What Happens in Vegas
Bella moved next to me in the booth. She took my hand in hers.
“What did your boss say?” my friend asked. “What was the reason for—”
“No reason,” I cut her off. “None. Zero. Zilch.”
“Well… she can’t do that.”
Her words threw me. For the first time I actually started applying logic to the situation.
“Wait… what?”
“She has to have a reason for firing you,” Bella went on. “She can’t just do it because she doesn’t like you personally, or because you copped an extra week of well-deserved vacation time. Especially when you were entitled to it.”
“But—”
“But nothing,” Bella said angrily. “Unless she has some documented proof of insubordination, or you not doing your job, or…”
I lost focus as she went on, listing all the reasons why I should still be working at the firm. Still be working for Lilith. And maybe it took that outside realization, that moment of cool clarity, to finally understand something about myself:
I didn’t want to be working for Lilith. Not even the smallest, tiniest bit.
Hell, I didn’t even want to be working for the firm anymore, either.
“… in any case,” Bella went on, “she’s not allowed to just cut you loose like that. She can’t terminate you without cause.”
I had no idea what excuses the com
pany might’ve made for terminating me, nor did I care. It would be all bullshit anyway. But beyond all that, I was overcome with this incredible sense of relief and freedom. Like my hands had been tied for a long time without me even knowing it, and now suddenly, they were free again.
“You could retain an employment lawyer,” Bella was saying excitedly. She was ramping up now, gaining in speed and momentum. “Open a wrongful termination case against them. Sue for thousands, tens of thousands, maybe even…”
“Or I could just go independent. Open my own firm.”
The words just tumbled out. For a few seconds, they didn’t even have meaning.
“You could… what?”
“I could do my own thing. Take on clients individually. Start my own company.”
Bella was staring back at me in absolute astonishment. It took her a second or two to pick her jaw up off the floor.
“Y—You can do that?”
“Sure I could. I mean, I’ve always wanted to,” I realized absently. My anger was long gone now, along with the sorrow, the embarrassment, the humiliation. Even the resentment I felt for Lilith was subdued, swept away by the surging wave of a thousand exciting new ideas…
“Maybe this is a good thing,” I said, grabbing my coffee. I felt rejuvenated, without even having had a sip. Totally re-energized.
“Maybe this is the push I needed.”
Fifty-One
LAUREN
The rest of my day was a rain-soaked blur, filled with cab rides and impromptu meetings as I ran all over the city. I pulled every string I could, to talk to some very high level people. In the process I cashed in a lot of favors, too.
Luckily, I had favors to cash in. One of the benefits of enduring sixty and seventy hour work-weeks was that a lot of people owed me their attention when I finally needed it.
What I wanted to do was feasible. And not just feasible, but probably destined to succeed. The more I dove into what I’d need to set up my own firm, the more I realized I should’ve been doing this all along. Considering my work ethic and the sheer number of contacts I’d made over the years, I was almost an idiot for having stayed where I was.