After the Rain- Josh Kiszka

Chapter 20- Pink Slip

"W-what? Who requested my dismissal?" I asked, my voice sounding foreign coming out of my own mouth.

The whole experience felt truly out of body. I could not believe that this was actually happening.

"I'm unable to disclose that information." He frowned.

I figured that this all had to do with Josh finding out the news, but my heart stung at the fact that this whole debacle may have been due to his wishes.

"W-was it one of the band members?" I asked, desperate to know the truth, urging him to tell me more.

"It was someone within their management." He said, averting his eyes from mine.

Right, because what a PR nightmare it would be if everyone at the label found out that Josh fathered an illegitimate child and it leaked the the public.

"So, what does this mean in terms of my job?" I shook my head, trying to better understand what this meant for me and my future.

"As a company, we don't take matters of conduct lightly, especially when it involves an offense made against our talent. Unfortunately, we will have to demote you to the position you previously held prior to your promotion, and we have to cut your salary as well. I'm sorry, it's corporate policy."

My jaw dropped. "Y-you can't be serious? A 'matter of conduct', what exactly did I do that would serve as reason to demote me?" I asked.

"The details were undisclosed for the sake of the privacy of the band member that the situation involved, but this decision remains paramount for the best interest of the band."

"The best interest of the band? What about the best interest of a loyal employee who is caught in the tailwind of a very unfortunate situation? Mr. Johnston, with all due respect, I have a child to support at home, what about her?" I said, feeling my face grow hot.

"Celine, your family situation is completely irrelevant to this decision, we have to be objective." He said, his face remaining expressionless.

"My family situation is the reason for this conflict." I muttered.

"I'm not sure I follow..." He trailed, furrowing his eyebrows.

I let out an exacerbated groan. "Josh Kiszka is my daughter's father! That is what this is all about."

"Now, Celine, there's no need to raise your voice." He said, clearly frustrated with how I was taking the news. "And that is a very heavy allegation." He continued.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Johnston, I really am. It's just so hard having no one believe me when I'm telling the truth, and Josh hasn't spoken to me since he found out, and now I'm being demoted; everything is happening all at once and it's all just one big mess."

He paused, looking at me with an expression that read pity mixed with a taste of an emotion I couldn't quite interpret, before continuing, "Celine, I think it would be best if you took a temporary leave from your position at this company while everything gets sorted out."

"W-well, how long could that take?"

"We'll launch an investigation, and if all goes well, then a couple weeks at most... but, it has the potential to become permanent depending on our findings."

"Oh," was the only response that I could think of in a time like this.

I was in complete and utter shock. My worst nightmares were being realized right before my eyes: not only did I lose my boyfriend, but I was about to lose my job too.

"We hope you can understand what a tough situation we're in."

"Mhm." I said, biting my tongue to avoid putting myself deeper in the hole.

I got up from the chair that I sat in and turned to leave without saying any more.

"A tough situation?" I scoffed as I walked out of his office. "Why does it seem as if no one is acknowledging the tough situation that I'm in." I said to myself as I made my way down the hall.

As I turned the corner, I saw one of the marketing assistants speaking to someone at the end of the corridor. I quickly realized that the person was Sam Kiszka.

"Sam!" I called out.

He looked up to see who had shouted his name and his eyes widened before he turned in the other direction upon realizing it was me.

"Sam, I know you can hear me. Please, can I talk to you for a minute?" I said, jogging to catch up to him.

I caught him by the arm before he could escape having to talk to me.

"I-I shouldn't." He stammered as he looked around nervously, hoping not to be seen with me.

"Please, it'll be quick." I pleaded, hoping he would take pity on me and would hear me out.

He sighed before nodding, conceding to my request.

I took a deep breath and began, "If you get the chance can you please tell Josh I'm sorry, and I'll leave you all alone if that's what he wants. I got dismissed from your project, and I very well could lose my job altogether, s-so I won't be around you much anymore."

"I'm sorry." He said, not meeting my eyes.

"Yeah, I am too. If I had it my way, he wouldn't be implicated in this mess, I just feel so bad." I tried to express to him that I meant what I said, because this very well could be the only opportunity I had to get my message to Josh.

He nodded solemnly, clearly uncomfortable with having this conversation outside of Josh's presence.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye? So, um, yeah. If you could let him know I'm sorry, if anything, I'd appreciate it forever." I said with a nod, noting how final everything within the past few days had felt.

He nodded once again before hurrying on to wherever he had been headed before I had encountered him.

I continued my walk of shame back to the front elevators to go back home. I was dreading seeing Alisa, but I knew that it was something that was unavoidable.

She lifted her eyes from her computer as she heard me walk by and upon realizing it was me, she called out, "Celine, what's going on? Where are you going?"

"I'm headed home," I said nonchalantly, not wanting to get into the details of the situation.

"W-when will you be back?" She asked, worry painted all over her face.

"I'm not quite sure." I sighed as the elevator arrived to our floor. "I've got to go, I'll see you later." I said more for her comfort, even though I wasn't quite sure that I would.

I stepped in the elevator and waved to her as the doors closed, and that was when my eyes began to prick with tears.

My life had become a complete mess in the matter of a couple months, and it was in times like these where I felt a deep ache for my mom. If only she were here to comfort me and to help me get through this. She would know what to do and could reassure me that everything was okay, but without her, I wasn't so sure that would be the case.

I had failed Josh by not being honest with him upfront. I had failed Lina, because I had fumbled the chance at giving her the opportunity to know her dad, and to make matters worse, now I had lost my job and had no way of supporting her. And most importantly, I had failed myself. I hated the woman I had become. I was too afraid to live truthfully that it had cost more than it was worth to keep the information to myself.

I was tired of crying, but it seemed as if that was all I was capable of doing.