Page 125 of Not Safe For Work

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it back for the event you put together,” Mitch says, sitting down behind his desk. I follow hislead and sit across from him, leaving the office door cracked open. “Ellen was being such a bitch and?—”

“I really don’t feel comfortable talking about your marriage. Can we just discuss work right now?” I ask.

Mitch looks stunned. His nostrils flare with anger. He’s not used to me speaking to him like this. I’ve always gone along with his rants no matter how uncomfortable they make me.

“Fine,” he says curtly. “Why don’t you tell me how you were able to close this deal. In record time at that.”

“Record time? I’m so glad you can finally admit that, after the pressure you put on me.”

“Hey, it worked. Like I said, you needed the right motivation.”

“All I needed was the chance to prove myself. Hard work got me the rest of the way.”

I cross my legs and lean back in the chair, curious to hear his next retort.

“You’ve always been a hard worker, Livy. Now if you can get your boyfriend to share a few more leads and show me this wasn’t a one-trick pony, maybe we can talk about that promotion again.”

Laughter pours out of me. I couldn’t stop it if I tried. “You’re serious? After all that, you still don’t think I have what it takes to be in sales? There are other men on the team who have never closed a deal this big, not in years, but I’m still not ready?”

“Come on, don’t get all crazy on me.”

“You’re really going to call mecrazyright now?”

“Oh, you know what I mean,” he placates.

“You’re right. I do. Because you could have called me angry. Or mad, or frustrated, or a million other things. But those words would all imply that my feelings might be a justifiable reaction to something else. Those are the words you use with the guys. Because when they get mad, there’s a reason, aproblemmakingthem feel that way. But when you talk to a woman, you use words like crazy or emotional. Their implication is real fucking clear—the only problem is me.”

“Christ, Livy. That’s not what I?—”

“You know what? It doesn’t matter. You’re a monster, Mitch. And with or without the promotion, I’m done working for you. That’s really all I needed to tell you.”

“You can’t quit. You’re my best SDR.”

I laugh again. “Thanks for finally saying that. Maybe you should have acknowledged my success before a different department beat you to it. I’m cleaning out my desk this afternoon. And I’m moving to marketing on Monday.”

“You can’t do that without my approval,” he seethes.

“It’s been approved by Mario. And Daanesh. And Vaughn. Do you want to go argue with them?”

“I always you knew you were a little…” he mumbles something I can’t make out.

“In case you wanted to do an exit interview, it’s been absolute shit working for you.” I stand up and turn to leave, just as Andie knocks on the door.

“Hey, Mitch. Sorry to interrupt, but Vaughn and Daanesh asked me to grab you. They want to meet in conference room B.”

Mitch’s face pales. Andie grins at me.

“They want to meet right now?” he asks her, like he’s just buying time.

“Yep,” she says, cheerily. “Something about Vegas, some charges on the company card, I couldn’t really understand all the details. But they seemed to think you could help sort it all out.”

When I get back to my desk, I finish packing up my things. I had just been waiting to tell Mitch. Seeing the expression on his face was definitely worth it. Especially knowing what’s happening to him right now in conference room B.

“I’m really happy for you, but I can’t believe I’m not going to see your face across from me every day.” Gavin pouts at me.

“We’re dating now, Scottie. You will most likely still see me every single day.” Then I lean over the desks to whisper, “Naked. In your bed.”

“Yeah, okay. But maybe we can work together in a conference room sometime? Or at Fog & Foam? I’m gonna miss seeing your serious face. You’re so sexy when you’re making a PowerPoint.”

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