Chapter 37 Maia
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
MAIA
The last few years, I’d allowed my career, Will, and my own confusion over my future distance me from the family I’d been adopted into at fifteen years old.
I’d made friends at uni in London, and we still texted and called each other now and then.
Leigh, my old high school friend, and I still kept in touch, but it wasn’t a deep friendship anymore.
I’d started to feel like there was something missing from my life.
I’d watched how close Grace had become with Aunt Shannon, Joss, Liv, Ellie, Hannah, and Jo, and I’d always hoped that one day I’d have friends like that.
Not the casual acquaintances of work colleagues or uni friends or even Leigh.
As Beth and Lily abandoned their own schedules that morning to wait with me as I showered and dressed to visit Pennington’s, I felt bolstered by their love and support.
Even January with her blunt tough love made me feel cared for.
I realized that I already had what I’d been looking for in these girls.
We might not be in one another’s lives every minute of every day, but they showed up when it mattered, and I vowed from this day on to show up for them.
They even walked me to Pennington’s, offering to wait for me. I told them I’d be fine, and they should get back to their own schedules. We hugged one another tight, and I thanked them for being two of the best people I knew.
Once they left, my knees shook as I took the staff entrance into the department store.
Colleagues nodded at me with curious, questioning stares, and I knew they’d all seen the story.
I tried not to let it make me feel sick with humiliation.
Because Beth was right. It was time to stop allowing public opinion to affect me so much.
The only opinions that mattered were the ones that directly impacted me.
My stomach roiled as I took the lift to the office floor.
I’d dressed in armor—a pale blue, long-line blazer with matching wide-leg trousers, a cropped pale pink cami, and stilettos.
Beth had helped me with my hair and makeup so that on the outside, I’d never looked more put together.
It might seem shallow to some, but it helped glue all my shattered pieces together.
I’d already called ahead to ask to meet with Christina and Hilary, so I went straight to Hilary’s office. Her assistant let me in, and I gritted my teeth at the sight of Becky. I didn’t look at her. I couldn’t. Instead, I greeted my bosses and took the seat they gestured to.
Informing them that I wanted to end the campaign was probably going to end my career.
“So, we should start with this morning’s latest article and how it impacts the company,” Becky announced in a no-nonsense tone.
I stiffened. Not looking at her, I turned to Christina. “What article?”
“You don’t know?”
Oh God. What now? I shook my head, sweat prickling under my arms.
“It seems that someone found out about your father’s time in prison,” Hilary offered quietly.
The room tunneled around me.
No.
No!
My immediate thought was about Dad and Grace and Lockie. And fuck, Aunt Shannon! Their private business plastered all over the national news. I was instantly sick to my stomach.
“I … I n-need to call my dad.” I moved to stand, but Christina squeezed my arm.
“You will. Please sit. I was going to call a meeting myself, and I wanted Becky to be here.”
It was a struggle to process my boss’s words because I had to get to my family. To apologize. Oh my God. Had they called this morning? I had so many missed calls I … fuck!
“Maia, are you okay?” Hilary asked.
“I think the better question is, is Pennington’s okay now that the sweetheart of our campaign has a history that’s quite frankly scandalized the country?” Becky sucked in a breath. “I’m so sorry to be blunt, Maia, but we have to treat this situation factually for the sake of the business.”
“We do, Becky,” Christina agreed. “Which is why it is of great concern to Pennington’s that one of our own marketing managers would sabotage our campaign by sabotaging her colleague.”
Wait.
What?
The worry for my family was momentarily put to one side as I gaped at Christina. What was she talking about?
Hilary looked deeply uncomfortable as she straightened from her desk. “Usually this wouldn’t be done in front of an audience, but your actions directly impact Maia, so we felt it was only right she was here in the room so you might explain yourself.”
I looked at Becky.
She was chalk white as she stared wide-eyed at our bosses. “What are you talking about?”
Christina narrowed her eyes. “A colleague anonymously confessed that you were the one who reached out to Craig Bennet, the tabloid journalist, about where to find Maryanne Lewis. So, the tech department logged into your emails, and we discovered for ourselves that it was true. If you’re going to sabotage the company you work for, Becky, you probably should have used your personal computer to email Bennet. ”
Oh my fucking …
Becky shook her head frantically. “No … no … I …”
Hilary waved an abrupt hand. “There’s no denying it. The evidence is there. We have all the emails you exchanged with Bennet, including the encouragement to look into Maia’s father’s past. Why would you do that? You seemed to value your position here, so it beggars belief.”
My heart pounded as I searched Becky’s face for answers. I knew she disliked me. I didn’t know why. However, I couldn’t imagine what I’d possibly done to her that she’d jeopardize her own career to hurt me like this.
The panic in her eyes hardened and she stood to her feet. “I’m pretty sure this, in front of other members of staff, is against regulations. I don’t have to answer your questions, especially if I’m already fired.”
Hilary heaved a disappointed sigh. “Unfortunately, we can’t employ someone who would do such public damage to the company.”
Her lips pinched together, tears brightening her eyes. But Becky lifted her chin defiantly and moved to march past me. I stood, blocking her path, and she glared at me with such hatred, it made me flinch.
“What did I do?” I asked softly. “Just tell me.”
Becky sneered. “You’re pathetic, you know that.”
Then she was gone, leaving me as confused as ever.
It was Christina who broke the silence. “When I started out in my career, I had a colleague whom, for reasons I never discovered, took an immediate dislike to me. She bullied me. It was passive aggressive, where other colleagues couldn’t see.
But slowly she started manipulating people, telling them things about me behind my back, until my colleagues isolated me.
It got to the point I was so sick with the stress that I was physically ill, and I decided to leave that job.
” Christina’s expression remained neutral, stoic.
“I wish I’d fought harder, but sometimes these situations become untenable.
It took a lot for me to gain my confidence back and decide to never let that happen again.
The problem is bullying is insidious and sometimes very hard to prove.
Unless you have a boss who recognizes the signs. ”
Emotion choked me, but I didn’t want to cry in front of these two women I admired so much. I wanted to be strong, even though this person I barely knew had just blown up my entire life.
“I won’t have my senior buyer, who is damn good at her job and has sacrificed her personal life for this company, be run out of here by a bully who can be easily replaced with a team player.”
Admiration for my boss filled me because she’d put her neck out for me too.
Hilary peered at me. “I won’t lie. Normally, I hate drama of any kind. I don’t stand for it. Grown adults should be able to figure these things out between themselves without tattling to the boss.”
I stiffened at that, and Christina’s expression turned carefully blank.
“However, I would hate to think, as would my brother, that Pennington’s is a place that fosters workplace bullying.
I trusted Christina’s gut instincts and we have proof Becky wasn’t a team player.
So that’s done. We’re over it.” She leaned back against her desk, crossing her arms. “Now we have to discuss damage control.”
And all I wanted to do was go to my parents.
But I had to be honest with my bosses and tell them it was all over.
It seemed an ugly way to pay Christina back for her kindness toward me.
I let out a shaky exhale. “I—”
The door to Hilary’s office flew open, and we all startled.
Standing in the doorway, a little sweaty and out of breath, was Baird. Longing flooded my system. His dark gaze zeroed in on me as he stumbled into the room.
“I apologize, Ms. Erstwhile.” Hilary’s assistant popped her head around Baird’s arm. “He just burst in.”
“I’m sorry.” Baird ran a shaky hand through his hair. “But what I have to say can’t wait.”