She printed out the letter, signed it with a flourish using her favorite pen – a graduation gift from her mother who had passed away several years earlier – and delivered it to Bill’s desk. She put it next to the file with the post-it that said “Not My Client” on it. Bill was going to have an absolute fit when he saw it, but she didn’t care.
She went to her office and bent down, reaching into the bottom drawer of her file cabinet. She took out a small box of chocolates she had recently purchased for a client and put the box on Sandy’s desk instead. She used one of Sandy’s While You Were Out message notes and wrote, “Sorry for all the trouble that’s coming”, placing it under the ribbon that was on the box and putting the whole package on Sandy’s computer keyboard. Elizabeth knew exactly who was going to suffer when she left. First it would be Sandy, and then it would be any number of the other accountants on this floor. But she refused to feel sorry for them. If she could get out, so could they. Maybe if Bill had to deal with a mass exodus, he’d stop being such an ass all the time. But it wasn’t her problem any more. I’m finally free!
She went back to her office and took the few things she couldn’t live without, locked her drawer and cabinet, and headed out the door. She had the perfect amount of time left to drive the speed limit to the bar and not worry about catching red lights all the way. Her heels clicked along the marble floor as she headed to the elevator.
Chapter 13
AIMEE WAS JUST PUTTING THE finishing touches on her makeup when she heard the front door open. Her heart leapt into her throat when she realized who it had to be. The panicked part of her looked at the bathroom window, wondering if it would be worth it to climb out, jump from the second floor balcony somehow, and run around the house to the car. But then she realized her purse was downstairs with the keys in it, so even if she were capable of said ninja moves, she wouldn’t make it very far. She had to go down and face the devil who surely awaited her.
“Aimee?! Where are you?” came Jack’s angry voice from the foot of the stairs.
“Coming down.” She left the bathroom reluctantly, picking up the heels she’d left on the floor and carrying them down by the straps looped over her finger. As soon as she saw his eyes light on her, she knew there was going to be trouble.
“Why are you dressed like a whore?”
Aimee felt herself getting angry, even though she’d promised herself she wouldn’t lose her temper. “Don’t use that word in my presence. It’s nasty and it doesn’t apply to me.”
Jack tried to grab her as she went past, but she slipped out of his grasp and moved down the hallway from him.
“Leave me alone, Jack. I’m leaving soon. Get what you came for and go.”
“You’re going out? What ... ? On a date? No. No, you’re not going anywhere.” He shook his head, his nostrils flaring and his lower jaw jutting out.
“No, it’s not a date. I’m going out with some girlfriends, not that it’s any of your business.” She was proud to be able to say that she had friends now. Jack had taken nearly everything from her, but he wasn’t going to take this.
“Bullshit. You’re meeting some guy.”
“So what if I am?!” she yelled. “You’re engaged to your pregnant girlfriend, Jack! You’ve moved on! So have I!”
Jack grabbed her purse off the table by the stairs and started rifling through it, getting frustrated and finally dumping out its contents onto the floor.
“What are you doing?!” shrieked Aimee, afraid to go and rescue her stuff. “Get out of my purse!” She didn’t want to get too close to him so she stayed where she was, wishing she hadn’t left her purse there for him to get to.
“Ha!” yelled Jack, picking up her car keys. “See you later, Aimee. Have fun sitting on the couch all night.” He turned and left the house, obviously very pleased with himself.
Aimee wanted to run after him and jump on his back, tearing his hair out and taking her keys back; but she knew that would only get her back in the E.R. and effectively give him that much more power over her, letting him know that he’d made her that upset.
She turned to go into the kitchen, tears welling up in her eyes as she heard his car zoom out of the driveway. The heels she’d been carrying dropped to the floor as she sat in front of her laptop on the kitchen counter. She slowly started typing out her email message to Kiki and Elizabeth as the tears flowed down her face, smearing her newly applied mascara.