Chapter 42 Scarlett
SCARLETT
“I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon,” I said, unable to keep the surprise from my voice as I paced the small confines of my office, phone pressed to my ear.
“Are you kidding me?” Mary replied with a laugh. “We would be lucky to have you.”
Mary was a coworker from two years ago. We had gotten along really well and worked on several projects together. When she was offered a position outside our company, she took it for better work-life balance. Something that existed in fairy tales and HR pamphlets, as far as I knew.
“Between you and me,” she continued, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, “there are a lot of other applicants, but—”
“Define a lot?”
“Um … I think, like, thirty-two?”
“Seriously?” Thirty-two applicants?
“But,” she continued, “I have a good feeling that you’ll get an offer.”
I stopped pacing. “Because you’re vouching for me?”
“Because you’re amazing. And, of course, I’ll put in a good word for you!”
Wow. My muscles immediately softened, tension melting away.
Anxiety that had evidently been knotted into steel cables began to loosen.
This whole time, I had been terrified of losing my job, of derailing my career, and after just two applications, would it be this easy to find something else?
Thirty-two applicants warned me not to get my hopes up, but Mary sounded so confident.
Maybe the universe had thrown me a lifeline. Maybe I could escape Marcus’s threats and still have a career.
“Now, I thought I’d give you the lay of the land before your interview,” Mary said, her voice shifting into professional mode.
“I would love that.” I sank into my chair and swiveled to face the wall so no one walking by could see my absolute glee.
I smiled, twirling a pen between my fingers as I listened to Mary’s tips and tricks.
As it turned out, Mary was quite happy in her current position and loved the company she worked for.
She had branched into HR and also knew about other companies in the area, which explained why this particular company was such a great one to work for.
When she was done summarizing the role, the people I would be working for, the culture, and everything else, she cleared her throat.
“Now, I should warn you,” she said, her tone shifting slightly, “there are a couple things about this organization that aren’t perfect.”
I leaned back in my chair, confidence surging through me. “Of course. No company is.”
Famous. Last. Words.
“Well, at this company, people tend to stay in their roles for five or more years. There’s not as much upward mobility.” She paused, letting that sink in. “This company values people who learn from the ground up slowly.”
“So, it would be a long time before I would ever see a promotion,” I clarified, my chest tightening.
Okay. Not the best news. I really did want to move up in a company, but at least this one seemed like a great place to work. I could handle that. Career advancement wasn’t everything, right? Sometimes, stability was worth more.
“There’s one more thing.” She used a tone that told me whatever she was about to say was a big one. And the way she let a long silence pass made me nervous.
What could it be? So help me, if she told me that while the culture was generally kind, there were reports of sexual harassment in the work—
“The salary,” she said quietly.
My pen stilled mid-tap.
“Back when I decided to leave for work-life balance purposes, I interviewed with many different companies in the area,” she explained. “I was really fortunate at the time to receive several job offers.” She took a breath. “All of them were at least thirty percent less.”
My stomach bottomed out like I’d just hit the first drop on a roller coaster, only there was no exhilarating rush, just nausea and dread.
“Thirty?” I balked.
I knew our company paid very well; it was something that people talked about incessantly, but I had never done market research to know just how much they paid above other companies.
I supposed it made sense since we also weren’t known for good work-life balance, but thirty percent?
That wasn’t a pay cut; that was financial amputation.
“But the good news is, you’ll have better work-life balance,” Mary chirped, as if that would somehow make up for losing nearly a third of my income.
“I … um …”
The sad truth was, I was living paycheck to paycheck right now.
Between my rent, my mom’s rent, and helping her get back on her feet, I was already staring down the barrel of the heartbreaking possibility of having to sell Buttercup and the financial responsibility she came with.
But with a thirty percent pay decrease, even selling my beloved horse wouldn’t make the math work.
I dropped deeper into my chair, despair spreading through my body, contaminating every hopeful thought I’d had just minutes before.
Maybe I could just move in with my mother?
But the whole purpose of our current arrangement was to hide her from my father, and until I knew exactly how long my father would serve in jail, I didn’t want to risk it.
If we lived together, there was a higher probability he’d find her.
Plus, doing so would only close some of that financial gap.
And I’d be sued by my landlord for breaking my lease.
As if that weren’t bad enough, we weren’t talking about a short-term problem. At thirty percent of a pay decrease, it would take at least a decade to get back to my current income. If ever. All while rent prices and the cost of living would rise. The math was brutal, unforgiving.
“You still want to interview, right?” Mary asked hopefully, oblivious to my internal financial meltdown. “I mean, I’m sure you could probably negotiate two to five percent over whatever they offer. But again, think about how nice it’ll be to work less hours!”
Yeah. It would be great. Almost as great as having electricity and running water.
“Thank you,” I said, forcing brightness into my voice that I absolutely did not feel. “I really appreciate it, Mary. Yes, I’d love to interview for it.”
I hung up the phone and stared at the ceiling, the reality of my situation crashing down on me like a ton of very expensive bricks.
Plan B had just imploded. I needed to make plan A work, which meant confronting Marcus and making sure I got him to confess.
I straightened my spine, resolution hardening. Time to gather evidence.