by Alexa Woods
the square shelves to the sleek black desk. The desk chair looked like a
robot had a baby with a regular desk chair.
“Mine’s bright pink,” Tina said proudly. She pointed at her head. “Just
like my hair. I love it. Can’t get enough pink, if you know what I mean.”
Arabella shuddered inwardly. She’d worn so much pink in high school
that she never wanted to don the color again. She didn’t want to be
reminded of what a mean-spirited, spiteful, hurtful, controlling, power-
hungry, popularity seeking, sick little problem child she’d been. For some
people, high school was the best time of their lives. It had been great for
Arabella, until she’d graduated and gone into the real world and had time to
reflect on how she’d treated people. It took her years, but she was glad
she’d changed, even if it meant recognizing and owning the terrible person
she was.
“Well, I’ll leave you to settle in, then. I know how rough first days can
be, but don’t worry. We’re like a big family here. It’s a great place to work.
I think I’m super lucky to be part of a team of people who actually care
about each other. We have our first meeting at one today. I know it’s right
after lunch, but don’t let that fool you. Morning or afternoon, there isn’t any
drag here. No complaining or whining allowed,” Tina finished cheerfully.
“Oh, and I almost forgot! June is going to be sitting in on the meeting.
You’ll love her! She’s so nice and inspiring. Her ideas are amazing, but if
you have one too, she always makes sure you feel heard. There are no
stupid questions here. Really. I’m sure she’s super excited to meet you. We
hardly ever get turnover here. It’s just that Dean, the guy you’re taking over
for, his wife had twins and after her maternity leave was up, they decided to
move back to Pittsburgh, where they were from, to be closer to her parents
so they could help out with the kids, so his job came open.”
“Oh. I-I see. Yes, I’m very lucky. And excited.” The words were flat and
dry to her own ears, but they were passable to Tina, who just smiled her big,
bubbly, bright smile.
“I’m off, then. See you at one. I’ll come get you at ten to just to help you
find your way there. This place isn’t big, but it can be confusing. The
hallways don’t make a lot of sense. I feel like a mouse always trying to get
out of the maze. If the prize was cheese, I’d pass every time. I love cheese.”
Oh God, I would have been a beast to this girl in high school. Arabella
was glad she was meeting Tina now. She could appreciate her—her
lightness, her effortless joy. It would have grated the hell out of her teenage
self, but her adult self, the one who had been through the trials of college,
of her parents losing their jobs, their house, and her dad nearly going to jail,
of having to support her little sister, of being the one to take care of the
family, was now humbled enough to be grateful for Tina’s wonderful
kindness.
“Thank you. I appreciate that. It does look confusing.”
Tina raised a hand. Arabella actually waved back too.
“Oh, and I love cheese as well,” Arabella admitted right before Tina
stepped out of office.
She responded with a big grin that made the two lip rings in her bottom
lip twinkle and then she was gone.
Arabella’s new office was huge. The lighting overhead was soft, not the
harsh fluorescent lights of most places. The windows were huge and a nice
touch, letting in tons of natural light. Everything was neat and tidy. A brand
new looking, razor-thin laptop sat on the desk on one side and at the far end
were two huge monitors and a tower underneath. A white leather couch
with a coffee table and two matching cube chairs filled up most of the other
side. It looked like a home office combined with a living room, and she
could actually imagine herself working in here and loving it. She could
imagine herself working at New Shooz 2uz and loving it too.
Too bad her job would be short-lived.
Once June Erickson found out it was her old nemesis who’d just gotten
the new marketing role at her company, Arabella imagined she’d be right
out the door. Even if June didn’t fire her, it was well within her right, at
least karma-wise, to make Arabella’s life a real fiery, living hell.
Arabella let out a strangled sigh, shut the glass door, and walked over to
her new desk. She found a company manual, a company policies handbook,
and an actual map, hand-drawn, with a smiley face, by Tina herself.
She didn’t think she’d be sticking around long, and just hoped she could
find another job to replace this one. If her high school friends could see her
now, they’d say that the mighty had fallen fast and fallen hard, but Arabella
knew she’d suck up her pride and not let her ego push her around anymore.
She’d do what she had to do to keep her family afloat.
Summoning up her courage and mentally slipping into her big girl pants,
Arabella opened the company manual first. Whether she was there for a
short time or not, she couldn’t change the past. She was going to do her job
and do it well, because that’s the kind of person she wanted to be in the
present.
Chapter 4
June
June was probably the one person in the world who loved meetings, but
then, their meetings were anything but typical. She loved sharing and
exchanging ideas, the open playground of fresh thoughts and innovative
concepts coming together to create something very real. She’d been
dreading her meeting with the marketing team ever since she found out
Arabella had been hired.
If high school had taught June anything, it was that perseverance paid off.
She might be nervous and filled with conflicting emotions, but she was no
coward, and she made sure that when she walked into the meeting, right at
one so that everyone hopefully had a chance to get there before she did, she
had a smile that felt real. As real as she could make it, at any rate.
June entered the room and shut the door behind her, noting that everyone
was there. Including Arabella. She gulped down the rising tide of panic that
created uncomfortable bubbles in her airway and chest, then turned around
and took her seat.
She’d copied the whole equality at the table idea from ancient legend and
had gone with an oval design. That way, there was no head or right-hand
man or any of that nonsense she didn’t believe in. She might be CEO, but
she didn’t think she was any more important than anyone else in this room.
Power trips and egos were gross, and she’d made an effort to make it more
than apparent that they had no place in the company.
June carried a thick black notebook, preferring handwritten notes to
anything typed. She opened it to her agenda for the day, which was nothing
more than a few jotted items so that the meeting could flow, and creativity
could take center stage. At the top was a single name, as if she needed the
prompt.
June slowly lifted her eyes. She felt that her smile was in place and hoped
it di
dn’t wobble. “Hello, everyone. I’m sure you’ve already met your new
director, but if not, this is Arabella Ferguson.” Her eyes swept around the
table and finally, because she felt she had to look her square in the face,
they came to rest on her old nemesis. “She brings a wealth of experience
with her, and I’m sure we’re very lucky to have her on board. I’m excited to
get started.”
After that first brief glance, June tore her eyes away, proud of herself for
not really looking at Arabella at all, and even prouder that her voice didn’t
wobble.
On that note, the meeting was turned over to the marketing team, the
table coming alive with conversation, ideas, and laughter. The atmosphere
was electric, but June felt it was a little more charged than normal. She
might be the only one feeling that extra surge, though.
She carefully lifted her eyes, but kept her lashes lowered and her head
angled down. Her fingers clutched her pen, and she felt her hand moving,
jotting down notes, even though she had no notion of what she was writing.
She hoped it was more than illegible scrawls.
Arabella was seated across the table, to the right, and June’s gaze didn’t
have far to go before it landed right there. Discreetly. She didn’t want
Arabella to know she was studying her.
From above the table, all that was visible was a white button-down
blouse, elegant and flowy, but also simple. It was buttoned up nearly to the
top, neatly hiding her ample breasts. Her creamy skin extended from the
collar.
Arabella had been pretty in high school, but the decade since had been
more than good to her. She was absolutely stunning now, even from under
the thick fringe of lashes obscuring June’s vision. Her hair was no longer
platinum, but an ash, honey color. It was swept up into a loose bun on top
her head, soft tendrils trailing down to frame her heart-shaped face. Her
makeup was drastically understated, which was a shock. Oddly enough, the
lack of it only seemed to enhance her pink bow lips and carved cheekbones
and made her blue eyes pop.
June realized she was staring without appearing to be staring, but staring
all the same. She quickly snapped her head down and nearly cursed as a
fiery pain shot up her neck. Her hand cramped on her pen, and when she
looked at what she’d written, it was indeed a mess. She quickly turned to a
fresh, blank page to hide the illegible scrawls.
The meeting suddenly came around to the point where Beth Oddridge,
head of the marketing department, asked if anyone had any new ideas that
they wanted to share. How it had passed by so quickly without June even
tuning in, she had no idea.
“Actually, I do. If-if that’s alright?”
June squirmed at the sound of Arabella’s voice. In high school it had
been so filled with venom and forced sugar in equal measure, a syrup that
was straight up lethal. Now it was light and…pretty. Like spun sugar.
She was very contained, and when June looked up, Arabella had her gaze
trained on her notes in front of her. She didn’t notice June observing her, so
she took that moment, stole it, to drink in the strange sight of the woman in
front of her. June could almost, almost believe this was a dream and
Arabella wasn’t real at all.
This wasn’t the Arabella from high school. She had transformed to a
woman with modest taste, a contained outfit, and a pleasing voice that had
real notes of kindness in it. It was completely jarring and at odds with what
June had been expecting. And dreading. June had wanted, deep down, to
make Arabella squirm, but now all she could do was stare.
“I did some research this morning. Thank you for the files all in one
common drive, by the way. And for setting up my computer for me so
everything was right there and easy to find. The meeting minutes, the
supplier lists, and the sales reports and spreadsheets were amazing and
super helpful. This is the easiest first morning I’ve ever had. I did notice
that a few pairs of animal shoes, like Tina’s bat shoes that she has on
today…”
She stopped for a second while Tina pushed away from the table and
lifted her feet up to reveal her lovely bat shoes. Arabella smiled a rather
unexpected smile at Tina, blowing June away. The old Arabella would have
hated Tina. She would have been tormented by Arabella for certain because
of her quirky style and unique personality, and Tina being Tina, probably
would have raised her middle finger proudly and told Arabella to go fluff
herself and not been bothered in the least.
“I noticed that the animal shoes are always sold out,” Arabella continued.
“It was a limited run, so that makes sense. I’m not sure if it was a trial, or
how it was structured, but I checked a few of the suppliers and those shoes
were best sellers. I think maybe, if it’s a possibility, it might be good to look
at expanding that line. Possibly making something for kids. I know there
aren’t any kids’ shoes yet, but the demand for them is huge. The suppliers I
called to ask about the shoes all said they had huge demand for children’s
sizes. Everyone from fourteen to people in their nineties are buying these
shoes, which is incredible. I’m not very far into this and I could be more
than wrong, but I sketched a few quick designs and ran some numbers, just
to see how the children’s line would work out.”
After Arabella’s sketches were produced, they were passed around the
table and everyone hummed over them. June could have groaned. So far,
Summer seemed to be very wrong about her sabotage theory. Arabella
moved in like a thunderstorm and took everyone by, well, storm. There
wasn’t a singe person around the table who wasn’t already under her spell.
June wasn’t sure what to think. She was on her guard, but only because it
was Arabella. If she’d been anyone else, June would have been beyond
impressed. Arabella stated everything humbly, but with a quiet confidence.
Was it her intention to charm everyone and take over that way?
After a lengthy discussion on a children’s shoe line, which they had
talked about before, but briefly, the meeting came to an end. June let
everyone else leave before her. She even took the time to straighten the
chairs at the table before she left the room. Her hopes that she wouldn’t run
into Arabella were foiled when she spotted her laughing in the hallway just
up ahead with Tina. June couldn’t dodge out of the way or turn back. She’d
already been spotted. She just stood there, feeling awkward, until Tina
congratulated Arabella on her ideas and walked off in the direction of her
office.
The silence in the hallway sounded like a roar. June’s head buzzed with it
and her veins felt like they were on fire. Her stomach roiled with nerves.
She could actually feel a bead of sweat trickling down the back of her neck
from her hairline.
The craziest thing was that Arabella seemed just as uncomfortable. She
actually swallowed loud enough for June to hear it. She looked like she
thought she was going to be fi
red.
“Can I…can I see you in my office for a second?” June asked. She
wished her tone would stay flat, the way she wanted it to.
“Yeah.” Arabella nodded, putting on a brave face. She wiped her palms
on her black pencil skirt nervously, though. June’s eyes were drawn to
Arabella’s shoes—plain black flats, not the four-inch heels she’d been
expecting. “Sure,” she said thickly, when June just stood there.
June shook herself, remembering that Arabella couldn’t know the way to
her office yet. She started off, the hairs on the backs of her arms standing up
at the sound of Arabella’s light steps behind her.
June entered her office with far more outward confidence than she felt.
She kept her posture rigid as she closed the door. There were no chairs in
front of her desk, and she didn’t want to sit down and invite Arabella to do
the same in the more comfortable conversation area to the right. Every
office was set up pretty much the same, unless someone wanted something
different. June’s wasn’t any bigger than any of the others.
Arabella stood awkwardly, cringing, waiting for the hammer of June’s
wrath to come down and squish her like a sad, helpless bug.
June cleared her throat. She wasn’t about to give in to the temptation to
give Arabella a taste of her own foul medicine. She wasn’t karma itself. She
didn’t believe in abusing one’s power, and grudges were messy and
childish.
“I just wanted to say that I don’t want to have any problems, between us
or in the company. This is a great place to work and I’d very much like to
keep it that way. No one needs to know that we knew each other before. As
far as I’m concerned, everything’s been forgotten.” There was obvious
tension on June’s part, though, and it sounded from her tone like she hadn’t
forgotten or forgiven anything. She was barely hanging on to a professional
thread, and she didn’t like it.
Arabella’s eyes widened. The blue was so blue it was like falling into the
lake where Summer’s parents had their cottage. It reminded June how much
she loved that place, and how happy she’d be to escape there on the
weekend. She was annoyed by the fact that the exact shade of blue in
Arabella’s irises reminded her of one her favorite places in the world.