Page 84 of Forty, Flirty & Fired

My phone buzzes again:

ALEX:The board's asking questions about your blog post. But I'm more concerned about why you left at dawn yesterday. Talk to me, Mac.

KATIE: *Instagram notification* [Series of baby shower venue photos]Can't decide! Everything's so perfect when you're starting fresh!!! #FirstBaby #NewChapter #Blessed

"You know what's interesting?" Lucia slides onto the bar stool next to me. "How you're more scared of the man who accepts all of you than the one who wanted you to be less."

"It's not—" But my voice catches as another group of techworkers comes in, their conversation about corporate culture making the exposé on my laptop feel radioactive.

"The DiNapoli party needs dessert menus," Sofia calls. "And you need to stop running from happiness just because it didn't work with someone who couldn't handle your success."

I retreat to the kitchen, but even there I can't escape. Katie's latest Story shows her practicing baby shower games. Meanwhile, my blog post about Alex sits like acid in my stomach.

"You're not too much," Lucia says quietly, finding me hiding behind the industrial mixer. "You're just scared of being exactly enough for someone."

"I'm going to hurt him." The admission feels like breaking. "The exposé... when he sees who I really am..."

"You mean the woman he's already fallen for?" Sofia appears with another wave of orders. "The one he keeps trying to reach even after that blog post?"

My phone lights up one more time:

ALEX: I miss you.

KATIE: Another venue tour! Everything's so exciting when you're starting your future!!!

"I have to go." I gather my things, needing to escape. "The gala?—"

"Will be perfect," Lucia finishes. "Because you're perfect at your job. It's your heart you're messing up."

I step into the snowy afternoon, letting Seattle's winter hide my tears.

Because sometimes running away isn't about fear of being too much. Sometimes it's about being exactly enough for someone.

And knowing you're about to destroy it anyway.

26

THE LAST DANCE

MACKENZIE

A lot can happen in a day. And I’m choosing to live through the most three difficult ones I ever have.

It’s been three days.

Three days of avoiding Alex's texts and calls, and now I'm staring at my closet like it holds the secrets to fixing everything I've thoroughly messed up.

Outside my bedroom window, Seattle's heaviest December snow in years transforms the city into a holiday card that definitely doesn't feature corporate exposés or complicated CEO relationships.

My phone buzzes with another gala update from the event team. In six hours, Drake Enterprises' biggest event of the year will showcase our cultural transformation to Seattle's entire tech industry.

Assuming I don't completely destroy everything with the truth first.

The exposé sits in my private workspace like a digital bomb, cursor blinking accusingly every time I open the document.

After days of agonizing, I've decided not to publish it. The problem is, I still need to tell Alex about its existence. About how I'd planned to expose everything, right up until I fell in love with the man I was supposed to take down.

"The red dress," Lucia announces from my doorway. "Definitely the red one."

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