by Lucy Eden
“Kimberly,” she sighed. “I owe you an apology. I came down a little hard on you yesterday. In a perfect world your exemplary work would be all that mattered, but unfortunately, the world we live in isn’t perfect. In our world, women climb the corporate ladder and men ride the elevator. Some of us have more rungs on our ladders than others, but we’re all climbing, some of us in four inch heels.” She smiled and nodded to my shoes. “Do you know why I hired you?”
I shook my head.
“You were the only intern who wasn’t applying for a job. You just wanted the experience. You came in early, stayed late and finished your projects on time. You even helped your teammates finish their projects without taking credit.”
I furrowed my brow in confusion. How did she know that?
“Your signature color-coding system,” she said, correctly reading my expression.
I always arranged the colors in the order of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Was there another way? Were people just randomly assigning colors in any order? That’s madness.
“You were the youngest and the hungriest. You soak up information like a sponge and you are the definition of a team player. You’re a born leader, Kimberly.” She smiled at me and my eyes prickled with tears. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry today, so I took a deep breath and blinked. My mind briefly flashed to Adam trying to hypnotize me with a box of condoms and I smiled at the memory.
“I don’t know what happened with you and Adam Price in Barbados, and frankly, it’s none of my business. I just didn’t want to see you fall into the trap I see so many young women get caught in. You are one of the brightest people I’ve ever met and you have an even brighter future. I don’t know what this meeting is about but I’m going to do whatever I can to keep you because let’s be honest, I need you. Everyone else is hopeless. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll make damn sure you land on your feet. The world needs as many Kimberly Simmons’ running things as it can get.”
She opened her arms and I gave her a skeptical look. Cynthia Wu-Barton isn’t someone you’d describe as warm.
She flexed her fingers beckoning me into a hug. “This will only happen once.”
I stood and embraced her. My breath hitched and the tears threatened to fall again.
“Ugh. Go back to your desk if you’re going to cry again. Vittoria wants you upstairs at nine.”
I sniffled, smiled and nodded my head before walking out of her office.
“And Kimberly?” I turned to face her. “That hug never happened.”
“What hug?” I said.
She gave me a small smile, redirected her attention to the stack of papers on her desk and waved me out of her office.
“Kimberly, Bella,” Vittoria rushed towards me and planted a kiss on each of my cheeks. “It’s so good to see you again.” She seemed happy, so I took that as a good sign.
Her office was huge. She shared the floor with her husband who had an equal sized office which was connected by a slightly smaller room filled with toys and children’s furniture. An adorable little boy was stretched out on a beanbag flipping through the pages of a book. He didn’t seem to actually be reading the book, but that’s what my parents thought about my brother, RJ, until they found out that he had taught himself to read at age two.
“Matteo,” she called to him, “vieni qui topolino.”
Her little mouse, jumped off the bean bag and came running towards us. She turned him to face me.
“This is mama’s friend, Kimberly. She speaks Italian, too!” She finished the rest of her sentence in her native language and his eyes lit up.
“Like Auntie Callie?” he asked. Vittoria nodded. He eyed me curiously.
“Mama has a baby in her tummy, but it’s a secret.” He put a little finger to his lips, perhaps thinking it was only a secret in English and possibly, testing me to see if I really did speak Italian. I glanced at Vittoria who was shaking her head in exasperation. Smiling, I crouched down to his eye level.
“Then, I won’t tell anybody. I promise.” I put my finger on my lips and he grinned at me displaying a mouthful of teeny-tiny teeth. Vittoria dismissed him to the playroom with a kiss on the top of the head and a pat on the bottom. He crashed into his beanbag and resumed flipping the pages of his book.
“Well, we might as well get started, now that my little secret is out. Please sit.” She gestured to a large chair. I expected her to sit at her desk, but instead she settled into the chair next to mine. “I know you were expecting to be placed on the project management team once we decided to hire WP for the project. I’m sorry for keeping you in suspense, but discretion was of the utmost importance.” She patted her non-existent belly. I wondered how far along she was. “I hope you weren’t too disappointed.”
It took every ounce of energy I had not to burst into maniacal laughter. Disappointed was not an adequate description for yesterday’s state of mind. I was sitting three feet away from her wearing my I’m gonna eat a whole rotisserie chicken and a gallon of ice cream after I get fired from my job dress. Instead, I smiled sweetly and shook my head.
“We both sent Cynthia glowing reviews of your presentation. You really impressed us. Matthew has kept a copy of your CV and proposal in his briefcase. He’s bringing it to the department head meeting today.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“Which brings me to why I called you here, as you’ve been told Matthew and I are expecting a baby. I’m due in seven months and I want you to work with me then fill in for me during my maternity leave.” She said the words maternity leave like she was talking about a dental cleaning, a necessary nuisance.
“In Italy, a woman is expected to take time off after the birth of a child. In the US you’re supposed to give birth and come back to work practically the next day. No matter how hard I work or the amount of things I’ve accomplished in my years at Wolfe, many people still view me as the CEO’s trophy wife. Once word gets out about my pregnancy, the vultures will come for this position. I need someone I can trust. You’re smart. You work hard. You learn quickly. I’ll have seven months to teach you how to do my job. I’ll work from home, of course, and come in to the office one or two days a week after the baby weans, but I’ll be depending on you. Are you up to the task?”
I felt a little light-headed and was glad I was sitting down. Six months ago I was an intern and in seven months I would be the acting head of the entire Real Estate and Hospitality Division. I would be Cynthia’s boss, sort of.
“Kimberly?” Vittoria was staring at me expectantly.
“Um, Cynthia…”
“Cynthia will understand. I hired Cynthia. She knows how this works. Ask her about the person she replaced.”
I nodded nervously. “Can I think about it?” She tilted her head and looked at me in confusion.
“Yes, of course, Kimberly. You can think about it, but if you need time to decide whether or not this would be a good opportunity for you, then you might not be the person I thought you were. Do you have a five-year plan?” she asked and I nodded. “In five years would you rather have Cynthia’s job or my job?”
I grinned and nodded my understanding. Vittoria laughed.
“Grazie Dio!” She pulled a file off of her desk. “You had me worried for a moment.” She flipped it open and skimmed. “Well, you should be making a lot more money than your current salary.”
She pulled a sticky note off of her desk, scribbled on it and handed it to me. She had written a number equivalent to more than twice my current salary. I swallowed, nodded and handed it back to her. She placed it in the file.
“Great. Lesson one: never accept the first offer. I would have gone fifteen percent above that.” She smiled and winked at me. “You’ll start next Monday. Once my maternity leave is over and I’m back full time, the company will pay for law school, provided you agree to stay with Wolfe— it will all be in your employment contract. That is if you still plan to study law. Matthew would love for you to att
end Harvard. Your father is a Harvard graduate, yes?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “And my brother.”
“Ugh.” She smiled. “Two in the same family. My sympathies. Matthew would enroll Matteo now if he could. Ah, speak of the devil!”
Matthew came strolling around the corner. His face lit up like a Christmas tree when he spotted his wife. There were a countless number of times I'd caught Adam looking at me that way. He looked at his wife with raised eyebrows. Vittoria flashed a brilliant grin and nodded. He leaned down and kissed her, placing one of his large hands on her belly. My heart ached. He turned his attention to me.
“Hey, Kimberly. Good to see you. Welcome to the fiftieth floor. If you still don’t drink, now might be a good time to start.”
“Stop it, polpetto,” Vittoria said, affectionately calling her husband a meatball. “Don’t scare her. Now, Kimberly, always have a carry-on packed in the office with three days of clothes and bring your passport to work every day. Visit HR after our meeting to update your security clearances, salary, health insurance; blah, blah, blah.” She waved her hand dismissively, “And you’ll be issued a new phone and laptop. You’ll also have a company car…” As Vittoria continued to speak, I glanced at Matthew. He raised his eyebrows at me as if to say I told you and mimed drinking. I smiled at him.
“Papa!” Matteo squealed and came charging out of the playroom. Matthew crouched down with his arms outstretched. His pint-sized doppelgänger plowed into him and Matthew rolled onto his back growling and tickling his son as he giggled and squirmed. Vittoria smiled lovingly at her family and it was hard for me to watch. I took a deep breath and plastered on a smile, wondering when Vittoria would dismiss me so I could duck into the nearest bathroom and sob.
When they sat up, Matteo pointed at me. “Papa, that’s Mama’s friend, Kimberly. She speaks Italiano like Zia Callie.”
“I know, buddy. Mommy and I met Kimberly in Barbados last week. Remember, when you went to Uncle Alex and Auntie Callie’s house to play with Calypso so Mommy and Daddy could work?”
Matteo bobbed his little head.
“Hey, Kimberly, I have been showing your proposal to everybody. I mean, amazing work. How’s Adam? Is he excited about the project?”
I cleared my throat and spoke in what I hoped was a cheerful, confident voice, “I assume he is. I spoke to him about it briefly yesterday. Everyone’s really excited.” I smiled harder and I hoped I didn’t look like a lunatic or, least of all, someone on the verge of an emotional breakdown. He flashed me a momentary look of confusion and turned his attention to his son.
“Wanna go to the cafeteria and get some ice cream so mommy and her friend can talk?”
I was pretty sure Matthew could have stopped speaking after the words ice cream because Matteo had already jumped to his feet and was pulling him towards the door.
“Not too much, Matthew. You’ll spoil his lunch.” She shook her head and turned her attention to me, “So, Kimberly, do you have any questions?”
Yes. I had lots of questions. Why didn’t I wait one damn day before blowing up my relationship with Adam? Why didn’t I listen to him when he said there had to be a good reason why I wasn’t chosen for the project management team? Why did I always default to the worst-case scenario? What the fuck was wrong with me?
“What if we both wish for a way to get everything we want? That's double the wishing power. That’s gotta be worth something.”
twenty five
Adam
I managed to smooth things over at work. Eric covered for me by telling everyone that I had a family emergency. Also, the fact that I helped land one of the biggest contracts in the firm’s history gave me a little leeway to fuck up—not much, but enough that everyone was cool with me running out of work in the afternoon and blowing off the rest of the meetings.
I got to my office early and completely cleaned out my inbox, answering or at least opening every email and saving Kimberly’s to a special folder. I brought Eric a coffee with a couple of those blueberry donuts he usually eats in the morning and thanked him for saving my ass yesterday.
My morning meetings flew by and I actually paid attention. Well, mostly. More than yesterday at least. I was still keeping one hand on my phone. I was hoping she would call or text. There was a small glimmer of hope because of last night:
I couldn’t sleep and was staring at my phone rereading the texts I sent her. I wanted to send her a message to see if she was awake, but after our argument, sending a u up? text at 3:45 am didn’t seem like a good idea. Just when I was about to put my phone away I saw the three dots indicating that Kimberly was typing a message. I willed them to turn into a text bubble but they disappeared. A minute later, they reappeared and disappeared again. I stared at my phone for a half an hour but nothing changed. At least that meant she was awake and thinking about me, but it also meant that she wasn’t ready to talk.
I wondered what she was doing.
Did she go in to work today? Did she get fired? Was she okay? Was she still pissed? I kept replaying every word of our argument. I knew I was right, but who fucking cares about being right if it meant I couldn't fall asleep with my nose in her curls inhaling that stuff she put in her hair that made her smell like candy.
I could understand why she was so upset. Not getting chosen because Wolfe liked another design more than mine would have made sense— they would have been wrong, but still. What happened to Kimberly was unfair. She did everything right and she deserved to be on that team.
Then, I sent her a basket of zucchini as reminder of why I was going to Barbados and she wasn’t. What the fuck was I thinking? Why didn’t I just send flowers like a normal person? And what the hell was wrong with Eric? Why did he let me do that? I was starting to rethink the blueberry donuts, but then I remembered he deserved them for putting up with me as a boss. This morning might have been the first time I did something nice for him. I thought of Francis’ face when Kimberly handed him that jerk chicken sandwich. What would he think if he saw us now?
I decided to leave WP for lunch and I walked for twenty minutes when I found myself subconsciously heading towards an office building that I knew I was always going to even if it was terrible idea. In the lobby, I scanned the directory, entered the elevator and hit the corresponding floor. When the doors separated, I walked up to the receptionist and gave her a nervous smile. She looked up and beamed at me.
“Welcome to Hart Design Concepts. How can I help you?”
I cleared my throat. “Renee Jacobs, please.”
“Is Ms. Jacobs expecting you?”
I fought the urge to laugh. If I didn’t know anything else, I knew that I was the last person Renee was expecting to show up at her office. I shook my head. “Your name?” I gave it to her and she indicated for me to have a seat nearby.
Five minutes later Renee strolled into reception with her arms crossed.
“Adam Price. Twice in one week. How did I get so lucky? Did you come to gloat?” This was a bad idea, but I plowed on.
“No, I wanted to talk?”
Her eyebrows shot up her forehead. She looked at her watch, before looking me up and down, considering my offer. “You can take me to a very expensive lunch. I’m only agreeing to this out of sheer morbid curiosity and I’m hungry.”
She insisted on eating at The Eagle Room, most likely because it was the most expensive restaurant in walking distance that was open for lunch. She ordered white truffle mac and cheese, Côte de Boeuf and a whole lobster with two sides, a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape— corked because she didn’t want to drink before going back to work— and the Belgian chocolate soufflé. When she was satisfied that I had been sufficiently financially tortured, she asked me what I wanted to talk about.
“Did you tell anyone about Kimberly and me in Barbados?” She looked at me like I was crazy, then rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair.
“Jesus Christ.” She sighed. “Let me guess. WP got the contract but your girlfriend was le
ft off the project management team because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants and you have somehow found a way to make it my fault.”
It was the only thing that made sense. Matthew and Vittoria were so impressed with Kimberly and sure, Matthew knew that I had feelings for her but he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d let that interfere with business. He was married to the head of his own real estate division, for Christ’s sake.
“Hey, asshole!” Renee was snapping her fingers to get my attention.
I refocused and met her eye.
“If word got out about the two of you, it didn’t come from me. I hate you and I would have loved nothing more than to kick your ass in front of Wolfe’s CEO but I wouldn’t sabotage another woman’s career because she had the same misfortune of crossing paths with you that I did.”
I sighed because I knew she was right. Deep down, I knew that I was grasping at straws. Renee was a lot of things but she wouldn’t do something like this. I reached for one of her French fries and she slapped my hand away.
“You really like her, don’t you?” Her tone was playful and accusatory, like she enjoyed seeing me miserable. She sliced into her steak. “You never looked at me like that.” My face snapped to hers in shock. She let out a loud laugh that caused nearby tables to look in our direction.
“Seriously?” she said between chuckles. “How are you idiots literally running the entire world? Did you think you were being discreet? Adam, it was very obvious to anyone that wasn’t an idiot that something was going on between you two. You followed her around like a lovesick puppy. It would have been sweet if I didn’t know what was in store for her once you got bored.”
“That’s not what happened with us and you know it. It was always supposed to be casual. I never wanted anything else.”
“You said that I was the kind of girl you could see yourself falling in love with. Do you remember that?”