a special thing for Fridays or something. I think if you look hard enough, you can find compromise.”
She had a point, but I had to decide if I wanted to make that compromise. Could I take more of the man’s shit? “I don’t know. I just can’t see myself answering to him. He did so much damage in just a matter of weeks. What will he do in a month or in three months?”
“You could grin and bear it for let’s say three months while you are working on getting your own business established. That gets him through tax season, and you get to have a better plan. Yes, you might be out of work for a week or two and things might start slow, but you’ll get there.”
“It sounds so simple when you say it.” I laughed. “I want to say yes but there is just one minor little problem.”
“What would that be?”
“I really pissed him off,” I said. “Like really bad. I’m not sure he would even want me back.”
She laughed. “He knows nothing about taxes. I bet he’s about knee-deep in the shit right now and looking for a lifeboat.”
“Lana told me he’s doing interviews to replace me,” I said. “If he replaces me, I can’t go back. I will not go back as a CPA and work for him. At least as the tax director, I had some authority. He would treat me worse than he treated me before. I can’t. I refuse to be his lemming.”
“What about another firm?”
I shook my head. “I’ve been looking. Nothing appeals to me.”
“Because you want what you had,” she said calmly.
“Yes. Can’t I buy a time machine and go back to those days when my life was so much easier?”
“If only,” she said with a laugh. “Unfortunately, it’s all about moving forward. We have to get uncomfortable to grow. If we stayed in our comfort zone, we’d never find anything new. We’d never blossom.”
“I don’t think I want to blossom,” I pouted. “I was happy with being stagnant.”
She leaned forward. “No, you weren’t. You’ve been in this stir-crazy mode for a year at least. You see and feel Jace growing up and it’s triggering your own need to change.”
I stared at her for several seconds. “I think you might be right. I want something different, but not this. This is too hard.”
“So, find a way to make it suit you. Don’t give up on working for yourself. I think you’ll do great at it, but I do think you need to have some planning involved. I’m glad you were brave enough to make that leap once. Now go back and get a running start.”
I let out a long breath. “I’ll have to think about it. Going back and asking for my job is worse than eating crow. I will not grovel. Period. Not to him.”
“I don’t blame you. Think about it and then look to the future. Imagine yourself at the same job and then try to imagine yourself working from home doing what you love. You have to see it to believe it. You have to let yourself see it. Don’t hold back.”
“You’re good.” I laughed. “Really good.”
She winked. “They don’t pay me the big bucks to sit at home all day for nothing.”
Chapter 32
Nash
They were doing it on purpose. They were trying to push me over the edge. There was no way this was real. They were fucking with me because they hated me. They knew I didn’t know shit about taxes and the forms. I stared at the hard copies and the files on the screen. I didn’t know what I was looking at. I was supposed to sign off on the files after I checked them over. I couldn’t sign something I didn’t know what the hell I was signing.
“Sir, I—”
I looked up and shot the woman a glare. “What?” I snapped. “What now?”
“Your assistant called me,” the receptionist said. “She said you weren’t answering your phone.”
“Because I’m busy,” I growled.
“Should I tell her to call later?” she asked nervously.
“Or you could take a message,” I said dryly. “You do realize that is what your job is, right?”
“Yes sir, but I don’t take your messages.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t?”
“No, I do, but I thought you had an assistant who did that stuff.”
“What do you need?” I asked irritably.
She looked like she was walking into a lion’s den. “Your assistant told me to get you even if you told me to leave.”