“What happened?” Chad leaned forward, resting his elbows on the small desk. The sound of paper crunching beneath his arms almost made him flinch, but he tried to keep from disturbing Devyn.
“Alex came in and she demanded products that I can’t get her. I’ve been trying for over a month and no one has it in stock. I’ve told her a million times that no matter how much I call and beg I cannot get it, so when she cornered me today I froze. I didn’t know what to say, because last time we talked she told me in few words if I didn’t get the product my time here would be cut short. I believe her, so I lied. I told her I was getting a shipment in, but there is no way I can get the product in without a miracle.”
Devyn slumped in the seat. Chad could see the glassy coat over her eyes from across his desk. He needed to tell her about the phone call and he needed to tell her about the order. The one that would save her from this mess.
“I’m going to start looking for another job, but I don’t know who would hire me when they find out I got fired,” Devyn continued.
He chewed on his lower lip, trying to find the words to tell her what he knew.
“What if I had a solution to your problem?”
“What do you mean?” If Devyn were a dog, her ears would have perked up at his words. Her eyes widened and brightened. She leaned forward, soaking in the words hanging between them.
“I called in a favor from a guy I know at the warehouse.”
Devyn’s face fell, furrowing her brow. “I don’t understand.”
“Last night, I got a call from Alex.” He chose his words carefully. “She called me and told me she was giving you an impossible task because she was trying to make you fail. She wants to hold this over your head and then she wants to fire you, but I won’t let her do you wrong. We can call corporate. I already have a shipment of Jamie Ray’s on its way to the store.”
Devyn parted her lips, shaking her head. Her brain was trying to catch up with the words tumbling from his lips.
“What do you mean? I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t you tell me?” She raised her voice with each word.
Chad’s face fell. “I was trying to this morning, but you wouldn’t let me. You were in a hurry to get in here.”
“Why would you not ask me first? I think I deserve to know if you make a decision like that without me. What do you mean you called in a favor? What kind of fucking favor is that?” Devyn chewed on the inside of her mouth, shaking her head at him. She stood up, shoving the chair away from her. “I don’t need a handout. I’m not a charity case. Call off your fucking favor. I can take care of it myself.”
“Devyn please,” Chad called after her.
Devyn spun around, rage in her eyes.
“No,” she yelled. “Fuck you. I can’t believe I fell for your shit. I thought you respected me. I guess I was wrong.”
She clamped her mouth shut before turning on her heel and slamming the door behind her.
16
Devyn wasn’t sure how she got home. All she knew was that her feet were aching and a stubble thud had started pounding in her right temple by the time we walked through the door. She’d never left work early, but she had too. Devyn didn’t care what Alex was going to say. All she cared about was getting the hell away from Chad and into a safe place so she could think.
She shoved the door of her townhouse open, Christmas music blaring. The sound of “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby was too much. She raced through the door, slamming it hard behind her. Devyn turned the corner and found her sister sitting in the living room.
She was on the couch, curled up in a pair of her Christmas pajamas and a mug in her hand. The record player Chad had stumbled over two nights before was sitting in the middle of their living room. She was going to throw up. The feeling of her lunch rising from her gut was too hard to resist. A tear slipped from her eye.
“Turn that off,” Devyn said her voice cracking.
Maria turned to her and raised an eyebrow. Devyn’s voice failed her, cracking again as she begged her sister to turn the music off from the record player.
“Please Maria, turn it off.” Devyn was sobbing, the tears streaming down her cheeks. She rubbed her eyes trying to clear her vision. Her vision darkened and the tears wouldn’t stop. She couldn’t turn them off.
“Devyn, what happened?” Maria jumped out of the loveseat and ran to her. Devyn’s mind wouldn’t slow down. The image of them sitting on the same loveseat talking about the music and the lights. Everything came back to her and a wave of betrayal washed over her.
“Chad,” Devyn stuttered, trying to get the words to fall out of her mouth so she didn’t have to repeat them. Her heart felt cracked and no one would ever understand. “Alex called him. She told him she was going to fire me if I couldn’t get the shipment we need.”
Devyn wasn’t telling her the full truth and her heart stung again. She wanted her sister to understand before she said the rest. She wanted her to know why she was hurting. The thing she had feared most in the world had come true. She had worked so hard to get her job and to do the best she could for the company, but it wasn’t good enough. She wasn’t good enough and she needed Maria to understand that. She had failed and there was nothing she could do about it.
“How do you know that?” Maria
