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Sweat beaded at her hairline as though she’d just been powering through

an intense workout. Spin class. God, she hated spin class. Her body burned

like she’d just been peddling for her life. She reached up and smoothed her

hand over her forehead, wiping away some of the dampness.

Summer winc

ed. “Well, if you know that, do something about it.”

“I can’t! She’s already been hired.”

“You’re the CEO. That literally means that you can.”

“Right,” June said dryly. “Because I can really just fire her for no reason.

I can’t just pull a power trip and get rid of her. It’s really, really nice that

people are nicer now. That they realize they should be held accountable for

their actions. I wanted my company to be a safe place for people to work. I

wanted everyone to be treated equally, to be given great opportunities and

benefits, a good work environment that fosters positivity. In a woke world,

how would it look if June Phillips, CEO, fired a perfectly capable, talented,

educated woman without just cause?”

“Duh, there’s good freaking cause. She’s a mean girl. A bi atch. A first-

class bully.”

“Is there any proof of that? Anything documented? Or could she spin

things around, twist it to look like yes, we have a past. Yes, we went to

school together, but I’m the one with the vendetta. She could tell whatever

story she wants. If you ask anyone if she was a bully, they would say she

was popular and that all popular girls can be mean, but you know what she

looked like on the exterior. Smart. Pretty. Rich. Her family did tons of

charity work and she always did her part with a smile.”

“That’s what made it so much worse. She was disgustingly rotten on the

inside. Ugh, it’s like getting your favorite chocolate bar only to find it’s full

of maggots on the inside.”

June nearly gagged. “God, that’s…that’s just wrong.”

“I’m just saying. She’s definitely worm eaten under her pretty blonde