Being the Boss

19

“I can’t believe you did that,” Agnes said in-between peals of laughter.

Sarah nodded in agreement, “It must’ve been so hard not to crack up laughing when you invited him in. I would’ve died.”

Mary didn’t try to suppress her grin as recounted what had happened earlier that day with Johnathan. Looking around at the women who surrounded her, there was no doubt in Mary’s mind that she had friends in the right places. Agnes was clutching Sarah’s arm in attempt to steady her rocking body and an surprising but not unwelcomed guest tried to contain her chuckle.

“Go ahead and laugh Cecelia,” Sarah encouraged.

Mary looked over to Cecelia and gave her an encouraging look, “You’re one of us now,” she said, throwing her arm over her should in a sign of comradeship, “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have this edge against Johnathan.”

Sarah grinned at Cecelia, feeling as special connection as a fellow secretary, “Tell us again how this all went down!” Sarah prodded.

Cecelia smiled nervously and looked down at her drink, after swirling the ice cubes around she took a gulp and grimaced.

“I don’t know why you’re being so shy, you had no problem trying to put me in my place the first time we meet,” Mary stated, giving Cecelia a little shake.

“Yea! Where’s the feisty Cecelia? I like her!” Agnes proclaimed from her seat at the bar.

Cecelia could feel the alcohol buzzing in her system and working its way through her nerves, after another swig of her drink, she felt loose enough to open up to the group of women that surrounded her.

“Honestly, I never act like that,” Cecelia started, turning to face Mary, “The night before, he had taken me out for dinner. He said that I was the only women for him.”

Cecelia felt tears prickling in her eyes and she motioned for the bartender to bring her another drink. After downing it, she pressed forward, the tears of her memory mingling with the tears caused by the searing of alcohol.

“But then you walked in the next day, all prim and perfect, that’s when I knew it was all a joke to him. That I was a joke,” Cecelia paused, mostly to gather her thoughts, “I was angry I just took it out on you, which wasn’t professional at all, I’m so sorry.”

Mary threw her head back and laughed, “The only one who’s going to be sorry is him, trust me.”

“I knew I wanted payback, but what could I do? I just take phone calls. Then I heard them talking about you, and how all women were the same. And  I knew I couldn’t,” Cecelia continued, running her fingers through her blonde hair, “I couldn’t just let them do that to someone else. So I snitched, I called you and told you what he said he was going to do.”

The three other women cheered and pounded Cecelia on the back. Cecelia looked around at them and couldn’t help but grin, for the first time in a long time, she felt as if she belonged.  In the mist of near perfect strangers, she had found her place.

“Us sisters need to stick together,” Agnes stated with mock graveness, “Those guys won’t even know what hit them!”

Sarah and Mary roared in agreement, this time it was Sarah who motioned for a round of shots to be brought around for each of them. Tangled in each other’s arms, the four women each took turns recounting times Johnathan had offended them and before long he had turn into a scapegoat of all men.

“All men are swine!” Cecelia nearly shouted as she dropped her shot glass on the bar.

Agnes, Sarah and Mary all cheered and downed their shots together in agreement.

“We’re gunna,” Mary stammered, “We’re gunna make them all pay!”

Again they all cheered sloppily. Cecelia’s head rolled onto Agnes’s shoulder and Agnes sagged even more into Sarah’s arms. Mary still had an arm over Cecelia, and was tugged forward as Sarah slummed heavily onto the tabletop of the bar.

Giggling to each other, the four women gathered up their belongings and tumbled out into the cold streets. Flagging a taxi, they all ended up picking Mary’s apartment as a place to stay for the night.

“Mary, can I ask you a question?” Cecelia implored.

Mary looked up to see Cecelia wringing her hands and shifting her weight from her left foot to her right. Mary’s mind had cleared up from last night’s endeavors and she wondered what was troubling Cecelia’s mind. Cecelia seemed to fit well into their group of friends, was it only because they were all borderline drunk? Did Cecelia even like Mary and her friends?

Mary nodded and patted the seat next to her on the couch, after muting the television, Mary turned to address Cecelia.

“What’s on your mind Cecelia?” Mary asked.

Cecelia’s eyes wandered around the room, “I just wanted to know,” she began but halted, “Never mind, it’s stupid, sorry.”

Abruptly Cecelia shot off the couch and rushed for the door, turning briefly to thank Mary for her hospitality and friendship, she tried to bolt out of the door. But before she could disappear Mary grabbed onto her arm.

“Hey, nothing you have to say is stupid, alright? I will never tell you that your opinion is invalid or less than anyone else’s or even mine, got it?” Mary stated, giving Cecelia a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder. “So? What’s going on?”

“It’s just that, I can’t afford to lose my job. Even though I can’t stand the Knightly’s anymore, they pay me well. It’s enough to take care of the bills, and now more than ever, I can’t jeopardize that,” Cecelia stated, reaching up and wicking a tear away.

“Is everything okay?” Agnes asked as she stepped into the room. Barely suppressing a yawn she stumbled around towards Mary and Cecelia.

Shooing her away, Mary turned back to Cecelia, “What bills are we talking about, house, electric, medical?”

Cecelia nodded, “My mom’s in the hospital, we don’t know what it is, but it’s killing her. My dad spends every penny on her bills, not like that’s enough, he’s barely scraping by,” Cecelia mumbled, shoving her hands together. “They need me, they need my paychecks.”

“You’re not going to get fired Cecelia, got it?” Mary state confidently, “Worse comes to worse, shoot me an e-mail with your resume attached and I’ll hire you for myself. Of course for legal reasons and upkeep, we’ll have to go through the interview process and whatnot, but you’re one of us now. We take care of our own.”

Cecelia nodded and threw her arms around Mary, who was at least five inches shorter than her. Mary laughed and patted Cecelia on the back before saying, “Come on, Sarah is the best cook I know, if we ask nicely she’ll make us breakfast.”