Tear Away

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Once upon a time Scarlett had relished the idea of leading on her own project. And the idea of having her own staff was even better. The thought of it now filled her with dread. She feared the opening of the gallery. Every day she had to fight to persuade Sophie to order what she wanted, to ring the caterers, or to print the flyers. And with every argument she was reminded of her ex. She had once done whatever she had been told, no questions asked, but now, asking someone to do something and them not doing it was slowly eating away at her. Each night Scarlett went home after a long day and tried to rebuild just a little bit more of herself. Each night, behind a locked door she remembered how much courage it had taken to drive away from her old life and start again. And here she was, fighting again against someone that was trying to stand in her way.

It was the day before the opening and Scarlett was about to head down to the gallery to make sure that everything was set up as she wanted it. She hadn't seen Sophie in two days and had been glad of the piece, however it had meant she'd had to organise the opening almost completely on her own.

"Don't think I haven't noticed how hard you have been working this last week." said Jane, sitting on the edge of Scarlett's desk. "are you all set for tomorrow?"

Scarlett took a deep breath and laid her pen down. "I think so, just going over the guest list one last time."

"Can I see?" asked Jane, as she reached down and picked up the piece of paper that Scarlett was working on.

Scarlett held her breath as she watched Jane pass judgement over the list of invitees who would be preparing to arrive at the gallery tomorrow night. To Scarlett it felt an age while watching Jane peruse that list, slowing she noticed that Jane was nodding her head, every so slightly. Scarlett wasn't sure if she was imagining it so kept quiet until she had finished.

"Have you shown this to Mark?" asked Jane, in a flat tone.

Scarlett nodded.

"And what did he think?"

"He liked it. Didn't think we'd get the mayor to attend but I received his RSPV today." Scarlett felt very proud of herself and allowed a smile to escape.

"Well done, Scarlett. I'm impressed." Scarlett let out a breath at hearing the praise. "I've also noticed that Sophie hasn't been around to help you much and I want you to know that I'm not going to be asking her to come back into the office."

Scarlett was left speechless, as much as she didn't like Sophie she didn't want her to lose her job. After all, she had done some work on the project, Scarlett tried to reason.

"Jane, that's really not necessary, really, she's been..." but Scarlett couldn't think of what she had been. Nothing positive came to mind. She had been demanding, controlling, and rude and hadn't listened to any of Scarlett's idea's. She had sat in Scarlett's chair, at Scarlett's desk and flicked her blond hair, dazzled her white teeth and talked about how attractive Mark was. The one day that Scarlett had left her in the office on her own to ring round catering companies Scarlett had come back to quotes from the local Chinese and Pizza take away. Scarlett wasn't happy and it wasn't at all what she had wanted.

"Enough said, Scarlett. So long as the opening goes off without a hitch, I'll make sure you have a better team next time."

"Well, thank you..." Scarlett stammered as Jane walked off. With that Scarlett realised that there was nothing more that she could do in the office so picked up her bag and laptop and set off for the gallery to make any last minute adjustments. 

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