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Toni

Work flies by in a flurry of meetings: all over Zoom. I’m meeting with vendors and suppliers throughout the country who are going to be able to make sure my clients get the software and the support that they need. When I can’t provide one-on-one support to my clients locally, I refer them to my contracted vendors who can provide additional support and assistance.

By the time I emerge from my calls for the morning, Hillary is pacing anxiously outside of the office.

“We have a problem.”

“With?” What could we possibly have a problem with? I had the world’s most perfect weekend with my ex. Are we getting back together? No. Maybe. Yes. I don’t know. I want to, but we didn’t make any promises. Instead, we just spent time loving each other and adoring each other and giving each other orgasm after orgasm.

It was everything I’ve ever wanted and more.

“Have you read your email?”

“I’ve been on back-to-back calls all morning.”

“Shit. Voicemails? Texts?”

“It was kind of an off-the-grid weekend,” I admit.

“Toni, you need to read this.”

Hillary hands me a sheet of paper. It’s a news article that’s basically a slash piece about me and Jessica and our two companies. It paints me to be some kind of monster – something I don’t think that I am. It also shows that Jessica is the victim in all of this.

And it has proof breaking down the fact that Mark’s girlfriend, Kendall, is responsible for the Tweets that launched this entire mess.

“I need to talk to Jessica,” I say.

“I’ve already tried to schedule a call with you two,” Hillary says. “She’s not responding. I’m sorry.”

“Get me Piper then.”

“She’s accepted Jessica as a client and cannot work with competing agencies,” Hillary says. She cringes as the words come out. “We’re on our own with this one, Toni.”

I stare at the paper. Could Jessica really believe any of this is true? I thought she was the one who wanted to destroy me. I thought she was going to try to buy me out or worse. Now I wonder if this really was all an elaborate setup from Kendall, who apparently used to date Jessica. I didn’t know.

“Get Mark in here.”

I sit back down at the desk, staring at the news article once more. There are pictures of Kendall and Mark at the office, but I’ve never met her. She didn’t come to any of the holiday parties we’ve hosted, but I guess she dropped him off to work one day and they posted a picture on Facebook. He was proud to work here. At least, I thought he was. Now I’m not so sure.

When Mark comes into the office, he looks sheepish.

“Sit.”

He sits.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“Mark.” When I say his name, it sounds like a threat. I’m proud of this. Normally, I come across as naïve and innocent. I’m aware of this. Why I come across like this, I’m not sure. I could blame it on the fact that I’m still mourning the loss of my dad, or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I feel guilty about my mom’s death. There’s Uncle Jake’s loss, too, and that compounds my grief in ways I can never truly explain.

But these things don’t have to make me meek. They don’t have to make me quiet. Instead, they give me power. I’ve experienced things that are terrible, but I’ve come through on the other side. I have been hurt, yet I have come out stronger for it. I’m going to be just fine, but I have to find a way through this.

Mark is my first step.