Chapter 1
The company holiday party was just around the
corner, and the list of nominees for the annual
“Employee of the Year” award was finally out. I
scrolled down, eager to see my name, and… it
wasn’t there. Someone had scratched it out.
Replacing me was some newbie who’d been
here, like, five days. I was beyond frustrated.
For five years, I’d been his girlfriend and his
executive assistant, and I hadn’t messed up
once. I deserved that stupid award.
Then, I overheard him chatting with one of his
buddies:
“You took Sarah’s name off the list? You’re not
worried she’s gonna flip out on you?”
He just shrugged like it was nothing. “If she
does, she does. Honestly, it’s a good
distraction. Keeps her from bringing up.
marriage again.”
My heart just kinda… cracked.
I didn’t even think twice. I typed up my
resignation letter and hit send. By the time he
even saw it, I’d already booked a flight back
home for the holidays.
1
I’d just gotten back from a brutal week of business trips. I was dead tired, rubbing my
eyes, about to hit the coffee machine when I
heard some people gossiping in the breakroom.
“You think Sarah’s gonna lose it when she gets back? You know, about the award?”
“I’d go ballistic. Five years with this company and she can’t even get employee of the year? That intern, what’s her name, Liz, gets it?”
<
“Dude, you guys don’t know? Sarah’s, like,
totally dating the boss! I saw them once coming
back from lunch…”
“No way! But, yeah, that explains why she
works so hard! If she’s the boss lady, I get it.”
“Well, now that new girl can cover both day and
night shifts…”
“Seriously? That’s messed up.”
“Otherwise, how else does a five–day intern win
employee of the year?”
The laughter and murmuring faded as they left.
I was standing there, staring blankly at the
—
coffee maker. My phone buzzed it was Mark,
asking for the trip report. I replied that it would
be done in three minutes.
He replied: Okay.
But the report was already finished. It was me
who needed three minutes to figure out what to
- do. The crazy part? Even after all of this, I was
still trying to convince myself it was a
misunderstanding. Ten years together, five
years dating… things like this couldn’t just end
from a few sentences, right?
I took a deep breath, walked to his office door,
and raised my hand to knock. And that’s when I
heard Mark talking to his friend, Tom.
“I looked at the Employee of the Year list, and
I’m pretty sure Sarah’s name was on the first
draft. You took her off?”
Mark chuckled, “Do you know how many times
she’s mentioned marriage recently? She’s
driving me crazy.”
Tom sounded confused. “So, you put that
intern, Liz, on instead? She’s been here five
days!”
<
12:09
Mark was casual. “Honestly? I want Sarah to
get mad.”
“That way, she won’t keep talking about the
marriage thing.”
