Hot Rival ( jenlisa ) ( Gip )

23

Jennie

My fingers fly across the keyboard as I catch up on my emails. Work has been a good distraction lately. In fact, it's the only thing I've found so far that takes my mind off Lisa.

Lisa.

God, how could I have been so stupid? I pound out an email to our head of distribution, banging furiously on the keys. It's just a follow-up about a meeting we had earlier today, but by the way I bash in the keys, you'd think I was writing a ranting screed.

Thoughts of Lisa still run through my head, only now they're tinged with anger. I'd been right all along that getting involved with her was a bad idea, yet she'd pushed me at every step. Well, okay, I hadn't always needed that much coaxing, but still. She'd been sweet and funny and charming and sexy as hell, even when I didn't want her to be. And somehow, along the way, she'd made me fall —

No. There's no point in even thinking it. Lisa is putting work first, and I will too. Breaking up had been the right thing for both of us. I didn't need the distraction, and clearly that's what Lisa was.

Still is, apparently.

I fire off one more email just as there's a soft knock at my door. I rub my temples. It must be Rich. I haven't seen him in a couple of days, and to be honest, I'm shocked that he hasn't shown up to lecture me on how irresponsible and bad for business it is for me to be sleeping with someone from Loft Barn. That seems like just the kind of thing that he'd take great pleasure in doing.

"Come in," I say, trying to steel myself. But when the door opens, it's only Geetika.

"Hi," I say, as I force a smile. "It's nice to see a friendly face."

Geetika smiles, but hers looks as forced as mine feels. I notice that her eyes are rimmed in red.

"What's wrong?"

She shakes her head. "I just came to say ... well, to say what an honor it's been working for you."

"Working for me? What do you mean?" My mind is already racing. Rich can't fire me, no matter how pissed he might be. Dad left me in charge of the company, and even though I've been relying on Rich's advice, I'm still the one in charge at the end of the day.

Geetika is still hovering at the door. I gesture at the seat across from my desk. She walks softly over, hesitates, and then slumps into the chair.

"What's going on?" I ask again.

"Since Friday will be my last day, I'll make sure to put together a report on everything that's outstanding" she says finally. Her lip quivers and I can see she's on the verge of tears. I push a box of tissues across the desk towards her.

"Thank you, but — I'm sorry, I had no idea you were leaving," I say, as she dabs at her eyes.

Geetika is still shaking her head, not looking at me.

"Did you get a new job?" I try.

Now she looks up at me, surprised.

"I've been laid off," she says, as if this should be obvious to me.

"You what?"

"I assumed you knew." She stares at me and even though she doesn't say anything else, her thoughts are perfectly clear: I'm the CEO — I should have known about any layoffs.

"Who told you you were being let go?" I ask, trying to remain calm. "And when did this happen?"

"This morning," she says. "I was called into HR."

"Bonnie talked to you?" Bonnie is the HR director, and she'd always struck me as a fair and thorough person, and definitely not one to do something like this impetuously. There's no way she'd be issuing lay-off notices without receiving orders from somewhere. And if she isn't getting them from me, there's only one other person who would have given such an order.