One Bossy Dare

“Dakota, no. You’re a mother now. You don’t get to go full Edgar Allan.” I sigh. “I don’t know, but I don’t think I can keep working there...”

“Oh, crap. Are you sure? This is like your dream job—or at least a big step to your real dream. Just because it didn’t work out, it shouldn’t cost you everything.”

I shrug, wrinkling my nose. “What’s the alternative? Keep the job at the expense of my dignity? Continue to report to him every day? Half the office gossip already revolves around Cole Lancaster. I’ll have to hear about every new girl he’s with...”

“It’s too early to give up. Linc and I broke up once.”

I laugh. “How could I forget? I was ready to kill him for you.”

She hugs her knees to her chest with a far-off smile. “Funny how that works. I’m ready to destroy Cole Lancaster now. But we worked it out, you know. You guys could, too.”

“Not likely. Lightning rarely strikes twice.”

“He did apologize. Technically, several times,” she points out.

“Yeah, and never to my face. Not a good sign.”

She picks at a loose thread in her shirt, thinking before she says, “He gave up, Eliza. You wouldn’t talk to him.”

“But if I accept his apology, what’s next?”

“What do you mean?”

I sit up.

“I knew from the beginning I didn’t belong with him. I’m a total stranger in his sparkly world of Hawaiian houses and like fifty personal servants. It’s just a matter of time until it comes up again.” I stop and sigh. “Cole isn’t a monster. Even if his apology was sincere—or he gives me one that’s not so lame—I’m just not from his circle. Oh, he’s sorry now, sure, because we have fun together and things are light. We have long talks and good sex. But we can’t do serious.”

“Eliza,” she warns, but I’m not done.

“If we kiss and make up, it just doesn’t fix anything. What if a few years from now we’re planning a holiday meal, and he has some billionaire client flying in, and my parents are coming into town, but I can’t serve sweet potato pie because that’s not sophisticated enough for foreign billionaires and—ugh.”

Snickering, she shakes her head.

“Linc is such a good man. I never had to worry about this crap.” We sit quietly for a minute, and then she asks, “Have you gone to work since it happened?”

“Not much, and I’m running out of PTO fast. I have to go back soon or resign,” I say miserably.

“Big decision. What are you going to do? Don’t think, just say the first thing that pops into your head,” she tells me.

“I think...I’m finish out the week and quit on Friday. Then I’m flying back to San Diego for a while.”

“No two-week notice?” she asks, stunned.

“It’s just expected, not required. This time, I think I deserve an exception.”

She laughs. “So you’re just going to be like eff off?”

“Pretty much.” I nod firmly, even though the idea turns my stomach.

“Badass. But if you do that, you probably can’t expect to have Wired Cup as a reference, and you’ve given them an entire product line. Burning bridges that big is never a good thing. Mr. Lump doesn’t need to take away your credit.”

“...I have no idea what he’ll say about me, but I can’t imagine it’d be flattering after this. Better to just leave and pretend it never happened...”

Her face falls, worry shining in her eyes.

“Are you sure, Eliza?”

I nod. “I always manage. You know that. After Derek, I swore I’d never be anyone’s sucker again. I’ve let Cole Lancaster consume too much of my life already and it’s the only one I have.”

She nods. “I’ll support you all the way. I just hate seeing you like this. You guys seemed good together. You were happier than I’ve ever seen you.”

Ouch.

I try not to let that pain in my stomach show on my face when I smile at her.

“Who knows. As long as I’m stuck pining over Cole freaking Lancaster, I’ll never know what happiness is.”

After lunch on Friday, I work up the nerve to talk to Gina.

I wait impatiently by her desk until she spins around to face me.

“Hi. So, I need you to come watch the campfire method with the peaberries one more time, and ask any questions. I’m not coming back on Monday.”

“Oh, that’s no problem.” She waves me off. “We won’t need to run the next lab test before Thursday, anyhow.”

“No, I won’t be here next Thursday either.”

Her eyes narrow. “Well, whenever you get back.”

“Gina...” I clear my throat. “I’m not coming back.”

She blinks in surprise. “Oh. Oh, no, but why? You’re not jumping to a competitor so soon, are you? Mr. Lancaster would—”

“No. Nothing like that.” I set my face. “You’ve been seriously great. The whole team has, really. I just don’t think I can work here anymore.”