“Absolutely,” Nicole replied. She came over and sat at the foot of the bed.
Danielle scooted up and leaned forward. “Nicole, I’m totally freaking out. I don’t know if I can really say it out loud. But I want so badly to tell you!”
“Tell me,” Nicole said again. “I want to hear everything.”
“Well, maybe you should take a look at me and tell me if you notice anything different.”
“Of course, I noticed your Prada shades and your cool new hairdo right off the bat,” she said. “But I guess there’s more—“
And that’s when she looked down and saw Danielle’s hands. Not her hands. Her left ring finger, to be precise. How had she not seen that huge, glittering rock on her roommate’s finger?
But there wasn’t just a diamond ring on that finger. There was also a white gold diamond encrusted wedding band underneath the engagement ring.
Danielle watched Nicole with wide, joyous eyes. “Now you see?” she squealed, holding her finger up and wiggling it front of Nicole’s face. “Nicole, I’m married! I’m Misses Kane Wright!”
***
As Nicole took the train into work the next day, she tried to organize her thoughts. In her purse, she had her resignation letter printed out and folded in half.
She’d actually been in the midst of composing it the night before when Kane Wright had buzzed the apartment to pick up Danielle. Nicole had heard her roommate making happy noises and telling her new husband she’d be right down.
After her ecstatic friend had left, Nicole peered into her bedroom. It looked as though Danielle was already starting to organize her stuff for when she moved out.
Nicole wanted to be happy for Danielle, but she couldn’t get past the fact that her best friend in the city was now married to her fiancé’s one true enemy. In point of fact, Red was starting up a new business geared to smash Kane Wright’s empire, to destroy the man that had tried to ruin him.
Danielle was somehow blissfully unaware of just how strange and uncomfortable the situation really was. She’d blown it off, telling Nicole how they would all get together soon for dinner.
“I think if the four of us all have dinner and drinks, before you know it we’ll be fast friends,” Danielle had told her at one point. “Besides, the husbands always follow their wives when it comes to social etiquette. And the two of them have sooo much in common.”
Yes, like the fact that they hate each other down to the bone.
But Nicole decided not to spoil Danielle’s fun. She’d have to deal with the truth at some point, so maybe it was nice if she enjoyed this blissful fantasy while it lasted.
Coming back to the moment, Nicole tried to put all that other drama to the side. Right now she had to come to terms with quitting her first real job. She couldn’t work at the company that had unceremoniously dumped the man she loved, the founder of the organization. Especially not after they’d then handed the whole enchilada off to Kane Wright. Kane would simply fold Jameson International into his larger organization, like a sponge soaking up a pesky soda spill.
Nicole was finished with Jameson International. Her time there had been lovely, but it was over now.
Nicole smiled, feeling her stomach with one hand. Just touching her belly was a comfort. She realized suddenly that she had everything she could ever want or need.
Together, she and Red would start a new business and a new family and they would be happy. Nobody could get in the way again, she would make certain of that.
Walking into Jameson International for probably the last time, Nicole couldn’t help but think back to her first time in the building, when she’d come begging for an interview, bowing and scraping at any scrap they decided to throw her way. Back then it had all seemed exciting, intimidating and like the end-all be-all of her life.
Funny how much things could change in such a short time. Now she felt like there was not much left to see or learn around there. She’d been to the top floor; she’d seen all the dirty tricks and a lot of the backroom politics that went on behind closed doors.
She’d even slept with the CEO, rode the corporate jet, felt like the cool girl on campus.
It was time to move on, time to start a new chapter.
Nicole stepped into the elevator and rode up to her floor, got off and headed for Remi’s office. Remi was her direct boss now, and so she would hand her resignation to the best friend she’d made at the company.
When she walked into Remi’s office, Remi was relieved to see her. “Are you okay, Nicole? Nobody knew what was going on with you the last few days!”