Page 115 of Go Find Less

“It’s too much, Piper.” I rear back, confused.

“What’s too much?”

“Your designs.” She sighs, and then rubs at her eyes like this conversation is physically paining her. Good. I need answers. “Piper, they’re beautiful. But the brand dictates -

“The brand dictates exactly what I provided.” I cross my arms. “I don’t get it, half the designs on the list were on par with mine. They were just…” I trail off, my eyes flashing around her office as I look for the words.

Her degree. Her family pictures. Her perfectly posed wedding shot in a giant frame on her desk. Nice. Neat. Normal.

But not exceptional. Not extraordinary.

Not enough.

And suddenly, the cogs in my brain are whirring.

The designs on that list I’d seen myself - some of them were even more wild than mine. But what those other designers didn’t have, what they lacked, was my experience. Where their creativity could shine, mine was also balanced with my time spent building brands, truly marketing, managing, in a way others hadn’t.

It wasn’t my designs. It wasn’t the brand at all.

It was me.

Brianna, harsh, plain, neat Brianna was threatened. She was feeling threatened by me.

For a moment, I push away the thought - threatened by me? Who would be threatened byme?

Andy, for a start. He was terrified that I would talk about him, about us, and bring down any sort of image he had with it. So he did it to me first.

The Davis family. They were threatened by me from the moment Mickey decided to stay in Texas instead of going back to Paulsville. So they found someone to replace me.

And fuck, while I can’t dwell on it too much, not in this moment - Olivia. Olivia was threatened by me all those years ago. Thinking back to those moments in the hall, at prom, hell, any time after Fitz knew about Andy and I. Somewhere underneath all that cool girl bravado, she knew her statue of a man was starting to melt for me. So she made me feel as small and insignificant as she could.

But Brianna. Brianna is my boss. She’s been promoted twice in the last two years. She’s valuable to the people above her - enough that they didn’t think twice when she didn’t put forward a single design from one of her designers.

And truly, really, thinking about it right now…putting my heart and soul into designs knowing they could end up on the cutting room floor at the whims of someone else makes my stomach roil.

“We’ll just work on something a little more in-line with the vision for the spring, yeah?” Brianna’s smile is tentative, hopeful. I can tell she’s trying to placate me, but she can see the wheels turning as much as I feel them grinding against my skin. Words Fitz spoke all those weeks ago in his bedroom come drifting through the back of my head, like a breath against my cheek.

He didn’t deserve even a second glance from you.

I deserve better. I deserve more than this.

“They’re always going to be too much.” My voice is soft, probably softer than it should be. But I’m not wrong. Brianna pauses where she’s started moving her hands back to her keyboard, looking at me like I’m not making sense. “My designs are always going to be too much, aren’t they?”

“Piper, there’s always next season.”

“And in the spring?” I ask, gesturing around the room with one hand. My eye catches my wedding ring, light glinting off the stone. I swallow. “I refuse to make myself small.”

“Small?” She seems caught off guard, like I’ve cursed at her. Then I realize she thinks I’m talking about myself physically, as her eyes run up and down my body, settling on the curve of my stomach. I step back.

“I’ve made myself,who I am as a person, small a lot. I’m not about to do it here to make you more comfortable.”

“It’s not about me being comfortable,” she argues, and I guess she’s had enough because she stands too, her chair rolling back behind her. “Piper, it’s just…” She rubs at one brow again. “You’re too much.”

“Well.” I can’t help the half-laugh that soars out of me as I cross my arms again, shaking my head. “I’m not going to apologize for being myself, and if that’s how you feel then it’s clear I shouldn’t be on your team.” She blinks at me.

“Piper, I-"

“No, Bri. You’ve made it quite clear.” I don’t turn as I step back, opening the door with one hand and staring straight at her. I was nice enough to keep the rest of that conversation quiet, but I refuse to let anyone here pretend that my next action is anything but my own doing. “I quit.”