Chapter 3
Charlotte
Tip #3: Never let your boss monopolize your life so much that your only friend becomes a fish mom.
T he yarn tangled around my fingers as I wrestled with my crochet hook. What was supposed to be a cute black cat was quickly morphing into some kind of yarn monster. I stared at the instruction booklet that, despite having pictures, felt impossible to follow.
“I think I missed a stitch. Or ten,” I said.
Ella Lopez—my housemate and best friend—glanced over from where she was sprinkling fish flakes into her guppy tank. “How goes your crochet project? Grumbling under your breath usually isn’t a good sign.”
I held up my sad, misshapen creation. “It has… character.”
“Sure, that’s a positive-sounding adjective.” Ella flopped onto the couch next to me, her fuzzy pajama pants making a soft swishing sound. “But forget your yarn-y pursuits for a sec. We need to toast your newfound freedom!”
She raised an imaginary glass. “To Charlotte Fisher, who finally grew a pair and handed in the resignation letter she’s been carrying around for weeks!”
I laughed, setting down my crochet project on an end table next to the couch as I continued to ride the high that came from giving Isaac my resignation letter mere hours prior. Ella and I had opted to celebrate by changing into comfy pajamas and lounging around the living room. Yes, I was a wild one.
“Thanks,” I said. “Though I don’t have an official end date yet. I still need to talk to HR tomorrow.”
Ella dismissively flicked one of her dark brown braids. “Details, schmetails. You handed in your resignation; that’s what matters. It’s your first step to freedom, baby!”
“You’re right.” A giddy feeling fluttered in my chest. “I’m excited about the future. Even if I’ll be sad to leave Warner Print.”
“Uh-huh.” Ella expressively waggled her sculpted eyebrows. “And will you be sad to leave a certain hunky CFO?”
I chose to stare at my crochet disaster, avoiding her knowing gaze. “Yes. Isaac’s been a fantastic boss, and we’ve worked together for years. It’s only natural I’d be sad to leave.”
Ella made a noise in the back of her throat as she wiped her hands off on the hem of her peacock-blue and ruby-red striped pajama top, which complemented her warm, medium brown skin tone.
“What?” I asked.
Ella ignored my question and pointed to her guppy tank. “You know, some of my fish have been looking different the past few weeks. Like, there’s a weird spot on their bellies. I hope the pet store didn’t sell me sick guppies.”
“Ella.”
She didn’t look back at me. “What?”
“You clearly want to say something.”
“Well, since you asked!” Ella eagerly sat down and leaned into my space. “I was wondering if you’ll miss more than just Isaac Warner’s stellar management skills.”
I mashed my lips together. (Ella had pushed this topic before.) “Isaac and I have a strictly professional relationship.”
“Can you really say that when you’ve been his de facto date at work events since before he even became CFO?” Ella said.
I frowned. “You can’t call it a date when we only attend events for business purposes and go in with goals we want to accomplish.”
“Even better—that makes you his girlfriend.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re getting too romance-depraved in your hubby’s absence. Isaac is my boss, nothing more.”
“Please. The guy looks like he belongs on a Calvin Klein billboard! You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed.” Ella scoffed.
“Of course I’ve noticed. I’m not blind.” Images of Isaac’s piercing gray eyes and chiseled jawline flashed through my mind. “But that doesn’t mean anything. He’s attractive, sure, but he’s my boss.”
“Uh-huh,” Ella said, clearly unconvinced. “And you’re telling me he doesn’t treat you any differently than his other employees?”
I hesitated, thinking of the endless hours we’d spent together: business trips, overtime, work events. “Well, he’s a bit friendlier with me,” I admitted. “But that’s just because we’ve worked together for so long.”
Ella’s eyebrows shot up. “A bit friendlier? Honey, when I met him at that Warner Print company picnic you lured me to with the promise of lobster, he was practically arctic until you showed up. Suddenly he was all polite and friendly. A little stiff, but at least he pretended to be interested in conversing.”
There was a small, petty part of me that preened at Ella’s observation. Isaac Warner was famous for being a workaholic who only stopped for his family. It was something of an accomplishment that Isaac and I were close friends.
But!
I knew better than to fall for my boss!
“You’re reading too much into things,” I said. “Isaac and I are coworkers and friends. Nothing more.”
“That’s how it starts !” Ella dramatically tugged on my fleece pajama set—which matched hers except it was cream and hunter green. (Yes, we had matching pajamas, but what could I say? We were a thirty-year-old workaholic and a budding guppy mom.)
“Look.” I considered my tangled crochet project—which had come in a beginner’s kit that I was beginning to think was mislabeled. “I’m grateful to Isaac, OK? He’s always fought for me at Warner Print. That’s why I’m overpaid and have more decision-making power than your average executive assistant.”
Ella narrowed her dark brown eyes. “Overpaid? Please. You’re vastly overqualified to be an executive assistant. You’ve got that MBA Isaac practically strong-armed you into getting, and you were already a CPA before he even asked you to be his assistant.”
I felt a smile tugging at my lips, warmth blooming in my chest at Ella’s unwavering support. But it quickly evaporated as she leaned in, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
“And don’t think I didn’t notice you still haven’t answered my question about your feelings for Isaac. You’ve been brushing it off.”
“I told you, Ella. We’re just?—”
“Coworkers and friends, yeah, yeah,” she interrupted, waving her hand dismissively. “But that’s not what I asked. I want to know how you feel about him .”
The faint, fishy smell of Ella’s guppy food mingled with the lavender candle we’d lit for atmospheric aesthetic was making me dizzy. Or maybe it was just something uncomfortably close to embarrassment rising in my chest.
I frowned at Ella. “I’m not in love with Isaac. Is that what you’re trying to get at?”
Ella pressed a hand to her chest in mock innocence. “Who, me? I’m just making conversation about your incredibly attractive, successful boss, who you spend more time with than anyone else.”
I rolled my eyes, fighting the urge to throw my sad excuse for a crocheted cat at her. “Might I remind you that I’m quitting Warner Print because I want to make a change in my life. To find myself outside of work.”
“Sure, sure.” Ella grabbed a blue, fluffy throw draped over the back of the couch and settled it on her lap. “But changing your life has nothing to do with acknowledging that your boss is incredibly datable.”
I inwardly groaned—she wasn’t going to let this go.
“Fine, fine, fine. When I first started working for Isaac, I was attracted to him and pretty awkward around him. But that was years ago. We’ve worked together long enough for me to understand that, for Isaac, work will always be his first priority.”
Ella tucked her hands under her chin and didn’t even try to hide her smug grin. “Uh-huh.”
I continued, my voice taking on a defensive edge, “If Isaac ever dates, it’ll probably be because his mother arranged it or because his potential partner has a family business that would complement Warner Print. That’s just who he is.”
Ella tapped her fingers together. “Interesting. Very interesting.”
“What?” I warily asked.
“Nothing,” she said, her voice dripping with fake innocence. “I just couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t actually say you weren’t interested in dating your boss.”
“You don’t understand,” I blurted out, my voice rising with each word. “I’m quitting because you, Ella, are literally my only friend outside of work. Do you realize I haven’t had a serious relationship, traveled anywhere that wasn’t for business, or even had a hobby since I became Isaac’s assistant?”
I waved my hands in the air, emphasizing each point as I ranted. “I haven’t been on a single date since college, for crying out loud! I refuse to let another decade pass with nothing but a stack of quarterly reports to show for it. Yes, I’m proud I helped expand Warner Print, but I don’t want to wake up one day and realize I’ve spent my entire life working when what I really want is to see the world, fall in love, maybe even have kids.”
I paused, breathless, my chest heaving.
Ella’s eyebrows were raised nearly to her hairline. “Wow. Tell me how you really feel.”
I deflated, sinking back into the couch. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to explode like that.”
Ella patted my back. “No need to apologize. You’re right. You don’t have a life outside of work.”
“Gee, thanks.”
She grinned, then her expression softened. “That’s why I’m 100 percent behind leaving Warner Print and doing what you want, like your new obsession with trying different hobbies.” I saw her glance at my yarn disaster on the end table and realized she was going to switch topics for my comfort. “Speaking of which…. What exactly are you trying to crochet?”
I picked up my crochet project, holding it out for inspection. “It’s supposed to be a cat.”
Ella tilted her head, squinting at the misshapen lump. “Yeah. I can totally see that. It’s very new-modern and… abstract?”
I laughed, my tension evaporating. “It’s hideous, isn’t it?”
Ella’s lips twitched as she tried to maintain a straight face. “No, no, it’s unique. Avant-garde, even. I’m sure it’ll be the next big thing in the crochet world.”
I flapped the instruction manual that came with the crafting kit at her. “Oh, shut up and go back to worrying about your guppies, fish mom.”
Ella groaned as she hefted herself out of the soft embrace of our couch and trudged back to her fish tank. “Don’t remind me. These little guys are my first pets, and I’m terrified I’m going to mess it up.”
She peered into the tank. The colorful guppies darted back and forth, their iridescent tails flashing in the soft glow of the tank light. “Did you ever have fish growing up?”
I shook my head as I tried to find the spot I’d been working on in my sad attempt at a cat. “Nope. We were a dog family. I’m afraid I can’t offer any fishy wisdom.” I peered at the diagrams, trying to decipher which loop went where. “I’m starting to think this whole try new hobbies thing might be overrated.”
Ella didn’t respond. When I looked up, I caught her twisting her wedding band as she stared into her tank, a faraway look in her eyes.
“Everything OK?” I asked.
She blinked, coming back to the present. “Oh, yeah! I was so excited about your job-quitting news I forgot to tell you I got an email from Nate today.”
“Is he alright?”
“He’s alive.” Ella weakly smiled. “That’s about all he could say. He’s still on some Navy ship, location unknown.”
Ella’s husband, Nate, was on active duty with the US Navy and spent most of his time deployed on ships cruising the blue oceans. He couldn’t share his location for security reasons and was gone for months at a time, which was why Ella and I were housemates despite her married status.
“I’m sorry he couldn’t say more than that,” I said. “You must miss him like crazy.”
“I do. But he’s scheduled to get some leave this summer. I can’t wait to see him!” Ella excitedly clapped her hands.
I turned back to my crochet disaster, a new determination setting in. Maybe once I was free from the all-consuming world of Warner Print, I’d find someone who made me as happy as Nate made Ella. And who knows? By then, I might even have found a hobby that wasn’t a disaster.