Page 12 of Tangled Threads Of Fate

I could feel people watching me, though maybe it was just my imagination. I was sensitive to the staring of others now. I looked up, but no one was being obvious about it.

Finally, heaving a sigh, I strode into the baby store. It was time to rip off the bandaid and stop being in denial. Pretending it wasn’t happening wasn’t going to unsplit the egg.

I wasa sweaty mess by the end of the following day. I’d missed my lunch break, and I desperately wanted to put my feet up for five minutes while I waited for Nate to come and collect me from the staff parking lot.

But when Bob poked his head out of his office, I knew I probably wasn’t going to get the rest I so sorely needed.

“Wren, can I speak to you in my office?”

His office was just a retrofitted supply cupboard, so it was cramped and awful. I nodded, doing my best not to clutch my aching spine. I slipped past him and sat down on the edge of the hard plastic chair by his desk.

Bob pulled out some papers, shuffling them loudly. “Wren, I have to let you go.”

My whole world screeched to a halt. “What?”

“You’ve been late three times in the last three months, for which you were warned. You’re also taking prolonged bathroombreaks, against company policy. We’re a small team, and if one of us doesn’t pull their weight around here, the job doesn’t get done.”

I gaped. “I wastwo minuteslate this morning. I followed you into the building!”

He scowled at me, clearly not appreciating his hypocrisy being thrown back at him. “It’s a pattern of behavior that I can’t see changing in the next nine months.” He looked pointedly at my stomach, but didn’t say anything else.

Fuck.

He knew I was pregnant. I hadn’t told him, so he couldn’t say it was the reason he’d fired me.Fucking fuck.I’d have no legal leg to stand on.

“You’re a real piece of shit, Bob,” I hissed. “You’re a weak weasel of a human being, and I hope your dick gets the rot from masturbating too much and falls off.” I stood and pushed past him, trying not to cry.

“Where do you think you’re going? We weren’t finished,” he shouted after me.

I glared at him over my shoulder. “Finish this, asshole.” I flipped him the bird, grabbing my stuff from my locker as he came barreling out of his office. I stuffed everything into my backpack and stomped out the door.

Bob really didn’t like his subordinates walking away from him. “You are contractually obligated to stay for a week and train your replacement,” he yelled as he followed me into the parking lot.

“I don’thaveto do anything, especially if you fired me for being pregnant, you slimy fuck.”

He smirked. “Oh, you’re pregnant? I didn’t know. I thought you were just getting fat.”

I let out a noise that could only be a suppressed screech of rage. I wanted to hit himso fucking bad. “Screw you.” I stomped away again, but he grabbed my arm.

“Listen, you little bitch—” he hissed low, his hand tight around my wrist.

He didn’t get any further than that, because Nate was suddenly between us. “I suggest you remove your hand, before I remove it for you.” He leaned close, his eyes ominous. “From your fucking arm. Permanently.”

Bob was a coward, and he backpedaled so fast, he almost tripped over the curb. He gave Nate a greasy smile. “Just a misunderstanding. I was informing my employee about her schedule next week.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “He just fired me because I’m pregnant.”

Nate stood to his full height, and I swear, it was like he grew a foot until he was glaring down at Bob. “Is that right?” His Irish accent, which I hardly ever noticed, had gotten thicker.

Bob was shaking his head furiously. “No, of course not. That’s against employment law here in Massachusetts. Uh, she was let go due to multiple policy and procedure violations, as per her contract.” Clearly, Bob thought he was talking to a well-meaning member of the public.

Nate’s jaw flexed. “I find it hard to believe that Wren would break the rules so badly that you’d need to fire her.”

A light went on in Bob’s brain, as he realized this wasn’t just a passerby. This was someone who had a vested interest in me. He was also huge, tattooed, and broader than the side of a barn.

Still, no one had ever accused my former boss of being smart. “The terms of her employment termination are confidential.” He looked at me, but I could see the whites around his eyes. He was playing tough, but was shit-scared. “I’ll find someone else to replace you. Don’t bother coming in tomorrow.”

With that, he escaped back into Java Llama like the very devil was on his heels. Nate grunted, stepping forward to follow him, but I was suddenly too exhausted to care.

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