Chapter 3

3.

The door slammed shut. Finally, it was quiet.

Gavin was so incredibly immature.

I realized now that without my rose-colored glasses, he was nothing special.

Sitting in a coffee shop downstairs, my phone rang.

"Ms. Collins, I heard you're going solo. If that's true, are you looking for investors?"

Word traveled fast.

"How did you know? I haven't even made an announcement."

The caller laughed. "Shana, the mess at your office was the talk of the town last night. But I'm 100% behind you."

"If you start your own firm, call me first."

The sincerity in his voice touched me.

"I definitely will."

After I hung up, I smiled.

Without my network, how did they plan on growing?

My phone didn't stop ringing. Everyone wanted a piece of whatever I was doing next.

Eventually, I headed to the office to settle the final paperwork.

When I walked through the doors, I saw Linda sitting at my desk.

She was surrounded by people, like a queen bee with her hive.

Seeing me, a colleague immediately stepped forward.

"Shana, go get Starbucks for everyone."

"Excuse me?"

I checked the time. I wasn't late.

And since I was quitting, it didn't really matter anyway.

The guy smirked. "Gavin just said whoever was last to arrive has to buy treats for the whole office. You're last."

"Oh, it's fine," Linda chirped, smoothing out her dress.

I recognized it. It was the designer piece Gavin told me he'd bought for her.

"We can't have Shana running errands for us. I'll go."

She raised her voice but didn't move an inch.

Right on cue, Gavin walked out of his office.

He saw Linda in the dress and paused for a second.

Then he smiled and straightened her collar. "You look stunning in that."

The office let out a collective "aww."

Linda blushed and shot me a glance.

Was she expecting me to be jealous?

She was wasting her time.

My heart was as still as a dead lake.

Gavin, seemingly annoyed that I wasn't making a scene, said coldly, "I told you, last one in buys the cake and coffee. Why are you just standing there?"

A colleague pointed at me. "Shana was last. She said she won't go!"

Gavin sneered. "Go. If you don't, I'll actually fire you."

He was acting like he'd never seen my resignation letter.

Like he was keeping it a secret from everyone.

I didn't play along. "Whether you fire me or not doesn't matter. I'm here to quit."