Chapter Nineteen #4
Mei’s eyes slid to her laptop. “No.”
“Yeah, right. What the hell are you working on that’s so important?”
“Just a massive global campaign that went live this morning.”
“You launch a global campaign every holiday season! And you run campaigns all the time. What’s so special about this one?” Fear glistened in her sister’s eyes. Despite her harsh tone, Ali looked close to tears.
James played me, Mei realized. Just like he did with the VP job. She’d worked herself into a frenzy for no reason. Again.
Mei slumped down. “Nothing. It’s all so stupid.” She told Ali about James, her impossible workload, the false promise of a promotion, and her soon-to-be new boss.
“Quit.” Ali’s eyes blazed. “They don’t deserve you.”
“I can’t. I need the money.”
“Get a new job. You’ll make as much or even more somewhere else.”
“No. I need my bonus. And I want to be there when we go public.”
“When’s that?”
“Sometime next year.”
“You need to leave now.”
Mei glared at her sister. “Easy for you to say! You have a husband and a second income. If I quit, I’ll have nothing!” How was it that just a few months ago, she’d been a top performer at Livin, with a beautiful apartment, a healthy savings account, and an adoring fiancé? “I already have nothing.”
Ali rubbed her shoulder. “That’s not true. You have us. And your friends.”
Mei nodded begrudgingly.
“You’ll get a better job, too.”
“I don’t want another job.”
“Mei,” Ali said gently. “Are you seeing a therapist?”
“No.” She needed to. But finding a therapist took time and energy, and she had neither.
“How about we find you one? Then clean and unpack?”
Mei glanced at her laptop. Several new emails had come in. Then she remembered James’s smug face when he introduced Erika as the VP of brand marketing. “All right.”
Ali lit up. Her excitement was contagious. Mei couldn’t help but smile. Her first genuine smile since the bachelor/bachelorette. She opened the browser on her laptop. Ali typed on her phone. A minute later, she yelped with excitement.
“Look what I found.” Ali thrust her phone at her. “A mental health network for Asian Americans, founded by therapists our age.”
Mei perused the site. All her therapists had been white men and women in their sixties. She’d never considered finding an Asian American therapist, let alone one who’d be her peer. “I’m going to email them.”
Ali grinned. “Good. I’ll tackle the boxes.”
· · ·
On Monday, replies from therapists collected in Mei’s inbox. They either weren’t accepting new patients or her insurance. Good thing I don’t have rejection issues, Mei thought.
Late in the afternoon, Mei received a reply from Violet Chu, the last therapist she’d emailed, asking if she’d like to meet. Mei wrote back immediately. The next day, she took an introductory call from the O‘ahu conference room.
Even through the laptop screen, Violet exuded compassion and knowledge.
Her warm smile put Mei at ease. She nodded empathetically when Mei spoke.
With her cozy white sweater and long hair with bangs, Violet looked like someone Mei would befriend.
Mei now had a therapy session every Wednesday evening.
She sank back in her chair. She would heal. Day by day. Month by month. Year by year. For the first time since the breakup, Mei believed it.
Maybe she’d even peek at job listings.
Mei opened LinkedIn’s job search. Then an email notification caught her eye. Livin’s November rankings were up. Mei held her breath as she clicked to the leaderboard.
She was still twelfth.
Mei closed out of LinkedIn. She had one month to climb back to the top. She needed the maximum annual bonus. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to look like anything less than a star when Erika started in January.
· · ·
When Ali rang her doorbell on Saturday morning, Mei was expecting her.
“Ho ho ho!” Ali burst in wearing an oversized red sweater belted at the waist.
“Ali, what the…?” A cackle escaped Mei’s lips. “Nice Santa outfit.”
Wow, laughter. It felt strange, but good.
“I’m wearing it for a reason! I have a surprise.” Ali paused dramatically. “We’re going to Hawai‘i!”
Mei’s jaw dropped. “What?”
“Yes! From December twenty-fifth to January first.”
“No way. I already missed Thanksgiving. I can’t be away for Christmas, too.”
“We’ll celebrate on Christmas Eve.”
“I can’t afford a trip!”
Ali pulled her into a hug. “This is your Christmas gift. From me, Luc, Mom, and Henry.”
“I can’t accept that! Plus, I have work.”
“The week between Christmas and New Year’s? Everyone checks out then.”
“Not at Livin,” Mei grumbled, though Ali had a point.
“You’ll always have more work than you can finish. Anyway, it’s too late! We got an incredible deal, and it’s nonrefundable. Plus, vacations are good for your mental health.”
Mei looked away. She couldn’t argue with that.
“We’ll also celebrate Alexandre’s first semester!”
“Wait, what?” The blood drained from Mei’s face.
“Yeah! He’s coming, too.”
Mei couldn’t speak. Alexandre would be there. With her. In Hawai‘i. She could kiss him in the ocean. Creep into his hotel room every night. Did she want that? Did he?
“Mei! Say something!” Ali jostled her shoulder.
“Wow. Um. Okay.” She couldn’t make sense of anything.
Ali beamed. “Start packing. We leave on Christmas Day.”