Just a Girl - Becky Monson Page 0,93

to touch anything. I’m just not hungry. I guess it takes quitting my job and losing someone I could see myself having a future with to get me off food. Good to know.

“It’s not official yet, though,” I say. “I have to go back and fill out some paperwork.” And I suspect Dwayne will try to talk me out of it. He called me after I left and said he wasn’t going to make anything official. Not until he could talk to me in person. But he won’t change my mind.

Holly, who didn’t drag Logan with her tonight, reaches over and puts her hand on my back, moving it around in circles. I called her last night, and she came right over. We ate Thai food and donuts, and commiserated about everything. About work . . . about Moriarty . . . about Henry.

It’s all been rather spirit crushing, but I’d say the whole Henry thing has made it that much worse.

“Well, then now you can date Henry,” Bree says, her lips pulled up conspiratorially.

“No way,” Alex says.

“But wasn’t that the problem? That he was her boss?” Bree says.

“Yes, but it doesn’t seem right that he should come running to her now,” Alex says. “What’s he sacrificing for her if he does that? It’s too easy.”

“Thank you, Alex,” I say.

Holly had said the same thing last night—not so definitively as Bree, but more as a question, asking me if I’d consider it.

“I’m not going to see Henry again,” I say, saying the same thing to everyone that I said to Holly last night. “I didn’t quit to be with him.”

I quit because I’d have been settling for a job that I now realize has been toxic. If Henry came running to me now, telling me that since I’ve quit, we can be together . . . well, that feels like settling too. I deserve more than that. I deserve someone who will fight for me. Who wants to be with me despite the possible consequences, not because things became so much easier for him. It took me twenty-seven years to start fighting for what I deserve. With my mom, with my job, and with my life. It feels right. I deserve to be happy, regardless of my pants size. I deserve to work in a place where I am treated with respect. I deserve to be with a man who wants me enough to face his fears, who’s willing to give us a real chance.

In Henry’s defense, he hasn’t called to try to talk me out of it or to ask if we have a chance. All I got from him is one text: I don’t want you to quit is all it said. I didn’t reply. It doesn’t matter what he wants now. I also didn’t delete his contact information. I’m not quite ready for that.

“So, what now?” Bree asks.

I shrug. “I’m not sure. I can keep working on furniture and selling it to stay afloat. But I think I’m going to find a job away from any type of camera or anything having to do with news.”

“We’re hiring at the bank,” Alex says, referring to CT Anderson Bank, where he works and where Holly used to work.

“I could use an assistant,” Holly says. Her professional organization company has gotten quite a bit of business as of late.

“You can come work for me at the firm,” Thomas adds. “I’ll tell everyone you’re my mistress. It’ll be fun.”

“Ew. No, thanks,” I say, crinkling my nose at Thomas.

“Don’t forget me,” Bree says. “You can come serve tables with me. All those tourists are so much fun to serve food to.” We all laugh at her blatant sarcasm. She’s complained enough about her job that we all know how much she hates it.

“You guys are the best,” I say. “I think I just need some time. Maybe a little time off to figure out what I really want. It all just feels really crappy right now.”

“I get it. It wasn’t that long ago that I was sitting right where you are, probably in that same chair, and definitely in this same restaurant, thinking my life was falling apart,” Holly says.

“And look at her now,” Thomas exclaims. “Practically perfect in every way.”

“It’s true,” Holly says, blinking her eyes rapidly at Thomas, giving him her best cheesy grin. She turns to me. “All I’m saying is, you never know where you’ll end up.”

“Yeah, Quinn,” Bree pipes in. “This could end up being the best