Page 163 of My Lucky Charm

I shake my head. I want to run away.

I don’t get it. I thought I did everything right. I thought I could protect myself from feeling like this again.

“Then this has to be a mistake. There’s no reason for this.” She searches the crowd. “Come on, let’s go ask Gray.”

“No,” I say, shaking and exhausted and clearly not able to cut it in the professional world. “No. I’m done. Just . . . done.”

“Eloise . . .” Raya starts.

I shake my head. I take my phone, and then, without looking back, I leave—my heart breaking more with every single step.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Gray

“Do you want to explain what on God’s green earth you were thinking?”

I turn toward the angry voice and find Raya and Poppy glaring at me. At least they waited until Rosen was out of earshot, but I have no idea what they’re upset about.

“What I was thinking about what?” I ask, dumbly.

“Firing Eloise?” Poppy says, getting in my face. “I thought you were happy with the job she was doing. I thought you liked her? What the heck, Gray?!”

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

“She got a termination letter,” Raya says. “From HR.”

Oh no. That’s not how this was supposed to go.

There’s a hollow feeling in my chest as I begin to search the room. “Where is she?”

“She left,” Poppy says. “You didn’t think she’d stick around after that, did you?”

“She wasn’t supposed to get any letter,” I say. “Not yet.”

“Not yet?!” Raya’s voice is incredulous.

They both huff their disbelief, and Poppy says, “So, it’s true. You’re firing her?”

I push a hand through my hair. “This is really bad.”

“Ya think?” Raya shakes her head and folds her arms at me like a disappointed parent.

Burke walks up, and at the sight of me, he frowns. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

But I don’t get a chance to respond.

“Look, I get that things are complicated, and you’re not good with, you know, humans, but that doesn’t mean you can just fire her without so much as a conversation. Do you know how horrible that looks?” Raya glares at me.

“How horrible it is,” Poppy adds. “I mean, you didn’t even give her a reason. Who does that?”

“That’s not what this is,” I say, trying to figure out how she got that email. “This isn’t how this was supposed to go.”

Someone gets up on the stage and announces it’s time for everyone to find their seats, but Poppy and Raya clearly have no intention of sitting. They motion for me to walk out into the lobby, and once we’re there, they go back to glaring at me. Burke stands off to the side, a conflicted middleman.

“Explain yourself,” Raya says.

“It’s not what it looks like,” I say.

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