JENNIE
Something isn't right.
This weird dread has been at me all day. When I return from the networking event, I see Lisa leaving with a smile so big, she's practically skipping out of the building. Naturally, she didn't see me, but her sunny disposition only adds to my unease.
Conversation floats around me in the elevator.
"Company's is heading in a new direction, but we've been kept in the dark... ''Apparently, she's been working on a top-secret venture for months..."
Things get even stranger in the office because everyone's quiet.
Everyone except Hailey. She's whistling and doing some weird shimmy dance, which goes entirely against the grain of who she is.
My stomach starts churning, and I crack. "Okay, will someone tell me what's going on?"
Hailey slides across on her ten-inch heels, dropping one shoulder. "Oh, your lover has left. Like for good."
My heart stops inside my chest.
"Lisa resigned. Looks like she's heading to San Francisco to take up a new post at a second-tier marketing company," Hailey says with a flip of her shiny blonde hair. "Probably shacking up with Diana Flipo too."
"Stop spreading rumors," snaps Nancy at the same time as Theo says, "Put a cork in it, Hailey."
I excuse myself.
It hits me in successive churning waves, and my mind starts racing. This is permanent. She's moving to another city. I'll have a new boss. She will meet the woman of her dreams, that isn't me.
Why the fuck did I tell her I shredded her flowers when they're sitting on my desk in my room in full bloom!
Oh, God.
I squeeze my eyes shut against tears and hunch over, latching onto my desk since my legs can't seem to do their job.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Cramps?" Hailey asks crudely.
I inhale a jagged breath, running a shaky hand through my hair. "No, nothing."
"Well. Can you act normal and do some actual work? That's what we pay you for."
She really thinks she runs this place. Well, not today, Satan. I try to think of a smart reply.
"Fuck off, Hailey."
Sometimes you don't need to be that smart.
When I look up, there is muffled laughter from the office floor, and Nancy is wearing an all-chocolate smile.
"God, who's going to take over now?" asks Kayley chugging her iced Americano.
The front door slams open.
"Surprise!" a voice trills.
The wicked stepmother?
There is a collective gasp, and all chatter in the office comes to a deafening halt. Blood drains from my face and pools in my ankles. Nancy and Theo look frozen with fear.
"How is everybody this fine morning?" Felicity flounces into the office wearing a white pantsuit, sheer white blouse, and gold-studded stilettos. Her hair is big, and makeup is trawled on, and she is battering her eyelids to anyone that glances in her direction. There's a bento box in one hand and a shiny new briefcase in the other.
Briefcase? The mind boggles.
Still white as a ghost, Theo quips, "It's definitely a prop."
"And empty," adds Nancy.
When her office door closes, I'm lost in a blur of comments: 'Oh, shit, no,' 'My life is over,' 'I'm throwing myself into the Pacific.'
Some of them seem very dramatic but no more than Kayley, who is seated in the brace position with her head over her knees.
Jesus.
Lisa's office door swings open. "By the way, I can hear you, you little turds. I'm just supervising today to ensure no one slackens off. But I might be your boss soon, so you know... behave!" She flashes an insincere smile, and the door slams shut.
"Did you get a waft of her on her way through?" Theo whispers behind a manila folder.
"She smells like a VAT of wine," replies Nancy out of the side of her mouth.
"Give it one hour, and she'll be shriveled up like a grape behind her desk."
Kayley crosses her fingers, still in the brace position. "Here's hoping."
"I didn't realize you guys liked Lisa so much," I say quietly.
Nancy upturns the candy jar on her desk. "Everyone dig in. Lisa was firm but fair."
Theo starts picking out the yellow peanut M&Ms. "Yeah. She turned this company around. She also gave me time off when my fiancé left me at the altar."
"She's far less terrifying than people make out. You know, she's organizing a three-tiered cake for my wedding," says Nancy crunching down on a hard-boiled candy.
"I think everyone needs to calm down. She will look out for us, one way or another."
But Nancy's sage words barely register, my world spinning on an axis. I think of our last interaction again in the elevator when I didn't want to look at her and chance showing what was behind my eyes. Perhaps I should've. Regret filling me with tears.
My day following this bombshell seems to capitulate instantly.
When all my printouts from the latest design journal get chewed up by the copy machine. When I try to submerge myself in the latest financial report, the network crashes. When I reach the foyer seeking Jisoo's warmth but find it cold and empty. Not even the San Diego skyline can pick me up because, of course, it's fucking raining too.
Just when I think it can't get worse, Felicity staggers toward me, bleary-eyed. She inadvertently knocks over Nancy's prized lucky bamboo plant along the way and drops a big cardboard envelope on my desk. She taps it twice. "Congratulations, darling."
It appears I've just been fired.
~~~~~~~
A/N:
I am so overwhelmed by the amount of support to this story from my lovely readers. It barely registered to me that i have over 4k reads for this story even if this is still on-going! You guys are amazing!
I'm just so happy that you enjoy reading my adaptations. This is why I choose stories that I know my readers will love as much as I did.
Anyway, My Unexpected Everything is coming to an end. I hope you'll enjoy this story until the end 🤗
