Chapter 21 Nina #3
Air caught halfway in my throat, and I had to force it down just to keep from coughing.
Everyone would think I was just a big joke again, incapable of getting anything right.
My palms were already damp. No matter how hard I worked, something would always go wrong.
Not a full attack, not yet—just the warning signs, the familiar edge of panic whispering that I was running out of room to breathe.
I opened my mouth; I’d made it this far, I just needed an explanation.
“There’s obviously something wrong with this file,” Carmen said, standing up for everyone to hear.
“I agree,” Priya added. “It’s the same as your partner’s.”
Then Annelisa chimed in, “Such a coincidence that the presentation with your name ended up on Ms. Dabrowski’s slides.
” Her eyes darted toward Natasha. “Ms. Reyes, it’d be concerning if you didn’t come prepared for an inconvenience or other, given your history.
” Her eyes flicked to Carmen this time, who was looking at her black-and-white polished nails.
“I have a copy on a USB drive,” I said.
“In that case, Ms. Reyes,” Eleanor said, pointing at the laptop, “please proceed.”
With trembling hands, I pulled the thumb drive out of the pocket of my slacks, thankful I thought to keep it on me.
All eyes tracked me as the correct slide deck blinked onto the projector screen.
The clicker felt slick in my palm as I turned sideways to face both the execs and the room.
The air was thick going through my nose, as if breathing through a wet towel.
My chest fought for each inhale, fingers tingling around the clicker, heat crawling up the back of my neck. Too loud. Too bright. Too much.
Then, across the room, I found Lincoln—that maddening grin, those damn dimples. His face lit up with pride. My lungs unlocked, air sliding back in, steady enough to keep me standing.
“My concept is built on one idea—brand intimacy,” I began, my voice shaky for half a sentence before I found the thread and tugged hard.
“Consumers don’t want to feel sold to; they want to feel seen.
So how does your clean energy philosophy speak to them?
” I clicked to the next slide, showing my mock-up campaign with a breakdown of demographics, marketing approaches for connection, and conversion rates to turn awareness into paying customers.
I talked through confidently because for all my flaws, I was damn good at my job.
Annelisa interrupted halfway through my case study. “How is this fundamentally different from Kline I couldn’t get my breathing under control without an inhaler.
“We’d talk shit about you, and then he’d fuck me so hard I’d feel him for days.” She spoke low enough only I could hear the cruelty in her voice.
My chest tightened, breaths coming fast and shallow. I struggled to step back, more wheezing than breathing by now. I tried making eye contact with someone, anyone, but nobody’s eyes were on us.
“Yeah, you heard that right,” she hissed, just for my ears. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Nina! Let me clean your blouse up. Silly me,” she announced louder, in perfectly rehearsed concern.
She pulled out a sleeve of Clorox wipes and leaned closer, lingering over me. When she pulled the plastic out, the antiseptic hit me in a wave, pungent and razor-edged, before she even reached the stain. It cut into my lungs, making me cough, tiny spasms rattling my ribs.
“Oh, come on,” she said, voice soft, venomous. “Don’t tell me you’re actually … struggling.” She tilted her head, eyes glittering. “Lincoln would be so impressed with me right now.”
I gasped, clawing at my chest, but still, no one paid attention. She didn’t retreat, she finally brushed my blouse with the wipe, fumes rising faster now that the smell was closer.
My vision narrowed, scent more potent with the second swipe. And just before everything went dark, I heard his voice. Not just his voice, but the roar of my name, fear and promise packed into just two syllables.