when the pile of documents in front of me still needed to be filed.

With shaky hands, I got back to work. Only to be interrupted less than five minutes later when my boss showed up at my desk with a stern expression.

“Ms. Carter, can I see you in my office for a second?”

Ms. Carter?He never called me that and he never looked at me with disappointment lining his face.

I gulped.

“Uh, sure.”

My hands were shaking again. This time for a different reason.

“Have a seat,” Dr. Long said once we made it to his office. He closed the door as I took a seat and waited for him to address me.

“It’s been brought to my attention that you had a dispute at your desk just now.”

Shoot. Sera and her big mouth.

“With your ex-husband, no less. I’m not sure how Sera got caught in the crossfire, but she seemed pretty shaken when she came to tell me about it.”

“I can explain—”

Dr. Long held up his palm, suspending my words.

“Listen, Gina. I have two ex-wives of my own. And I know some aspects of divorce can get downright ugly. But I can’t tolerate those confrontations happening in my office. That kind of behavior won’t be tolerated moving forward.”

In so many words, he’d basically just warned me that if it happened again, I’d be out of a job.

“It won’t happen again,” I promised, forgetting my excuses. If I lost this job, I don’t know what I’d do. So, I’d suck it up and do whatever Dr. Long requested.

Dr. Long looked sympathetic before nodding. “Alright, get back to work.”

∞∞∞

Tanya and Abby were staring at me with open mouths on the screen by the end of my very long rant to catch them up on the day's happenings.

“Sheesh, your life has been like a movie since you went on that vacation,” Tanya joked.

“A very bad movie,” I pointed out, feeling sorry for myself as I lounged in bed.

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