Page 51 of Reply All
“My advice? Move on for now. You gave yourself the weekend to mope. Now let’s get back to work. Do well. And it will pay off.”
She waits for me to say something, but I remain silent, instead. I get to my feet and run to the bathroom, head down, trying not to alert my coworkers to the tears streaming down my face (though I’m sure it wouldn’t be the first time they see someone leaving Lena’s office crying).
When I open the bathroom door, I crash into Molly, who takes one look at my face and frowns. “You got fired, didn’t you? What did you do this time?”
Not “Are you okay?” or “What happened?” No. An automatic assumption that I lost my job. That I had gotten fired. And that it was my fault. No questions asked.
I take a step back as if someone had pushed me, her words knocking the wind from my lungs. “Fired? Why would you think that?”
She sighs and pulls me into the bathroom. Turns on the sink and wets a hand towel to wipe the tears from my cheeks. “Bridge. C’mon. I helped you get this job, but I knew it would only be a matter of time before you’d lose it.”
“BeforeI’dlose it? If you thought that, why even help me at all?”
She shrugs once, pity in her eyes. “Because you were desperate. Because I wanted to be a great friend. Because I thought you could at least make a decent salary and save up before finding a job that’s more in line with what you can actually do.” She reaches out to dab at my cheeks once more, but I pull back.
“With what I canactuallydo? That’s…”
“I know. You’re welcome, again.”
I was not gonna say thank you, but okay.
“I gotta say, I’m proud of you, though. You lasted longer than I thought you would. I could’ve sworn you wouldn’t make it past the three month mark. It was almost five, right?” She smiles. Mollysmiles.
What is happening?
“I didn’t get fired, Molly.”
She frowns, her brows half hidden by her bangs. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re wrong.” My voice is icy cold becausewhat the actual fuck?She was so certain I’d fail?
“Oh my god, I just assumed. You came out of her office running and crying. If you didn’t get fired, then what happened?”
I take the hand towels from her and throw them in the trash, checking my reflection in the mirror. Naturally, my cheeks are flushed crimson. My hair is a mess, so I finger-comb it in an attempt to get it presentable. Meanwhile, Molly just watches me, waiting for me to tell her what went on between me and Lena. But I refuse to go into details. She wouldn’t understand. Part of me wonders whether Molly would victim-blame me for the whole thing, and I don’t think our friendship would be able to withstand that right now. Not on my end.
“You know what, Molls? I don’t think you deserve to know.” I slink out of the bathroom and speed walk to my desk, ignoring Molly as she calls out my name. I don’t know what the hell that was about, but I don’t think it was good friend behavior.
* * *
“You know,”Will says when he slips into the booth where I’m seated at a wine bar near work, “I’m gonna have to start charging for these emergency therapy sessions.”
I groan and let my forehead touch the table as he settles into his seat and peels off his coat. “I’m sorry. I just didn't know what to do.”
“Hey, I'm just joking.” He laughs softly. “You know you can call me anytime.”
I heave a sigh and sit up straight. “I know that, but I also know that my life is a mess sometimes, and if I called you every time something happened you’d hate me and think I’m too much.”
“Bridge. Come on. I could never hate you and you could never be too much.”
I sigh again.
“Now let me order us both a bottle of wine and you can tell me all about what happened.”
After half a bottle and a full charcuterie board, Will and I have decided that a) Molly acted like a terrible friend. And b) we still don't know whether Lena is being genuine or not.
“It's possible she's being truthful,” he tells me. “She really may have a plan to stop Jenna.”
“I don't know—I’m having trust issues.” I take a sip of my wine and follow it with a bite of brie. “I’m suddenly paranoid that everyone around me is lying.”
