Grumpy Best Friend

It was a shit situation, and I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. But I knew Jude had no other options and she needed this win more than anything. I wanted to give it to her, to give her everything she deserved, and if I could make it happen, I would.

10

Jude

Lisa Snelling sat with perfect posture, her long, thick blonde hair pulled over one shoulder. Her makeup was impeccable, her lips a tasteful light pink, and her suit was probably designer—though it fit her like it’d been tailored for her body. She was in her mid-forties, and her resume read like a Hollywood movie: Harvard undergrad, worked for a few large marketing firms before going in-house with a big tech firm. I had no clue how she ended up in our office, but she wanted the job, and she was by far the most qualified applicant we’d gotten.

“I have one last question,” I said, and leaned back in my chair. We were seated at the conference room table, right in the middle of the main cubicle space. The office still didn’t have any furniture, though that was on order. Lisa didn’t seem to mind—she was used to working in unconventional situations from her time in tech. “If I offered you the job today, when could you start?”

“Tomorrow,” she said, flashing teeth. “God, I’d love that. I’ve always looked up to Lady Fluke, you know? There aren’t a lot of women at the top of the business world, and she’s definitely one of those names, right?”

“She’s amazing,” I said, forcing a smile. I didn’t have the best opinion of Lady Fluke at the moment, considering her ex-husband was harassing us and being incredibly threatening, but I understood what Lisa meant. I felt the same way until recently.

“I’ll admit that we’re just putting things together right now,” I said, gesturing around the space. Lisa laughed a little, charming and warm. “I’m getting up to speed, and Bret’s been a big help there.”

“I’m sure,” Lisa said. “I’d like to meet him soon.”

I nodded a little and kept a smile plastered on my face. Bret wasn’t at this interview because I told him I didn’t want him sitting in for it. Not because he wasn’t valuable—in fact, he probably knew how to run an interview way better than I did. I mostly just wanted some power of my own, and if he was around for absolutely everything, I knew his word would slowly usurp my own, so I had to make decisions on my own. Who to hire was a good place to start with that.

I stood up and we shook hands, and walked toward the door together. “Are you from the area?” she asked me, head tilted to one side, and I wondered how she got that perfect smile, and her makeup just right—so subtle that it almost looked like she had nothing on at all.

“Levittown,” I said. “Not far north of the city. What about you?”

“I’ve bounced around my whole life,” she said. “Military brat growing up, then worked for all different companies, but you know that part.”

“You’re married though, right?” I glanced at the big, glittering ring on her finger.

“That’s right. My husband runs a YouTube cooking channel and watches the kids.” She laughed again, and I realized I really liked her, even though she was way too perfect. “It’s weird, I know, but we make it work.”

“No, that sounds fantastic. Listen, I would love it if you came to work here. We need a chief marketing officer with your talent and experience.”

“Job offer on the first interview,” Lisa said, grinning huge. “I think I like this place already.”

“I don’t have a lot of time to set up, and I don’t really feel like playing games. So what do you say?”

She hesitated, tapped her manicured fingernail against her chin, then stuck out her hand. “Absolutely. Let’s do it.”

We shook and both of us laughed—

Until a loud crash broke the moment to pieces. I dropped her hand and flinched away, turning toward the main room. Lisa froze, not moving, her eyes wide, and I searched around for the source of the commotion.

“What was that?” Lisa asked. “It sounded like glass.”

I walked back toward the conference room table, then froze. Lisa went to walk past me, and I reached out and stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Wait,” I said. “Hold on. Glass is all over.”

“Oh,” she said, staring at the shattered window, and the big, glittering shards all over the carpet.

A single brick sat ten feet away from the table.

We stood in dead silence. Outside, the sound of birds was loud, and a nearby boat rolling down the Delaware blared its horn. Lisa turned to me with a deep frown. “Is this a normal thing?” she asked.

“No,” I said quickly. “This is the first time we’ve had a brick thrown through our window, actually.” I tried to cover up my deep fear with a big smile but it must not have convinced her, because her lips pulled own deeper.