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“I don’t have the luxury of not knowing what to do, but my mother didn’t put me in charge of her legacy for no reason. I’m able to make the tough decisions, no matter how much they hurt. I have to let you go.”
“Arnie, please, wait. We can figure something out.”
“You know the rules, and you broke them. There’s nothing else to say. There’s nothing for us to work through. You need to get your belongings and leave.” He pointed at the closed door. “I’ve already contacted building security, and they will escort you out.”
Marissa’s mouth fell open. “Is that really necessary?”
“At this point, yes, because right now I believe you’re capable of anything.”
The cruelty of his words landed like a blow across the face.
“How did you find out?” she asked, though she already knew the answer.
“Never mind that. Our lawyers will be in touch,” Arnie said.
That could mean only one thing. He was going to sue her. Marissa didn’t know what else to say, so she started toward the door.
“I was considering you for the head matchmaker position.”
His words cut like a knife. She paused with her hand on the door, overwhelmed by sadness.
“Nothing to say?” Arnie asked.
She looked at him over her shoulder. “What is there to say, except that I fell in love. I didn’t mean to. I should say I’m sorry, but I’m not. And I understand why you have to let me go.”
Marissa left his office and walked down the corridor to her office on lead feet. A security guard stood outside with a cardboard box. Despite having worked at Executive Match for years, she didn’t have much to take. She placed her personal belongings in the box and hooked her bag over her shoulder.
Head held high, she marched toward the front door with security close behind. On the way there, Lori stepped into the foyer, her eyes wide.
“What’s going on? Where are you going?”
“I no longer work here.”
“What?”
Her heart broke a little. She’d miss her co-workers, especially Lori. They had developed a good rapport. “Good luck to you. Take care.”
Marissa maintained her composure until she left the building. Tears blurred her vision as she stumbled through the double doors onto the street.
She couldn’t believe Chet had done this to her. What a spiteful, cruel thing to do.
She would never forgive him.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Marissa couldn’t sleep. Insomnia had been a problem since she got fired. Sitting in the dark of her apartment, feet curled under her on the sofa, she worked her way through a small container of Haagen-Dazs dulce de leche ice cream. She had finished the old-fashioned vanilla earlier, so this was the second pint, and it was almost gone.
The phone beside her rang, and her brother’s name flashed on the screen. She had thought the caller might be Bruno again. She hadn’t taken his call earlier and had sent him a text stating she couldn’t talk. Yesterday she had wanted to hear all about his licensing agreement, but today, she didn’t care because her life was in shambles.
She had royally screwed up. Mere weeks before everything had been looking up, but like Icarus, she’d flown too close to the sun. Now she had to deal with the consequences.
Without a job, she could no longer qualify for a mortgage. Without a mortgage, she couldn’t buy a home and fulfill her dream. No house with a two-car garage and a yard for Theo to play in, and she’d have to dip into her savings until she found another position. In the close-knit relationship services industry, the chance of her getting another job was going to be difficult, if not impossible.
Taking a deep breath, Marissa answered the phone. “Hi, John, what’s up?” she greeted in her most cheerful voice.
“Hey, sis. I know this sounds crazy, but I had a weird dream last night that you had the rug pulled out from under you. A literal rug,” he said with a laugh. “Weird, right? I kept wondering what it meant because it had to mean something. At one point, I convinced myself that I was worried for no reason, but I couldn’t get rid of this—I don’t know—uneasiness in the pit of my stomach. Is everything okay over there?”
Marissa’s shoulders sagged. She could lie and pretend her life was in order, but that’s not the kind of relationship they had. She and John didn’t lie to each other.
