Page 92 of Finding Their Place

Haley

Both Wyatt and Garrett had reached out to me within days of the shit hitting the fan to offer apologies with words I’d heard dozens of times. Their promises meant jack shit, same as my parents’ had over the years.

My anger, while protective, exhausted me, and I struggled to stay afloat from the sea of depression wanting to rise up and swallow me whole.

I craved them both to the point I couldn’t eat. Couldn’t sleep.

But my goddamn stubbornness had kept me from responding even though my heart urged me to answer when Garrett had called.

In his voicemail, he’d asked for a second chance, wanting to be a better friend.

Those familiar excuses rolled off my back like water, but it was the rest of his message that had choked me up. The memories of our friendship and hearing his voice breaking every time I hit replay throughout the following days brought tears to my eyes and created another slivered crack through my already bleeding heart.

Add in that Lily had left for vacation the same Saturday morning I thought I’d found my place in life, and loneliness piled atop the mess in my head. I refused to call her and moan the blues while she was enjoying her time away with Blaine and Greyson.

Gretchen’s continued bitchiness like she’d had PMS for a damn month straight didn’t help matters at all.

By Friday afternoon, I’d managed to keep my head above water, but she was an hour late for our monthly meeting. She breezed into the back room with her big-assed sunglasses, Coach bag on her arm, Jimmy Choo heels clacking on the tile.

“Where is everyone?” she asked, breathless, while glancing around.

I guessed she’d noticed the lack of the rest of her employees out on the floor other than Darren who was scheduled along with me for closing that night.

“Gone,” I told her while ripping into another box of stock that she’d ordered—that we didn’t need.

“What do you mean they’re gone? We have a meeting!” She tossed her purse onto the table with an annoyed snort.

“Had,” I muttered under my breath. “Two hours ago.”

“What?”

“Your employees have a life outside this shop, Gretchen,” I surprised myself by saying since I never created waves. “You can’t expect them to just sit here and wait on you. Especially if you don’t send word you’re running late.”

“Of course I can!” She sniffed, hands on her hips, checking out my messy bun and lack of makeup.

“Jenny’s son had an orthodontist appointment at four-thirty,” I informed her. “Sharon’s son was home sick with the neighbor, and she couldn’t stay any longer.”

“I don’t give a shit!”

Fucking selfish cunt. My jaw clenched.

“If I call a meeting, then they need to be here!”

My insides tightened, and I finally shot her a glare I’d been holding in for too fucking long. I imagined Garrett cheering me on to finally open my damn mouth. “You scheduled the meeting at three—you needed to be here.”

“What the hell happened to you, Haley? I can’t have you looking like…” Gretchen waved her hand down over the mess of me, totally ignoring the fact I’d just called her out. Her nose wrinkled as though I smelled as bad as I appeared. “Like a damn homeless person. You represent my shop. Me. Everything you say or do reflects back on me, and lately, you’ve been a real Debbie Downer. You’re affecting the whole atmosphere here. The staff too.”

Fucking bullshit. Her employees loved me. Put up with her shit because of me.

“And now this.” Her hand gestured at my lack of beautification due to barely surviving the darkness, the disgust in her eyes an emotion I was well acquainted with.

I tossed aside the stack of wrapped camisoles I had in hand. “Rather than beat a person down when they’re already wallowing in grief, you ought to try to rouse some empathy.”

Her nose curled, but I wasn’t done.

“Oh, that’s right.” I snorted, turning to grab my purse from my cubby. “Narcissistic cunts don’t know what that word means.”

Gretchen sputtered, her eyes blinking wide.

---