Chapter 10
GRACE
At first, Grace was righteously indignant about having been fired when she’d done nothing wrong. She tried to call Alex several times, leaving voicemails explaining that she’d left the laptop in his office and checked it back in—she was sure of it. She asked him to check the log again.
But Alex didn’t reply. And Autumn didn’t reach out to say that they’d found the real culprit and that Grace’s name was cleared, as she’d initially hoped.
That first week, Grace half-expected to get her job back when Alex or Autumn or someone else realized that the laptop had just been misplaced by someone other than her.
The second week, when she realized that wasn’t going to happen, she started applying for other jobs.
It was increasingly clear that the missing laptop had just been a convenient excuse to get rid of her.
They must have found the real culprit by now, or at least realized that Grace had checked the laptop back in like she’d said, but Alex still hadn’t reached out to apologize or to rehire her.
It was a clear sign that he’d used her and tossed her aside.
Even if he’d truly believed she had stolen the laptop at first, he must know now that it wasn’t her.
Keeping her gone was just a convenient way to avoid dealing with what had happened between them.
The third week, Grace was already overwhelmed by the job market.
She’d sent her résumé and cover letter to more than thirty companies and had already received thirty rejection letters, a figure which seemed almost impossible.
They must not even be reading her applications, just rejecting her when they realized she’d been fired.
By the fourth week, Grace’s savings were dangerously low, as were her spirits.
She was tempted to send a scathing email to Alex or track him down at the office to confront him about how he’d used her, but her pride stopped her from doing so.
He’d seemed nice, but he was a real jerk.
Maybe he did this often, flirting with female employees and then finding convenient excuses to fire them when he was done.
It had been Grace’s own fault for letting things with him spiral out of control.
By the fifth week, Grace was living on ramen and suffering from a series of terrible headaches and a kind of exhaustion she hadn’t known was possible.
She was barely getting by on her savings and was seriously considering taking a job as a waitress again to make ends meet.
Surely she could still get hired to wait tables, even if it was a step back career-wise.
At least then she’d be able to pay the rent on her small apartment.
By the sixth week, Grace was so dispirited that she started filling out an application to work at the local diner.
It was time to accept the reality that she’d never get hired at a San Valentino tech company again, not after being fired under mysterious circumstances.
She was furious with Alex. How could he do this to her?
A small, angry part of her wondered if he’d faked the laptop disappearance completely just to get rid of her.
Grace was about to hit send on the job application when her cell rang. She jumped a little, surprised, and reached for it. The number was blocked.
Her heart hammered in her chest. Was this Alex finally calling to apologize and give her job back?
She quickly dismissed that thought. There was no way Alex was going to go back on what had happened, not after so long.
Still, maybe this was finally good news. Maybe one of her many job applications had gotten a response.
She swiped to answer and heard a young woman’s voice on the other end.
“Good afternoon. Is this Ms. Boden?”
“Speaking,” Grace said.
“Wonderful. My name is Cecilia Carter, and I work for Boink Enterprises.”
Grace’s eyes widened. The unfortunately named Boink was a fast-growing dating app run by a young billionaire named Patrick Hale.
Grace had seen a few openings there but had felt uneasy about the company and its mission, so she hadn’t applied.
Or she didn’t remember applying. Maybe one of her late-night application binges had led to this.
“Nice to meet you,” Grace said politely. “What are you calling about?”
“Our CEO, Patrick Hale, would like to meet with you,” Cecilia said brightly. “Would this Wednesday work?”
Grace paused for a long moment. Something about this was very fishy.
First, she was still pretty sure she’d never applied for a job at Boink.
Second, despite her disgraceful exit from MatchupNow, she felt a little weird considering a job with their direct competitor.
Third, and most importantly, the last time a CEO had taken a personal interest in her, Grace’s whole life had unraveled.
“Are you there, Ms. Boden?” Cecilia asked.
“Yes, I’m here. Um, what does Mr. Hale want to speak to me about?”
“He has an opportunity for you,” Cecilia said. “A good one.”
“I don’t remember applying for a job with you,” Grace said.
“Mr. Hale will explain everything when you meet,” Cecilia replied simply. “Can I tell him you’ll be in this Wednesday at two?”
Grace hesitated. A week or two ago, she would have listened to her instincts and shut Cecilia down without a second thought.
Now, though, her financial situation was getting truly dire, and she hadn’t had any success with other companies.
Maybe taking the interview would set her on a better path.
Or maybe Boink, despite its reputation for being a hookup app, would actually be a nice place to work.
“Fine,” Grace said. “Tell him I’ll be there. Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Cecilia replied. She hung up, and moments later, Grace received a calendar invitation to a meeting with Patrick Hale at the Boink offices.
Grace spent the next few days alternating between tentative hope and extreme distrust. She tried on several interview outfits, submitted more job applications, and tried to distract herself by spending time with Susie.
Still, she was so nervous that her stomach turned on her, and she spent most of the morning before the interview throwing up.
She couldn’t afford to pass up this opportunity, though, despite the fact that she was sick, so she took a shower, ate a box of mints, and dressed in a pair of slacks and a blouse. Then she drove to the Boink offices.
Where the MatchupNow offices had been all about employee comfort, creativity, and growth, the Boink offices had a different vibe.
The walls were painted in bright colors, decorated with pictures of half-naked models, and the employees all had a bright red question mark, Boink’s logo, on their tops.
The women all wore lots of makeup. The men all had slicked-back hair.
Grace’s apprehension grew, but it was too late to back out now. She might as well hear about the job.
When she reached Patrick’s office, his secretary, whose voice Grace recognized as Cecilia’s, invited her right in.
Patrick was seated behind his desk, looking at his phone.
He glanced up when he saw Grace and stood, holding out a hand.
He wore a perfectly fitted charcoal suit and a very expensive-looking watch, and he looked to be somewhere in his early twenties.
He reminded Grace of the old-money jerks she and Alex had made fun of.
“You must be Grace,” he said.
“And you must be Mr. Hale,” Grace said, taking his hand. He shook it briskly, then sat and gestured for her to do the same.
“Thank you for coming by,” he said.
“Thank you for taking the time to interview me,” Grace replied.
“Interview?” Patrick looked artfully confused. “I’m not offering you a job, Grace. I’m offering you something much better.”
“Better?” Grace frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I know what happened at MatchupNow,” Patrick told her.
“And I believe you were wrongfully fired. There was no evidence that you did anything to that laptop, beyond that it was checked out in your name. They should have looked more closely into what happened, and they certainly shouldn’t have fired you on the spot. ”
Grace tilted her head. “I appreciate that, but I’m a little confused. How do you know so many details about what happened?”
“San Valentino might be a city, but it’s a small town, too. Everyone knows everyone else’s business, and I keep particularly close tabs on Alex Medson. He has an… outdated way of doing things that I don’t agree with.”
“I see,” Grace said. She wasn’t sure “outdated” was the word she’d use to describe Alex, but the part about San Valentino being a small town certainly made sense. Enough of her job applications had been rejected to prove that. “So, what’s your offer?”
“A lawsuit.” Patrick leaned forward, clasping his hands.
His blue eyes were gleaming in a way that Grace found quite unsettling.
“I’ll back you, as will my company. I’ll even pay for your lawyers and any legal fees that come up—that’s how confident I am that you’ll win.
Sue Alex. Most likely, he’ll settle to avoid a scandal—and you’ll get a hefty payout.
If he doesn’t, you’ll have a chance to prove that you didn’t do anything wrong. ”
“I don’t understand.” Grace folded her arms. “Why would you help me? What would you get out of it?”
“The satisfaction of taking my rival down a peg,” Patrick admitted. “And the satisfaction of helping you get even. Alex has ruled the dating-app scene for too long. It’s time someone showed him he can’t just do whatever he wants.”
Grace bit her lip. “I’m sorry, but this just doesn’t feel right.”
“Does it feel right that you were fired without any proof that you were actually guilty?” Patrick asked. “Because it seems to me like you were fired just because you were the most recent hire.”
Grace didn’t agree with that, but she didn’t tell Patrick about her history with Alex. It wouldn’t help anyone to reveal that they’d slept together, at least not right now.
“Do you really think I’d get some financial benefit?
” she asked, her stomach turning at the question.
“It’s just, I’ve been struggling since I was fired.
No one seems to want to hire me now.” She hated herself for sounding so vulnerable and for even considering Patrick’s offer, but she couldn’t go on like she was now.
Pretty soon, she wouldn’t be able to afford rent.
“You definitely would,” Patrick assured her. “The settlement would be enough to tide you over for a few years, even, until the scandal blows over. Which it will, especially once people hear that Alex settled the suit.”
“I…” Grace knew she should say no. A good person would walk away. But this might mean the difference between having to move back home and work as a waitress again and regaining her status as a bright, up-and-coming programmer who everyone wanted to hire. “I’ll think about it.”
“Very well. But don’t think too long—I’d like to get the ball rolling on this as soon as possible.”
“I understand.” Grace stood, and they shook hands again. She got a weird vibe from Patrick, like he always got his way no matter what it took, but he was offering her a lifeline, and she couldn’t throw it away. She didn’t have any better options.
“Thanks for coming in. Get back to me soon.”
Grace left the office with a heavy heart. She was facing a very difficult decision, and she had no idea what to do.
Her stomach twisted with anxious discomfort, and a wave of exhaustion hit her. For now, she’d go home, put on a sitcom, and have a cup of tea. And she’d try not to think about either Alex’s betrayal or Patrick’s underhanded offer.