Chapter 10
I kept working, until one day I finally couldn’t take it anymore and staged a rebellion.[]
I forced Mackenzie to clock out.]
Mackenzie looked at my giant dark circles and eye bags and burst out laughing, patting my shoulder.]
“Willa, you’re doing great.”
She said it so seriously that it reminded me of how she used to praise me when we were kids.
I buried my head and laughed for a while, then threw my arms around her shoulders.
“Baby, I’m begging you–let me get off work early! Stop gaslighting your workhorse. I’ve had enough coffee, no more stimulants please.”
J
She sighed and patted my shoulder. The project isn’t over yet; we both still need to push through.]
I ground my teeth in hatred. Mackenzie the slave driver.
After another month of grinding, our biggest project was finally submitted and approved. It was almost New Year’s.
Mackenzie and I finally relaxed and started living the dream–work at 10 AM, off at 5 PM.
Living lazily every day, buying groceries after work, cooking dinner. Before, we’d always had the housekeeper cook.
Now that we had time, we started cooking ourselves.
Cooking alone is drudgery, but cooking together is pretty chill when you’re not in a rush.
After dinner we’d set up a little table on the balcony and have some sparkling water mixed with sake.
This was real living.
The office was close to home, so when we weren’t busy, sometimes we’d skip driving and just walk back.
But one day, as I was leaving the office building, I ran into a drunk River.[]
I couldn’t be bothered to deal with it, so Mackenzie called Lily.
Lily arrived quickly and smiled as she greeted me.
“Hey Willa! Long time no see. You should totally come over for dinner sometime–Zoe talks about you constantly!“]
and
I snorted. “Oh honey, that’s not how this works. When the side piece gets promoted, you’re supposed to keep your head down
your mouth shut. The chatty ones never last.”
Lily’s face went ice–cold real quick. “Still got that sharp tongue, huh? But what’s the point? All that attitude, all that drama–and you still couldn’t keep him interested, could you?“[]
“Bitch, I just called you a homewrecking whore, so what does that make him? I wouldn’t let that trash bag tie my shoes. Hell. I don’t even want him bleeding out on our sidewalk–it’s bad for property values. Now take your pathetic excuse for a man and get the fuck out of here before I really lose my shit.“[]
