Chapter 14
T here’s only one startup with multi-million-dollar losses in the past couple of years: Shirts. A stupid name for a stupid company. I can’t believe my team chose it as an investment.
I squeeze her thigh and can’t help but smile.
“Do you know why my team invested so much in that company?” She shakes her head.
“The marketing. Specifically, the marketing talent. When it started floundering, they told me they could sell the Shirts brand to another manufacturer, and then, when we found a startup in need of a CMO, we’d move the talent—which I guess is you—there. ”
“But you couldn’t sell the Shirts brand …” She looks down.
“Oh, don’t get me started on the cooked books, courtesy of an asshole who’s never worked for anything in his life. But his family …” I huff, trailing off, not wanting to dive into the politics of it all. “That’s why we stopped providing support. We let it die and walked away.”
It hits me then—we let her career die with it.
“I didn’t realize you were still there. I thought they would’ve moved you or …”
“I should’ve left earlier, but the details are too much for right now.” She reclines her seat all the way back, closing her eyes. I watch her take deep yoga breaths, placing one hand on her heart and the other on her stomach.
“I’m sorry I lost it earlier,” I say, admiring her calmness in the midst of everything happening. “Seriously, that was so out of left field for me. I never hit people. And I’m sorry for what he did to you and for what happened with Shirts.”