Chapter 5 #2
“Yes and no. Initially no, they didn’t drive me out.
After months of trying to get through to him, Ben finally listened and heard how bad things were.
I don’t think he was ignoring me but more ignoring the problem.
It was like he didn’t know what to do about it, so he buried his head in the sand.
The mean girls, that’s what I ended up calling them, had him wrapped around their fingers.
It was a game I couldn’t win. One I didn’t even want to compete in. ”
“Grace? What happened?”
“Ben promised me the world. He promised me he’d fix it.
Promised I wouldn’t be out of a job. Fucking liar,” I spat angrily as a tear ran down my cheek and I batted it away.
I took a breath and pressed on. Now I’d started spewing it all out, it was like I couldn’t stop.
I didn’t want to. “There was something more going on in the background. More than even I knew. But Ben kept saying and doing all the right things that kept me believing him. He could see how much it was destroying me, so he offered me a new role. One I got to design myself. Write my own job description. Report directly to him. Only to him. It sounded like a dream.”
“What was the catch?” Cole asked cynically.
“There wasn’t one. At least there wasn’t one I could see. I would work with the staff directly. Onboard new hires. Do all the things I loved about my job and get away from the drama and the gossiping. It lasted three months,” I scoffed as I shoved to my feet and started pacing, unable to sit still.
The memory of being marched down the corridor, seeing the looks on everyone’s faces was still too fresh in my mind. It was like a gaping wound and one I hadn’t recovered from yet. I would, in time, but not yet.
“Grace, what did he do?”
I sneered. “Nothing. He did nothing.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That makes two of us. I didn’t see it coming. Or maybe I did. I don’t even know really. Ben vanished …”
“Vanished?”
“He took a couple of weeks off to spend with his family. I didn’t think too much of it at the time.
He had a wife and a couple of young kids, so it wasn’t my place to question.
But maybe I was being naive. One day I came in, was told there was a restructure, and I’d be meeting with my new boss.
Neil had been in the company for years but never ventured over my side of the tracks. I knew of him, but I didn’t know him.”
“I already don’t want to.”
Cole stood up and leaned on the railing. He crossed his legs at his ankles and watched as I continued to pace.
“Within the hour he told me my role was no longer required.”
“Asshole!”
“You have no idea. He offered to let me work out my two-week notice period or I could go then and there.”
“Tell me you walked?” Cole practically begged.
“Yep. Twenty minutes later I packed my desk and was escorted from the premises.”
“Where the fuck was this Ben prick?” Cole swore and my heart squeezed.
“No idea. It took him three days to have the balls to even contact me.”
“What did he promise you this time?” Cole mocked.
“Promise me?”
“The guy’s full of shit. He’d promise the world if he thought he’d get what he wants even if he knows he can’t or worse, won’t follow through with it.”
“You don’t even know him!” I snapped.
“Why are you defending him, Grace?” Cole accused, and I felt like I’d been slapped.
I froze where I was. Cole’s words stung. More than my sisters and more than Neil’s had. I wanted to run. I wanted to get away from him. But I forced myself to stand my ground. Cole didn’t know Ben. He didn’t really know me. Everything he said was based on what I was telling him and that alone.
“I’m not …”
“You are and you know you are,” Cole softened and moved toward me.
I stared down at my feet, letting Cole’s words marinate. He was right and I hated that.
“What did he say when he contacted you, Grace?”
I sniffed. I was on the verge of falling apart again but I refused to do it here. Cole may have listened to my sad, pathetic sob story, but the last thing he needed to see was my snotty tears.
“He said he was sorry.”
“Of course he did,” Cole commented, lifting my chin with his finger and forcing me to meet his eyes. He had the most beautiful slate gray eyes I’d ever seen.
“He said he was sorry, and if he could’ve done something he would’ve. He said he was so upset about it that he couldn’t be there, but he knew he should’ve been. He offered to give me a reference.”
“He’s full of shit,” Cole declared as his hands held my shoulders.
“He’s a good guy …”
“Who fucked you over, Grace. If he was the boss and if he wanted to be there, he would’ve. If he wanted to stop it, he could’ve. He’s just spineless. And the sooner you accept that, the better off you’ll be.”
“I don’t know.”
“You do know. You know I’m right. You just don’t want to hear it. Ben’s not the guy you’ve built up in your head. He screwed you over. He might not have meant to, but that’s what happened.”
“I guess.”
“Come here,” Cole commanded, and dragged me into his arms and hugged me tightly.
The moment I felt his arms wrap around me, I fell apart. Sobs shook my body, my heart broke, and I felt myself let it all go. Somehow, Cole had become my safe space, and I trusted him to hold all my broken pieces together. I just hoped trusting him wasn’t another mistake.