Chapter 12 Jack & Jill #6
“I can’t say who it was. I’m just giving you a heads-up. I want you to know that the information is out there. And I would like you and Ollie both to withdraw your names from the committee ASAP.”
“I’ll do so immediately.”
“Thank you.” Destiny sighs. “Well, I suppose this explains Ollie taking a dive off the side of a boat for you.”
“Is that all you need me to do?”
She frowns. “Laura. I’m not interested in turning this into a big thing, but I can’t predict how your managers might react if they feel like you weren’t forthcoming. So I just want you to be prepared for that.”
My heart sinks. “Just so you’re aware,” I say, “I think Brant was romantically interested in me and this was retaliation, if it was him who told you.”
She looks at me, blinks, and then puts her head into her hands. “You three were supposed to be my grown-ups,” she says wearily, and I have a flash of sympathy for anyone having to deal with the human resources side of office work, where all the human messes arrive sooner or later.
“The fact that you didn’t know Ollie and I had gone on a date, broke up, and then got back together—the fact that none of that was visible in our work—means that we were being grown-ups,” I say quietly.
When I leave her office, I briefly debate whether to talk to Ollie or Brant first, but my undiluted anger, mixed with a distant hope of improving the situation, sends me back to my own floor.
I knock on Brant’s office door, and he opens it for me, unsurprised.
He closes the door behind me, walks over to his desk and leans back against it.
It’s only then that I register a vicious quality to his expression.
“Brant. Did you report to someone that Ollie and I were dating?”
“Well,” he says, “if you’ve had some changes in your relationship status, as your manager I specifically asked you to tell me about it.”
“Going after someone for their relationship status could create a lot of potential lawsuits, couldn’t it?”
“It’s the lying that concerns me,” he replies, almost primly, but I can see anger below the surface.
“And if I get laid off because of it?”
Brant sighs. “That is not up to me.”
“The situation was complicated. It was hard for me to know what was going on,” I say. “We weren’t together and then we were. It wasn’t some kind of betrayal.”
“Except it was. Because I fought for you. I was one of the people who pushed Murano to take you back. And the irony is…” Now Brant looks away. “I have been pushing for you to get a promotion.” He takes a breath. “I didn’t want you reporting to me.”
I pretend not to understand his meaning. “Why didn’t you want me reporting to you?”
He frowns. There is a long silence.
I stare at him. “So you were hoping to maybe ask me out yourself if I got a promotion? Because you’d be allowed to? And once that no longer seemed likely, you retaliated against me?”
He knows he is on thin legal ground, and I watch him backtrack. “That’s not what I meant at all. You’re putting a meaning to my words that I did not say.”
“You were never a real friend to me. You wanted something from me. And when you couldn’t get it, you put my job at risk.”
“I just reported what happened. Your choices are yours.”
“I hope you don’t mind if I also report what you said in this meeting.”
“I didn’t say anything at this meeting that can be used against me.” He smiles, and I can tell that he hates me. He probably hates women in general, but right now, that specifically extends to me.
I walk out of the room feeling physically ill.
I send the email to Destiny withdrawing from the committee. I wonder what would have happened if I’d sent it earlier, if I hadn’t been so distracted by my new relationship and my sister’s visit and forgotten about the potential blowback at work.
As soon as I hit send, I hear a buzz from my phone. There is a text from Ollie: We should talk right away.
Ollie and I meet outside the building a few minutes later and walk to the courtyard across the street. I am still shaking and unsteady from the shock of my confrontation with Brant.
“Destiny spoke to me,” he begins.
“Me, too. Brant is such an asshole.”
“You’re sure it was him?”
“Nearly positive.”
Ollie nods, taking this in. “And what did you tell her? About us?”
I shrug. “As close as possible to the truth. That it was a confusing situation, that we weren’t involved in a serious way until this weekend, and that we didn’t mean to be misleading. What did you say?”
“More or less the same. I told her I would resign from the committee, which I did.”
“Me, too. I’m so sorry.” I feel so stupid that I didn’t manage this better. I had felt like it was all under control, until it wasn’t.
“No, don’t say that. I should have waited to tell you how I felt about you until we were somewhere more private. I forgot about being careful, just—after my brother, I was so worked up that I felt like I had to say something. But I had no idea it would become public like this. It was all my fault.”
I step closer to him. “This may blow over. In a few weeks, people will have forgotten about it.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think so. I told you that I had to fight to come back to the New York office. They wanted me to stay in Toronto. My boss just called me in, and I think he’s going to use this issue as an excuse to send me back to the Toronto office.”
More layers of shock rush through me. Ollie is leaving New York?
“When?”
“He said he’d give me until October first. Apparently, my absence there has been an issue. I was more of a manager for the whole legal department, and they want me back in that role.”
I feel ill. The sensation hits me in waves.
This is why you don’t trust the universe to give you good things.
Of course this was too good to be true. Of course men don’t stay.
I want to weep or scream, but instead I feel dead inside.
The utter predictability of it. Every single time.
Even when it’s not their fault, they go.
“So you’re leaving.” My voice is flat and empty.
He shakes his head. “No. No, Laura. I’m quitting.” I look up at him. “I am not going to lose you over this.”
It takes me a moment to register the words. “But… Are you sure?”
“I’m completely sure.” He puts his arms around me and holds me for a long moment, long enough that I start to relax.
Something clears in my head, and I look up at him.
“You don’t have to do that,” I say. “I could come to Toronto. If you wanted. It would be easier to visit my sister in Newfoundland. And I don’t have that much keeping me here anymore. I know you love New York, but...”
I am shocked by the words coming out of my mouth… shocked by how much I mean them. I swore I would never uproot my life for a man again. But this is different. Everything about this feels different, because I know that Ollie would also uproot his life for me.
He leans over and kisses me, then looks into my eyes steadily.
“We’ll figure it out. I promise. We’ll figure something out, and it will be okay.
If I have to quit my job, I’m okay with that.
I can find another. If we have to leave the city, I want to take you with me.
We’ll figure it out, okay? I promise. Do you trust me? ”
Strangely enough, I do.