to be more aware than I may seem. To watch as much as I speak. And when Jake threw out the idea of the Yard, your face told me everything I needed to know.”
My breaths came in pants as I attempted to wrangle my swirling thoughts without hyperventilating.
“You never said…” My words trailed off because it wasn’t on her to stand up for me. She’d known, but it was on me to do something about it. And I hadn’t.
Sitting in front of a woman who exuded power and demanded respect, I’d never felt smaller and more pathetic than I did in that moment, like some meek girl who let a boy steal her fucking homework.
She watched my face and the myriad emotions that had to have danced across it before she gave a decisive nod and stood.
“Take it from someone who’s been there,” she said. “You’ll never get to the top of the ladder if you’re stuck holding the damn thing while everyone else climbs.” She leaned closer to me, her voice almost a whisper. “There will always be some guy who tries to hoist himself higher while pushing you down. You gotta learn how to let those fuckers fall.”
My mouth was open in shock as I watched Carole move to the door, her hand gripping the handle but not pulling it open.
“I’m not telling you this to encourage you to make a scene in the meeting today. But I am telling you that, should you want to have a discussion with Jeff and me once it’s over, I’ll make sure that happens.” She let her words sink in for a moment before adding, “Feel free to take a few moments in here to collect your thoughts.”
And as I watched her fling the door open and leave like some kind of Chanel-clad Obi-Wan Kenobi, I actually believed she’d have my back.
The question was, what did I do about it?
An hour later, as we all filtered into the board room to await Trey’s arrival, I was still asking myself that question.
Jake and I took our normal spots against the wall, and I sat with a pad of paper in my lap in case I needed to make note of anything, though I didn’t expect that to be necessary. Today was mostly a formality. The plans for moving forward had all been shared before via email and phone conferences, but Jeff and Carole both liked to get the final okay in person whenever possible, and there were a few things for Trey to sign.
Therefore, my role would be even more minimal than usual, and I allowed myself to sink back into the slate gray wall behind me.
“Late night last night?” Jake asked quietly.
Hearing his voice caused me to sit up straighter. I shot him a look that he must’ve seen out of the corner of his eye, because he continued.
“You just look a bit tired. Closing down your boyfriend’s place every night or what?”
What. A. Fucker. Jake hadn’t said much to me over the preceding weeks. I’d assumed my pretending that he didn’t exist had been effective and he’d decided it best to leave me the hell alone. So why he was choosing this moment of all moments escaped my grasp of understanding.
Unwilling to give him the satisfaction of my attention, I simply shook my head and angled my body away from him.
“Just trying to be friendly,” he muttered, which I also ignored because otherwise I was worried I’d end up being questioned by homicide detectives.
Thankfully I was spared any further commentary from him when Trey hustled through the door, larger than life and smiling wide.
“Trey, great to see you,” Jeff said as he extended a hand to our client.
“You too, you too,” Trey replied as he gave Jeff a hearty back slap.
Trey gave a warm “Hello” to Carole and a friendly wave to the other people in the room who were keeping the paperwork in order.
Trey’s assistant trailed him silently to their seats at the head of the table.
“All right, well, we don’t want to keep you, so let’s get down to business, shall we?” Carole asked.
At Trey’s nod, the team began reviewing everything that needed to be addressed.
Jake and I sat and quietly observed the proceedings, but I felt a certain detachment from it all, and it made me…angry.
I should’ve been prouder at that moment. This was a high-profile client using an idea I came up with. And while I knew I’d never get massive accolades for that as an