The Heart Thief

the heart thief - |29|

Her friend gasped. "Fired?"

"Yes, and get this, Roman approves of it, so it's only a matter of time before she's out of here. I told you it wasn't a serious relationship. Who in their right mind would date their employee?"

Blanching, I fell back against the toilet seat. Roman was going to fire me? My gaze went blind for a moment. In the corners of my mind, I always thought I knew him, that I understood him on some weird level, but I guess I didn't. If I did, my heart wouldn't be hurting right now. He knew the truth. He knew I was innocent, but somehow, I was getting fired for nothing. My lower lip trembled. I bit down hard. I would not cry. The writhing feeling within took a nauseating turn.

I quietly went back to my office. I stared at my computer, unable to do anything but stare at the black screen. I felt hollow and my lips felt numb. My hands shook and I curled them into fists, willing them to stop shaking. I couldn't stop thinking; why would Roman do this? Why'd he turn around and hurt me? It didn't make any sense, but whatever his reasons, I didn't want to find out. Maybe it was easier to just quit rather than wait for him to fire me, or maybe I just didn't want to look him in the eye and feel the disappointment and hurt when he does. A part of me, the stubborn part of me that clung to my feelings, didn't want to shatter.

As I wrote my resignation letter and printed it out, I carefully packed my things and put them in a box. I held the letter in my hand when I walked to Susan's office, knocked on the door before allowing myself inside. As soon I walked in, she looked up, but I didn't give her time to say anything when I put the letter down in front of her. She stared and sighed, looking back up to meet my eyes.

"Millie—" she started to say, but I cut her off with, "Thank you for helping me these past few days. I wish things had been different."

"I'm sorry," she said, and I knew she was. She had no control over it, so I wasn't going to blame her for anything. "I wish I could have done more, but things are out of my hands. The chairman is not happy with the way things are, and Roman—"

"wants to fire me, I know," I said automatically, my voice wooden. Everything in me screamed that it wasn't true, but it was real. "Rather than allow him to fire me, I thought I should quit. After all, I deserve better than getting fired by a company I worked hard for."

"Don't take this the wrong way, Millie, but it's not exactly the chairman or Roman's fault. There was no other option. People are never going to let this go and if the press gets a wind of it, it'd be terrible, so they'd rather let you go quietly."

Oddly enough, she was right. If the story was leaked to the press, things would have gone bad and I'd have preferred it didn't leak at all. So, if my dismissal was the solution, then I'd gladly accept it.

"I understand." I nodded and huffed out my exasperation.

Leaving Susan's office, I headed back to mine and picked up the box, cradling it in one arm as I cast a final glance around the office. It wasn't fair at all. I gave everything to be here, but in the end I was forced to leave it behind.

With a sigh, I closed the door behind me and proceeded down the corridor. The lingering stares from my coworkers didn't escape my notice, but I did my best to disregard them. As I continued down the corridor lost in thought, I collided with Alex. My grip on the box slipped, and it tumbled from my grasp, scattering its contents across the floor. A flush of embarrassment washed over me as I scrambled to pick up the scattered items, acutely aware of the awkwardness of the situation.

"Are you alright?" Alex asked hurriedly, bending down to help me gather the items. "Millie, you got fired?" He was taken aback, his eyes darting to the box in my hand. Swiftly, his assumption seemed to form, his expression morphing into one of shock and concern, and in an instant, he seemed to connect the dots and assumed that I had been let go.