Page 12 of Love.V2
Eric smiled. “You’ve been doing great work to figure out your place here. Now, though, Tess, I’m going to need you to do a bit more.”
I shoved down the threat of tears before it could overtake me again. “I know some of the recent proposals weren’t ideal. I can do better, Eric, I promise.”
“I know you can, but I’m not just talking about pitches.” Eric leaned back, including Dylan in the conversation. “You get this place, in and out, but you also understand how Worther wants us to work. I’m hoping you can be the bridge between the two, helping Jinx keep its identity without getting lost in Worther’s corporate machine. Especially as Dylan replaces me.”
My heart thunked, recognizing the impact of his announcement before the rest of me did. His words didn’t compute. Something in my brain felt mushy, gone soft with the flood of news and Dylan and awfulness of this day.
“Dylan,” His name burned in my throat, but I forced myself to keep talking. To ask the question. To clarify, because surely he didn’t mean… “replaces you?”
Eric clapped Dylan on the shoulder, beaming. “Meet your new CEO.”
In the wake of his declaration, my brain checked out and a decade’s worth of habit took over my body. I looked at Dylan.
He was looking right back, completely unreadable except for the slight divot between his brows.CEO?He was supposed to become CEO at Worther. Why would he throw that away to come here?
For me? I squashed the thought before it had time to take root in my brain. Of course he hadn’t come here for me. I’d never taken precedence over his corporate ladder-climbing before; why would that change now?
“We’re keeping it under wraps for now, of course.” Eric smiled and rambled on, oblivious to the tension thrumming between me and Dylan. It hurt to look at him, and yet, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. “A leadership transition is a delicate thing. The plan is to bring him on for a few of the bigger proposals coming up, get him integrated. If it’s a good fit, we’ll announce the transition when everyone’s more comfortable with him. We don’t want it to seem like Worther is coming in and changing everything up. Right?”
“Right,” Dylan responded. I’d lost track of the conversation, but he was following perfectly well, despite staring at me steadily. I didn’t know what to do with that.
Finally, I looked away, trying to ignore the feeling of his eyes on me.
“Dylan, I know you brought a new proposal for us. Big national account, lots of feel-good stuff. I’d like you to work on it, just the two of you. Get your feet wet, so to speak…” Eric trailed off, looking between us. “Actually, it just occurred to me. You were both at Worther. Have you worked together before?”
“No!” I blurted before Dylan could answer. “No, we never worked closely together.”
We’d filed taxes jointly, but that hadn’t been the question. Dylan and I had always been in separate departments. Some of our work might overlap, but we’d never worked together, directly.
And for some reason, my mushy, sluggish brain believed it was imperative to keep my history with Dylan a secret. Back at Worther, almost everyone knew me as “Dylan’s girlfriend.” Did I really want to be “Dylan’s ex” here?
My heart lurched. This was all too much. I had too many questions and feelings, and I needed to get out of here.
“I have a meeting in a bit, but if you two would like to hash the proposal out and get started on planning, I’m sure wecan—”
“Actually, Eric, I’m sorry, but I have somewhere to be.” Like, in bed, hyperventilating. I stood, and the two men rose as well. “I’d love to know more about the project if you could send it over.”Lie. “I’ll take a look and start thinking about it tonight.”Lie number two.
Eric looked surprised, either because I’d never interrupted him before, ever, or because I had only left the office early once, for a dentist appointment.
“Of course. Do what you need.” Eric turned to Dylan while I gathered my things. “You two can find some time to discuss in the next few days. Usually, Tess is the first in and the last out. Worker bee, this one.”
“Really?”
Surprise dripped from Dylan’s words. I’d never been the “worker bee” before, but things changed when you actually liked your job and didn’t have a life outside of your office.
I aimed a strained smile in their direction and pulled the door closed behind me. I didn’t want to hear anything else from Dylan. I didn’t want anything else to do with this day.
I was so, so done. And even when I crawled into bed with Netflix and a trusty pint of Ben & Jerry’s after leaving a voicemail on Vanna’s phone, the same thought kept cycling through my head.
Dylan’s here. What do I do now?
Eleven years ago
Tess
“Tickets?”
And just like that, I was out of time.
