Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Anyway, this is your official heads up that I’ll be starting my own PR firm in the new year, so if you’re as sick of Dwayne’s bullshit as I am, you know how to find me, and you know I’ll look after you!
In the meantime, be sure to direct every single one of your questions and concerns to Dwayne. You know how he likes to keep busy over the Christmas period.
Have a wonderful and joy-filled Christmas with your families, and if there aren’t at least a handful of scandals from out of control Christmas parties, you know I’ll be disappointed.
From the boxed-up office of Blair Wilder.
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I suck in a breath, and the courage that filled my veins only five minutes ago quickly begins to dwindle, but I close my eyes and hit send with quivering hands.
I suppose that’s my cue to get out of here.
Grabbing what’s left on my desk, I throw it into my box, and as I scoop it up, I hear the commotion starting to drum up from outside my door. A stupid grin stretches over my face, pride surging through me. I didn’t exactly put Dwayne in his place in the way I’ve always wanted to, but it’s enough to sucker punch him right in the gut, and damn it, it feels good.
Walking around my desk, I grab the spare pantsuit I keep in my cupboard for emergencies—a lesson I learned the hard way. I drop the outfits into the top of the box before grabbing my handbag and shoving it on top. Then with my box in my hands, I glance back at the office I’ve called home for nearly six long, rewarding years, knowing that this time, I won’t be coming back.
It’s time to do me. It’s time to step up, grab ahold of my dreams, and make them my new reality, no matter how terrifying that might be.
Making my way back to my door, I try to juggle the box in one hand, but it’s too hard, and I’m forced to bend down and catch the handle on my elbow, trying to wrestle the door open. Then just as I get a good swing on the door, Zac, the head of security, steps into my path.
“You’re not serious,” I say bluntly, staring at the guy who’s always been a good friend to me.
“Sorry, Blair,” he says, leaning toward me and taking the box out of my hands like the perfect gentleman he’s always been. “I’ve gotta escort you out, but for what it’s worth, I thought your donkey meme was fucking brilliant.”
“Right,” I agree. “A piece of fine art if you ask me.”
Zac chuckles and nudges my door a little wider with his foot, making space for me to walk out, only I quickly double back and grab the laminator out of the cupboard. I sure as hell won’t use it, but knowing it’ll come out of Dwayne’s monthly office budget feels fucking fantastic.
As I stride out of my office with Zac at my side, I can’t help but feel dirty, like this is some kind of walk of shame, and I pick up my pace, despite not needing to feel so humiliated. These people have been my friends and colleagues for years. Most of them congratulated me on such an epic email this morning. Hell, I can even see some of them checking their latest email and chuckling to themselves. It’s almost a guarantee that, at some point during their employment, every person in this office has wanted to strangle Dwayne in one way or another. He’s just that much of a prick.
Some people stand and give me warm, knowing smiles, while others race into me, giving me quick hugs with a few comforting words about wanting to come with me when I start my own business. It’s another ten minutes before I finally walk out the main doors of SC Corporate Management to find my Uber waiting right out front.
Zac walks with me to the Uber, easily able to juggle the heavy box with one hand to open the car door for me. “All the best, Blair,” he says, giving me a fond smile. “Try not to kick too much ass. You’ll make the rest of us look bad.”
I can’t help but laugh as I take my box from him. “Thanks, Zac,” I say, the heaviness really starting to weigh down on my chest. “Have a great Christmas.”
“You too,” he says, and with that, I drop into my Uber, place the box and the laminator down on the seat beside me, and wonder how the hell I’m supposed to move forward from here. All I know is that from this day on, things are never going to be the same.
2
BLAIR
Dropping all of my shit on the doormat in front of my apartment, I grab my handbag out of the box and begin rifling through it for my keys. As I search the darkest pits of my handbag, I hear a strange grunting noise coming from inside my apartment, and I pause, my hand stilling inside my bag.