Chapter 27
LOREN
MEG
Mayday! Mayday!
Get here ASAP
Thankfully, when that message came through, I was already pulling into the office parking lot.
My purse slams into my side as I jog toward the main doors
What could possibly be wrong?
The text sounded dire, but Meg has been known for crying “mayday” when the coffee shop she visits religiously has run out of her favorite vanilla creamer.
As I ascend the stairs to our department’s floor, I don’t know what I’m walking into.
It isn’t until I round the wall of cubicles to see Levi and Holly standing by the whiteboard, staring blankly at the wall, that I realize Meg meant mayday-mayday.
I’ve never seen my department look so devastated. Even Holly is as white as the foam cup in her hand.
“What happened? Did someone die?” Freddie down in accounts, the oldest person in this company, celebrated his sixty-fifth birthday last week. Did something happen to poor Freddie?
“I wish,” Holly whispers.
Well, that’s dark, especially for the happiest woman I know.
The Librarian pops his head up from his cubicle. “Holly sent the wrong spots.” It’s the first time I’ve ever heard Carson speak at full volume.
Tears flood Holly’s eyes as she confirms the accusation with a nod.
I don’t believe it.
“You mean they ran them wrong?” Stations get mixed up all the time.
“No, he means I accidentally sent them the wrong commercials and the wrong spot codes. The station ran the wrong commercials for the wrong products at the wrong times. The client agreed to pay a premium for these spots on those particular days and now it’s all…” Holly throws a hand in the air.
Empty. It’s all empty because the client didn’t get their spots, and it’s not the station’s fault.
It’s our fault.
I need to speak to Meg, but she’s not at her desk.
Dammit. Where the hell is Meg?
Rebecca appears at the end of the hallway, her smile from last Wednesday nonexistent. “Loren? Can I speak with you in the conference room, please?”
I find my best friend sitting at the conference room table, a coffee cup clasped between her hands. When she sees me, she offers a wan smile.
Rebecca drops onto the chair next to her.
The only other free chair happens to be right next to the freaking CEO of the whole company, old handlebar himself.
Not even a full month in and the year of Loren has officially come to an end.
“You heard about the spots?” Rebecca asks as I sink into the leather chair.
“The team just told me.”
“What I don’t understand is how something like this could happen,” the CEO mutters. His name is Fergal and he insists we call him that if we ever interact with him, which, thankfully, doesn’t happen often because he’s intimidating as hell.
He tries to pretend he’s one of us, dressing in trendy jeans and acting like a “hi, how are ya” boss, but at the end of the day, he’s still a CEO who drives a ridiculous sports car that costs more than I’ll ever make.
Rebecca sits up straighter.
Meg grimaces.
And the CEO is staring at me as if he wants me to answer, but I was hoping the question was rhetorical.
How could something like this happen?
“Human error?” That makes the most sense.
Fergal’s mustache twitches. “Is that a question?”
“No. No, it’s not.” Articulate your thoughts, Loren. You deserved this promotion. Earned a seat at this table.
Except I didn’t.
I’m a fraud.
I’ve only been here a few months and whatever Rebecca saw in me, she was clearly mistaken. I don’t even know what the hell is going on.
GET IT TOGETHER!
Panicking isn’t going to save you.
“Which spots were they?”
Meg slides a stack of papers to me from across the table. “Newman Systems. They make—”
“Medical devices. I know.” What I don’t understand is why in the world Holly was sending Newman spots when Levi is in charge of their account.
“When were the spots put into rotation?”
“They were sent out last Thursday to run at peak Saturday and Sunday.”
Hold on. If they were sent out last week, then I know exactly what happened. “The Traffic Manager who sent out the spots was covering for a colleague on vacation.” Levi needed to take a long weekend to drive his sister back to college.
It really was human error after all.
“You’re the lead traffic manager. Why didn’t you take the extra clients?”
Because I’m not a freaking robot. I may be the leader, but that doesn’t mean I’m supposed to do all the work.
I have a team for a reason. “It was a heavy traffic week. I took on over half of Levi’s clients as well as my own.
” Not to mention that I stayed until after six to make sure all stations confirmed.
“I gave the other remaining managers two extra clients each.” The error could’ve happened to any one of us.
Rebecca winks at me from across the table, her lips lifting into an almost -mile.
The CEO blows out a breath before turning toward Meg. “You’re the buyer on the account, Benson. What can we do to appease the client?”
Meg’s shoulders droop. “Nothing. They’re livid and want to close their account.”
“Dammit.”
Newman Systems was one of Meg’s biggest clients.
Why didn’t I take their account myself?
Fergal rakes a hand down his face and then pushes back from the table. “We needed more oversight in your department, Piper. That’s why Rebecca suggested you. Get your house in order or you won’t have a roof over your head.”
I realize he meant that as a euphemism, but he doesn’t realize how right he is.
A heavy knock rouses me from a dreamless sleep. I peer up at my darkened ceiling, the low hum of the heat breezing through the vent.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
It’s three o’clock in the freaking morning. Who the heck is pounding on my door?
There it is again.
Oh god. What if it’s Josh? I am not answering. No way. He and I are done. I’m not jeopardizing everything to speak to that snake.
Bambambambambambam.
Would it really be my ex? He’s given up trying to text me and barely bothered driving out here when we were dating, so why would he put in the effort now?
Maybe it’s Elliott.
What if something is wrong? Like… Like a fire!
I roll out of bed, and sprint over to the door to peer through the peephole. My stomach bottoms out when I find a police officer on the other side.
Not a fire. Something worse.
Like a murder.
Stupid freaking horror movies hijacking my brain.
My hands shake as I slide the chain open and twist the knob. What if something bad happened to my parents?
Wait. That doesn’t make any sense. How would they know my parents?
Maybe they have the wrong apartment.
Elliott’s parents!
The woman frowns at me, then down at the notepad in her hand. “Loren Piper?”
Shit. They have the right apartment. “That’s me.”
She flips over the page. “Are you the owner of a silver Honda Civic, Maryland plates?” She rattles off a series of numbers and letters, and while I don’t know my license plate number by heart, how many other silver Civics have Maryland plates down here? “Yes?”
“I’m afraid there’s been an accident.”
How is that possible? My car is in the parking lot, and I have the only set of keys. Maybe someone hotwired it. Is that a real thing or just something they do in movies?
“You need to come with me,” she says.
I stuff my feet into my slippers and grab my keys, trailing her into the chilly night. Moths and bugs swarm the yellowed lights attached to the walls along the staircase. Blue and red lights flash in the parking lot, bouncing off the concrete walls.
The officer slips her notepad back into her breast pocket, leaving her hands free to hold the railing. “We have a suspect in custody, but your car’s in pretty bad shape. You’ll need to have it towed to a shop.”
Tow trucks are freaking expensive, and I won’t have my next paycheck till Friday.
Muddy skid marks streak across the grass, leading straight to my poor car.
The back bumper is completely torn off and the side looks like it’s been stomped by elephants. Whoever did this must’ve been traveling at crazy speeds to inflict that kind of damage to a parked vehicle.
Another officer snaps photographs of a black Toyota I’ve never seen before, turned on its side next to a tree. Thank goodness no one was walking around at this hour.
Even though I’m pissed at the driver of the other vehicle, I hope whoever it was is okay.
The longer I stare at the bits of my car still laying in the grass, the more dread fills my stomach. “I can’t afford to fix this.” And I can’t afford a new car right now.
The officer’s lips press flat, her dark eyes swimming with sympathy. “You’ll be able to claim the towing, damage, and rental car on the other man’s insurance.”
That’s something at least.
It takes the officers another thirty minutes to wrap things up and tell me that I can head back inside. My alarm will be going off in an hour, but there’s no hope of me getting any more sleep before work.
The closest rental car place isn’t open until nine, but I need to be in the office by eight thirty.
I could call in and explain what happened, but how would that look after yesterday’s disaster?
No. I have to go in.
I text Meg to see if she’s awake yet, but even after I’ve showered, she still hasn’t responded.
If I wait around and she doesn’t get back to me in time, I’ll be late.
I should just call a ride share, but…
Maybe this is a sign, the universe telling me to give up, pack up my stuff, and head home. That I was never meant to be here in the first place.
Normally, I pride myself on my positivity, but after what happened at work yesterday, it’s getting harder and harder to smile.
If I go back now and budget carefully, in a few years, I might have enough saved for a down payment on my own place. Yeah, I’ll have to live with Mom and Dad until then, but there are worse fates than that.
Like…
Huh.
Actually, I can’t think of anything worse besides maybe having to date Josh again.
These past few months haven’t been easy, but I’ve loved (almost) every second of my time in Tennessee. I don’t want to leave Meg behind, and maybe it’s crazy, but I don’t want to leave Elliot either.
Elliot.
That’s it! I bet if I promised him food, he’d be willing to help me out.