Chapter 26 Kinley #2
It’s been my pleasure to work with you for these past months.
However, due to personal and professional reasons, I find myself unable to continue to remain under your employment.
I hereby hand in my resignation, effective immediately.
I will put closure to my existing projects and make sure the transition to your new hire for my position will be as seamless as possible.
I reread my email a few times. It sounded lame, but I didn’t want to give an explanation. What could I say? “I’m afraid my past will ruin your future”? That sounded dramatic, but I knew in my bones that I was right.
I closed my eyes and sent the email to Martha and Wyatt. I felt surprisingly relieved afterward, which only meant one thing—it was the right thing to do.
I was putting Wyatt in an awkward position, but maybe this was for the best. We were adults in love. Now we could separate the professional from the personal, right?
The more I thought about it, the more sense this made. But it also meant that I had to start a job search again. I couldn’t see how it was going to go better this time, but I didn’t have the energy to think about it right now anyway.
I knew Wyatt would call and demand an explanation as soon as he landed and saw my email, so I kept my phone close the entire evening.
Only he didn’t call.
He didn’t call the next day either.
A pit was starting to form in my stomach. I didn’t know what to make of this. What did it mean? Was he mad at me? I thought about texting him a few times, but honestly, I couldn’t think of a way to open the conversation.
My phone finally rang in the afternoon, and I hurried to it so quickly that I skidded on my tiles and nearly fell on my face. But it wasn’t Wyatt calling, it was Martha, the HR manager. I picked up immediately. “Hi, Martha.”
“Kinley, hi. Sorry that I’m only now getting around to calling you back. I’m preparing all of the papers, so you won’t even need to come into the office to sign the resignation if you don’t want to. We can do everything online.”
My stomach sank. “Yes, of course. Whatever is easier for you.”
“I truly am sorry about you leaving the company. I hope everything’s okay? We really enjoyed working with you and will miss you.”
I swallowed hard. She was so sweet and almost brought me to tears. “I’m sorry too.”
Had Wyatt spoken to her already? He must have; otherwise, Martha wouldn’t be calling me, right?
“Kinley, I want to be honest with you,” she said, her voice lower than before. “I couldn’t help but overhear the mess with Dean Morrison. He made a scene of it as he and Wyatt left the building. I’m assuming that your resignation is more because of that,” she continued.
“Yes, Martha. I just think it’s for the best,” I admitted.
She sighed. “As I said, I’m truly sorry. And don’t you worry about the transition to the next employee. Wyatt will take care of everything.”
Hearing his name was jarring. Why hadn’t he called me if he’d had time to talk to Martha? Crap! It meant he was mad at me, didn’t it?
And then a darker thought popped into my mind. What if he didn’t want anything to do with me at all? But that couldn’t be. It wasn’t Wyatt’s style.
And yet he hadn’t called.
“All right, Martha. Well, thanks for calling.” God, I should have done things differently.
I should have spoken to my team first before writing my letter of resignation so they could hear it from me.
I should have told Wyatt too. In retrospect, I could see this clearly, but yesterday, I’d been in such a frenzy that I didn’t stop to think about everything.
“I wish you all the best, Kinley. I really do.”
“Thanks, Martha.”
After hanging up, I sighed. I was officially unemployed. Was I boyfriend-less as well? That would break my heart.
My eyes welled up with tears at the thought. Why was I crying so much these days? I was a grown-ass woman. I wasn’t prone to crying bouts! But right now, I couldn’t bring myself to stop.
Well, since I was having a pity party, I needed wine and my sister. But her husband had just come home from a long tour, and I didn’t want to take up any of their time together. I needed to at least hear her voice, though. I opened a bottle of wine and poured myself a glass as I entered her number.
“Hello, hello,” Elsa answered. Oh, she was so cheerful.
“How are you doing?” I asked her.
“I’m in heaven with my amazing man.” She was in such a good mood that I decided on the spot not to ruin it.
“Do you guys need anything?” I asked.
“No, not at all. You?”
“Oh, no.”
“So then why are you calling?”
Crap. “If you want, I can take my lovely niece out so you two can have some couple time together.” I routinely did that when Ryan came home.
“Thanks, you are amazing as usual. But right now we’re still enjoying family time. I will take you up on that offer while Ryan is still home, though.”
“I look forward to it. I can even have Emily sleep overnight.”
“Aren’t you busy every night with that hunk of yours?”
I took a deep breath. Should I tell Elsa that I wasn’t sure about anything anymore? No, I didn’t want to bring down her mood.
“I always have time for my niece, so I’m at your service. And if you want me to pick her up from school, let me know.”
“Don’t be silly. That’s in the middle of your workday.”
I was going to give myself away if I wasn’t careful. “Right. Well, just let me know of any way I can help.”
“Of course. Now I’m going to get myself some sexy time, since Emily is at piano practice. Bye-bye!”
“You go, girl.”
After hanging up, I poured myself another glass of wine.
I was feeling restless and didn’t want to be alone, yet I didn’t want to call my parents either.
It was in times like this when my lack of friends felt almost painful.
Over the past year, as my legal battles continued, they’d all distanced themselves from me.
I bit the inside of my cheek. Well, I actually did have new friends, Hannah specifically. I felt bad calling her, though, because she was part of the Sterling family. But I did anyway before I could change my mind.
She didn’t answer but called back as soon as I hung up. “Hey, sorry, I couldn’t find my phone.”
“Hey, Hannah.”
“What’s up?”
“A lot.”
“Oh. By the tone of your voice, I’m assuming it’s not good.”
“You could tell that, huh?”
“Yep. Is it Wyatt? Did he do something?”
That took me by surprise. “No, why would you assume that?”
“Sorry, my bad.”
“Are you free?”
“Sure. You want to drop by the inn?”
I looked at my glass of wine. “Don’t want to drive. I’ve already had something to drink.”
“Oh my goodness. It’s a drinking-at-six kind of situation.”
I laughed. “Honestly, I’m not even sure.”
“So you’re drowning your sorrows preemptively. You know what? How about I just come by your house. And then we can drown our sorrows together.”
“You would drive all the way from Point Loma?”
I felt like a complete moron. I’d called her out of the blue. For what? To make her come here? Why didn’t I think this through? Then again, since yesterday, I seemed to be unable to think anything through.
“Want me to grab something on the way? I know a pizza place that’s to die for. Perfect comfort food.”
Oh, Hannah was a girl after my own heart.
“Yes, please.”