Page 11 of Love.V2
Hot, resentful flames flooded my throat so fast, I nearly choked. I half-turned, glaring at him from the corner of my eye. “You hate dyed hair. You told me once you thought it looked trashy.”
Did he think I wouldn’t remember? Was this his way of hurting me? Barging into my workplace and calling me—
“I don’t remember saying that,” he said, hesitant, like he really was wracking his brain. “I’m sorry if I—obviously, I was wrong. Before. Sorry.”
The Dylan in the window pinched the bridge of his nose, a move he only made when he was stressed or failing at something, as rare as that was. Seeing it smothered the fire of irritation in me as quickly as it had flared to life.
This was dangerous. There were a thousand emotions spinning inside me, all of them battling for dominance, and I wasn’t sure which would win.
“Tess,” he started. My muscles clenched. He sounded so small. Soft and sad and he somehow made my name seem like a question I didn’t know the answer to.
“Dylan! You sure you don’t want a coffee before we get started?” Eric’s cheerful voice cut through the moment, and the world came rushing back into focus. My co-workers outside the office door. The beeping of computer notifications. The soft music Meery liked to play over the speakers.
Dylan responded, but I was too focused on my breathing to hear. I felt the resonance of his voice all the way to my bones, though. I knew what he sounded like in the mornings before he’d had his coffee. Late at night after a party, whispering in my ear when he’d had more wine than usual.
I knew what he sounded like when he couldn’t be bothered to speak at all.
I bit the inside of my cheek, still lost in the tangle of emotions sucking me down into the carpet. I scrambled to think of something to hold off the tears. What had Vanna said this morning?
Eff him. He was the one who had ruined what we had together. He was walking in onmylife. I swallowed, steeling myself and gathering my resolve. I could do this. I could be strong.
“Tess, great job today. Everything we do here is a team effort, but I know you did most of the work on those slides. Good stuff.”
I tipped my head up to look at Eric. My vision was clearer, the tears gone for now. I could do this. “Thank you.”
If my voice sounded weak or watery, he didn’t comment on it, instead settling down on the neon green sofa while I sank into a chair. No boring conference table or corporate furniture for Jinx’s founder. His office was a direct reflection of Jinx’s bright, counter-cultural reputation. It was like Nickelodeon had exploded in here.
“Listen, I’ll cut straight to it. I know there aresome peoplein the office who are less than excited that Worther attended our annual meeting today.” He gave me a dry look. We both knew he was referring to Victoria, who had practically thrown a fit when we’d learned the Worther team would be “spying” on our internal meeting, as she put it. She’d railed at anyone who would listen about how the larger company was going to take over and squash our creative process.
I’d been too busy reeling at the news for different reasons to give her a second thought. Dylan shifted where he sat next to Eric.
“That’s why I kept it quiet that Dylan was coming today. I didn’t want it to seem like it was a coup. But…some things are about to change around here.”
Something about the way he said it, paired with the announcement of Dylan’s extended stay, sent a shiver of worry down my spine. A new addition to the teeming feelings bubbling in my stomach, making me dizzy. This was all wrong. I wanted out of here.
Eric continued, unaware that I’d been diminished to a wobbling pile of anxiety masquerading as a conscious person.
“I know we’ve had a few misses recently on new business proposals. You’ve only been here for six months, and you’ve been doing a great job, Tess, but I won’t lie. Worther is putting pressure on us to close more business. We’ve been under the Worther brand for a year now. Our honeymoon period is over.”
I nodded, clasping my hands to keep from picking at my cuticles or breaking into sobs.In for four…hold it together, Tess.
“They’re hoping we can take that ‘secret sauce’ Dylan mentioned earlier and expand it to bigger clients and larger deals. If we want to play with the big dogs, we have to stretch. Right?”
“So, what does this mean for Jinx? I know you said you didn’t want it to look like a coup, but…” I trailed off, attempting to push the rising panic down. I couldn’t go back to working like I had at Worther. There was a difference between churning out mediocre ads and the type of magic we created at Jinx. Worther’s hyper-focus on profit choked out a lot of creativity. Here, I felt like I could breathe.
These last six months had been hard, but for the first time in my life, I actually liked my job. Really, I loved it.
“I’ve built this company into something I’m proud of. It’s important we keep our culture intact,” Eric assured, but his usually smilingface turned serious. Unease slithered through me again. “But we are under pressure to grow. And all of this is coming at an awkward time.”
“Awkward?” I knew about awkward. Dylan sat mere feet away while I held back tears, actively searching for some sense of up or down in the emotions tossing me around like a tornado.
“Tess, I’m hoping for your discretion. We brought you on because I was the sole executive here, and I needed the help. Now, six months later, I realize I’m more than just burned out.” A softness came over Eric’s face that I didn’t like. “My time at Jinx has come to an end.”
A gasp left my mouth, and my racing thoughts went quiet for a split-second. Of all the awful, unexpected things that had happened in the last hour, this one came out of nowhere. “I thought Jinx was your baby?”
“Of course Jinx is my baby. But babies grow up, don’t they? And I’ve grown, too. It’s time to move on to the next thing. If you stay in one place for too long, trying to hold on to the way things were instead of the way things are, you’ll be stuck and unhappy forever. I deserve more, and Jinx does, too.”
“I don’t know what to say.” EricwasJinx. The thought of him leaving was overwhelming. I could feel Dylan’s burning stare, but determinedly avoided his gaze.
