Tess #2
I understood why Teyana was so bitter toward Kendra, but it still made me sad.
Once upon a time we’d all been friends, when we were in school and our social statuses were on a more even playing field.
That was before Tey got sick. Before we realized just exactly how well-off the Montgomery family was.
It wasn’t until after graduation that we discovered that our education, though exactly the same on paper, wasn’t equal in the real world.
Kendra Montgomery had doors opened for her at every turn.
Tey and I had to fight from the ground up, and six years later, we hadn’t gotten very high up the ladder.
And it wasn’t about the color of our skin since I was the whitest of the three of us.
At first Kendra seemed to care. She’d given me a job. She’d donated money to the DRF in Tey’s name so she would be guaranteed funds. But she also stopped hanging out with Teyana all together. Seemed a friend with an ailment was too much work for her. She preferred to write a check and walk away.
I’d been stuck in the middle. I appreciated that it was Kendra who made it possible for Tey not to have to work full-time, but I hated how she’d broken Tey’s heart and destroyed her self-confidence.
I couldn’t admit out loud that I still hoped they’d patch things up one day.
It was another reason why I wasn’t ready to leave Conscience Connect.
I was still holding out for the dream ending all around.
My phone rang on the kitchen island where Tey had left it. She was closer, so she glanced at it first. “Speak of the devil.” With a scowl, she pushed the phone toward me.
I looked at the screen for confirmation. RESTRICTED, it said. The only person who called me from restricted lines was Kendra. I let out a sigh then, knowing she’d hear it in my voice if I didn’t, and put on a bright smile and answered. “K! How’s the vacation?”
“It’s not a vacation when you feel like I do.”
Tey came around the island so she could stand close enough to listen. Her bitterness did nothing to dampen her curiosity where Kendra was concerned.
“I’m sorry you’re so miserable.” It was hard to know what else to say when Kendra wasn’t forthcoming about either her relationships or her emotions these days. It had been years since she’d told me the name of anyone she dated, let alone how she felt about them.
Luckily, my guess was right on the nose. “Miserable is exactly the right word,” she said.
At my side, Teyana huffed. “She wouldn’t know real misery if it bit her in the ass.”
“Shh,” I mouthed. God, I hated this. Hated the war between them. Hated not knowing how to push forward with my boss. Hated that I had an opportunity for our company and nothing I could do about it.
Except, I could do something about the last thing.
“Hey, I’m glad you called,” I said, making my decision to bring this up on a whim.
“I had an opportunity come up for the company that I wanted to pass on. I was…” I paused, deciding how to dance around the truth.
“At a party last night—friend of a friend of a friend—and I happened to meet someone there who works for the outreach division of Sebastian Industrial. He said they’re looking to back a charity right now, and even gave me a contact so I could set up a meeting for you when—”
“No,” she snapped. “No meeting. I am not pitching to Sebastian Industrial.”
“Then let me do it. I know it might be uncomfortable for you since they’re family friends, but since they asked for the hookup, and if I’m the one meeting with them, it’s not like you’re pushing anything on them they don’t want.”
She made a noise that sounded like a bit-back laugh. “You’ve never pitched before.”
“Because you’ve never let me.”
“I’m certainly not letting you pitch to the Sebastians on your first go around. That would be setting you up for disaster. I care too much about you to just feed you to the wolves like that.”
“Care about you my ass,” Tey whisper-hissed.
I gave her a stern look, and while I was suddenly wishing she wasn’t there for this conversation, I also realized I wouldn’t be charging on without her there to support me. “So then I’ll put them off for six months or so. When you get back, you can show me the ropes—”
Kendra cut me off. “I said no, Tess. I said no last time you brought them up, I’m saying no now. What part of no is it that you aren’t understanding?”
Now it wasn’t just Teyana sneering. She was right—Kendra didn’t deserve my loyalty.
Part of me wanted to hang up on her right then. But acting rashly would only feel good in the moment. “Wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t at least pass on the opportunity,” I said with gritted teeth.
“You’ve done that now. Moving on. I called you for a reason. I’m getting a new bed. It’s special order and won’t be there for another three or four weeks. I gave them your number to arrange delivery. Make sure the old bed is disposed of, please.”
That was something else Kendra always did after a big breakup—replaced her bed so she wouldn’t have to deal with the “memories.”
“What a waste of good furniture,” Teyana said with disgust.
I was usually put-off by how she squandered her money as well, but right now I was focused on the other information she’d given. “Will do. So you’re still planning to be gone for another month then?”
I could practically hear her eye roll. “I don’t know, Tess. I’ll be gone as long as it takes to figure out which one I want to break up with and which one gets to have me. These decisions take time. Hold on a sec, will you?”
I exchanged a look with Tey while Kendra had a muffled conversation with someone else. Did she realize how self-important she came off? It was cringeworthy.
It was only a handful of seconds before she returned. “Gotta go, Tess. My concierge is here to take me to my mud bath.” She’d hung up before I even had a chance to say goodbye.
I frowned as I threw down my phone. It wasn’t fair.
Sure, Kendra’s life had started out hard.
She’d been three years old when her parents found her in an orphanage in South Korea while there for a philanthropic visit.
But she didn’t remember anything from then.
All her memories were of the spoiled, first-class life she currently lived.
Meanwhile, Teyana was the smartest, most genuine person I knew. Her ambition was as big as her pockets were shallow. If it weren’t for her illness, she’d have made it to where Kendra was, without any handouts. That’s how amazing she was.
But here we were. Kendra lived like a princess, Teyana faced chronic physical limitations, and I was once again being pushed back down the ladder I so badly wanted to climb. If I were at the top, I thought not for the first time, things would be different. There was so much good I could do.
And if Kendra refused to help me, I’d just have to do it without her.
I could feel Teyana studying me. “You better be thinking what I think you’re thinking, Tess Turani.”
“I’m thinking it’s going to be a late night,” I said. Good or bad, my mind was made up. “I have a pitch presentation to prepare.”