Page 81 of Love & Other Disasters

Monique shook her head. “You didn’t stand a chance. Those panties just fell off.”

“No. I’m not that easy… usually.”

They both laughed, and Bonnie entered the breakroom. She scowled at Violet and moved to the coffee maker. Now that everyone thought she was a slut, she should get used to dirty looks. Violet shrugged and left the room with Monique on her heels.

Unwilling to cower, she held her head high and walked back to her desk. Her desk phone rang as she approached, Jordan’s name on the screen.

“So everyone knows,” she said instead of a greeting.

His pause was lengthy enough that she checked if the phone had disconnected.

“It was a crazy day yesterday, is my only defense,” he said.

“Fine, I guess, but not ideal.”

“Well, on that note, we’re requested on the fourth floor.”

“Why? Am I fired? Are you fired?”

“No, you’re not fired. And if I was, I’d already be kicked out of here. They want us to sign a contract, acknowledging our relationship and stating that we will not sue the company if this goes south. I also have to sign something agreeing I will not show bias toward you in promotions, pay, or daily assignments.”

“Promotion or pay? That’s optimistic.” And it meant if the company pulled through, her chances of promotion were dead. She hung up the phone without waiting for a response.

A few days later, he made it to Violet’s at a normal time; J.P. picked up food on the way. He’d worried about her since they signed the paperwork. They hadn’t spoken at all at the office and she’d been asleep every night when he got there. Over dinner, he caught her up on everything happening. There were customers leaving right and left, but they’d talked the largest hospital chains into staying for now. And with any luck, the smaller ones will return.

“Are you okay?” he asked, sitting next to her on the couch and wrapping his arm around her.

She leaned against him, but shrugged.

“Come on, what’s on your mind?” he coaxed.

She remained quiet for so long he worried she wouldn’t speak.

“I’m not sure.” she began, “Elle was right that I wouldn’t be able to keep us a secret, and it would come back to bite me.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because everyone knows and most people aren’t speaking to me anymore. And I have no shot at ever getting a promotion. I mean, I suspected that wouldn’t happen anyway, but now it’s confirmed.”

“Not necessarily. They’ll move you to another department later.”

“Another department?” Violet pushed off his chest. “I don’t know how to do anything else.”

“You’ll be great.”

Violet removed her glasses, wiping them on her shirt hem. “Sure.”

“Thankfully, Bob doesn’t seem to care. The contract thing was at HR’s insistence. After all this blows over, it may not matter.”

“True, and then you’ll move on.”

“What do you mean?”

“If this company succeeds, you’ll be in demand with other struggling companies, and can go anywhere you want. If this company fails, then you’ll move on, too. Either way, you don’t stay. It’s like we have an expiration date.”

“Why does it mean the end of us?”

“Because long-distance relationships don’t work.”

---