Page 56 of Bastard-in-Chief
“A mistake? Why do you think that?”
There’s another long sigh in my ear. God, I miss his growly voice. The rumble of it does things to my newly awake lady bits and I have to rub my thighs together to ease some of the heat building in my core.
“Seeing the way my sister misses Garrett just makes me miss you more.” Theo’s confession is a dagger to my heart. He misses me? What on earth can I possibly offer him to miss? He pauses when I don’t answer. “Sunshine? What are you doing? What’s that noise?”
I bite my lips for a second, fighting back tears. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Are you crying?”
“No.” I lie.
“Sunshine…” When I don’t answer he sighs into the phone. “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help you out with whatever it is you’re doing?”
And just like that, my tears dry up. I have to do this on my own. “Theo, stop. I need to do this myself. For me. I need to know that I can. I’m sorry if it’s not what you want, but it’s what I need to do.”
My phone buzzes against my ear, I pull back to see an email notification. Not just any email—the one I’ve been waiting for.
“I have to go. Thank you for checking on me. I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.” I hate how impersonal I sound, but if I don’t get off the phone with Theo in the next ten seconds all my secrets are going to explode out of me.
“Oh. Um. Okay. I guess I’ll let you go.” He sounds so confused at my abrupt change that guilt floods my gut. “I’ll see you at the office on Monday, right?”
“Yes. Goodnight, Teddy.”
“Goodnight, Sunshine.”
The guilt sits in my belly like a brick as I open the email. It only gets worse as I read the good news.
I thought this was going to be the answer to all my problems, so why does it feel like I’m doing the wrong thing for all the right reasons?
“Well. I don’t think any of us saw that coming.” The head of Mailbox’s HR department straightens her glasses. “But, I do understand your situation. A lot of people here are going to be sorry to see you go.”
I have to clear my throat twice before I can speak, the tears I’ve been fighting back all day threatening. I couldn’t make eye contact with Theo when he stalked through the lobby this morning. Especially when he slowed down as he passed my desk, mouth opening as if to speak. Thank God the phone rang right then, and by the time I was finished the elevator doors were already closing on his perfect face.
“I’m going to miss this place too, Kate. But I need to do what’s best for me and my daughter.” Giving my two-week’s notice at Mailbox is the scariest thing I’ve ever done. Even scarier than the job interviews I went on last week while I was taking my time off.
Kate leans back to read something on her screen. “Are you going to continue as one of our freelance contributors as Elinor Price? That is a separate contract from your regular employment contract.”
“Oh. Can I do that?”
“It may depend on if your new job has you sign any kind of non-compete clause with them. Do you want to hold off on making a decision until you have more details?”
“That would be great.” I twist the hem of my cardigan through my fingers, nerves hitting me all at once. Am I really doing this? Leaving the safety of Mailbox to venture out on my own?
Fear and pride fight for space in my chest. The non-profit I worked for before coming to Mailbox had hired me straight out of college, but that was after years of me volunteering with them. And even though I’d had to apply and interview at Mailbox like anyone else, knowing that Lauren was here and probably putting in a good word for me, made it feel like we’d accomplished it together, not that I’d gotten the job on my own.
Lauren.
She’s going to kill me when she finds out I’m leaving. I should have told her last night, but she’d come over after another disaster of a date and I hadn’t wanted to make her feel any worse.
“There are just a few details to iron out with the Employee Relief Fund application you put in two weeks ago.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Your application was approved two weeks ago, but the payment hasn’t been processed.”
What is she talking about? “My application?”
Kate stops clicking through screens to look at me. “Your application to the Employee Relief Fund? You don’t remember? You filed it on…” She clicks a few times then reads me the day after Emma’s surgery. “Mr. Sutton approved it himself right away, but usually the funds go on your next paycheck, which isn’t for another few days. I’ll just need to get an approval from him to include it on your final paycheck.”