Chapter 34
Vanessa
Monday
I parked my car in the parking lot outside Frank Howell Photography and trudged across the parking lot. It had been a rough night, and I had a thousand things going through my head about what was happening with Adam. My body was sore from tossing and turning all night, unable to fall asleep because my brain kept going around and around in circles with unanswered questions.
There was a part of me that still wanted to talk to him and see if we could work things out—a pathetic and desperate line of thinking—but the rest of me was just too angry. He had kicked me out without warning or explanation, and I was pissed.
When I made it to the front doors, I was glad to see Meghan sitting at the front desk. Her short black hair curled down around her chin, and she had sparkly chandelier earrings that matched her sweater. For once, I actually wanted to talk with her about my love life and let her tell me what to do. It would be liberating to just put my problems out into the universe and then let that fix them for me. Meghan had some keen insight into the male psyche, and she’d been right about me and Adam since the beginning.
She looked up from her desk when she saw me coming and gave me a winning smile. I smiled back at her as best I could muster and gave a little wave as I was coming through the doors. I hadn’t even tried to do anything with my hair today, except throw it up into a ponytail, so my fashion sense was somewhat lacking. It always took a blow when I got depressed; that was normal for most women, I supposed. Meghan, on the other hand, looked completely put together and beautiful as a magazine.
“Hey, Vanessa! How was your weekend?”
“Awful,” I conceded bitterly. “I can tell you all about it later. Do you want to get some drinks after work?”
Her brow line puckered with concern and she nodded. Meghan was intuitive enough to pick up on something being wrong but didn’t press me for any details. “Sure, hon. That sounds great. Is everything okay?”
Before I could answer, Frank came storming down the hallway and barked my name across the Lobby. “Vanessa! My office. Now.”
My eyes grew wide, and Meghan and I glanced at one another briefly in confusion. I repositioned the strap of my bag across my shoulder and walked across the lobby and down the hall to Frank’s office. A knot started forming in my stomach as we headed back that something was not quite right. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but the fight or flight response was triggered, and adrenaline started coursing through my body. “Hey,” I started slowly. “Is something wrong?”
He sat down in his seat with a terrible scowl across his face and said, “I don’t know how to say this, but we’re going to have to let you go. There’s just no funding in our budget to keep you on staff with these kinds of shenanigans.”
“Excuse me?” I demanded in alarm.
Frank cleared his throat and continued unabashedly, “Your boyfriend has become a real thorn in my side and has been causing a bit of trouble,” he stated simply. “I’m not going to have you working here.”
My jaw dropped in rage and shock as I shot back at him, “Adam and I aren’t even together, and you can’t fire me over something that I had absolutely nothing to do with.”
“Actually, I can. You were only hired as a private contractor; there’s nothing stopping me from simply choosing not to renew that contract. I’m afraid you’re done here.”
“So, you know that I’m not involved with whatever is going on between you and Adam, but you’re still going to fire me, anyway? I thought you enjoyed my work.”
He nodded while trying not to smile. “I do enjoy your work, but the quality of your product is not what’s in question here. I have to teach Adam a lesson, and if that means canceling our business arrangement, then so be it.”
“Unbelievable,” I snapped. “Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse.”
“You’re young and energetic, I’m sure you’ll land on your own two feet,” he crooned. “Now I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
I turned on my heel and stomped out of his office, practically seething with rage. Frank followed after me to make sure I left, and Meghan caught us in the lobby. “Vanessa? What’s going on?”
“Frank just fired me,” I told her. “Apparently, he’s having some kind of dispute with Adam and has decided to take it out on me.”
“The terms of canceling your employment are not important,” he responded crisply. “Meghan, we’re going to need some coffee for the business meeting. Go on and hop to it.”
She scowled at him and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “You know what, Frank? I quit. This is absolutely ridiculous. Come on, Vanessa, let’s get out of here.” Frank and I both stared at her in shock as she grabbed her coat and bag, leaving her ID card on the table.
“You can’t quit!” he stuttered furiously. “You’re required to give at least two weeks’ notice.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not doing that. You’ll have to find someone else to make your coffee and file paperwork while you grab ass and make sexist comments in the break room. I’m over it, Frank. You’re lucky I haven’t filed a sexual harassment suit against this company.”
Meghan took me by the hand and guided me out into the parking lot. I was still shocked at her reaction and didn’t know what to say. “You want to get those drinks early?” she asked me casually. “I’m feeling like I could use one right about now.”
I chuckled, pulling out my keys to unlock the car. “Sure thing. You wanna come with me back to my parents’ house? We can get shit-faced in the living room.”
“Your parents’ place? What about your apartment with Adam?” she asked me curiously.
“He kicked me out yesterday,” I told her sheepishly. “That’s what I was going to tell you about later.”
Her eyes grew wide, and she whistled at the declaration and said, “Oh, yeah, drinks are definitely needed.”
I hugged her, bigger than I had ever hugged anyone before, and whispered against her hair, “Thank you, Meghan.”
She chuckled slightly, and we each got in our cars and headed over to my parents’ house. Dad was surprised when he saw not only me, but Meghan also pulling up in the driveway as he was trimming the hedges along the patio. Beads of sweat were forming along his brow line, and he looked hot and tired. “Vanessa, what are you doing back so soon? I thought you had work to do. Hi, Meghan.”
“Hi, Mr. Butler,” she chuckled from behind me.
“We both got sacked this morning,” I told him coolly, still reeling from the shock if it myself. “Frank decided to throw a temper tantrum and fire me this morning. Meghan quit in retaliation, and now we’re in serious need of some alcohol. Do you want to join us?”
He put down the hedgers and grunted, walking over to the front door and beckoned for us to follow him. “Sure, girls. Why don’t we talk about this inside?”
Meghan and I followed him into the kitchen where Mom was putting together some pastries. “Vanessa, you’re back so soon,” she commented airily.
Dad breezed right past her and went over to the liquor cabinet, pulling out a bottle of Jack Daniels and setting it on the counter. “Honey, do you mind getting out the shot glasses? Me and the girls are going to have a drink.”
She pursed her lips together and walked over to the pantry, pulling down the crystal glassware. “It’s not even ten in the morning,” she reminded him.
“I’m well aware of that, dear.”
She got down four shot glasses, one for each of us—herself included. I snickered to myself at the thought of her actually getting drunk with us. I’d never seen her let her hair down like that. She set them on the counter and pulled up a bar stool next to me.
“Vanessa and her friend are in a bit of a pickle,” Dad informed her. “Frank Howell is not working out for either of them. Now we’re up shit creek and need to come up with another solution.”
She hummed in acknowledgment as he poured us each a drink of the dark brown liquid. We threw them back in a sign of solidarity and made a communal groan of the burn as it went running down our throats.
“So, what do you want to do?” Mom asked me seriously. Her light brown hair waved down across her shoulders with streaks of silver near the temples.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Dad poured the two of us another drink and said, “The last time we spoke about your job, you told me that opening a company of your own was what you’d been aiming for all along. Is that still the case?”
I nodded sadly, looking down at the countertop in front of me. The alcohol was starting to take effect, and I felt a warm sensation in my chest that spread across my body. It loosened my tongue and helped all the muscles in my back relax. “Yeah, that would be amazing, but I don’t have the capital it takes to create a startup.”
He and Mom both shared a meaningful glance as he continued, “Well, your mother and I had been talking about this for a while. We’ve got some money put away I could give you to get things started.”
My father was not known for handing out money, so his offer caught me off guard. He was a frugal businessman and chose his investments carefully. I couldn’t imagine him taking that kind of a risk on a creative project unless he really believed in it: he really believed in me.
“You mean like finance the whole thing? I wouldn’t be able to pay you back for a couple years, when I start bringing in an income.”
He chuckled, the skin around his eyes crinkling behind his glasses. “It’s not a loan, Vanessa. It’s a gift. I don’t do loans with family; that gets too messy and complicated. I want to give this money to you as a present: no strings. You can use it any way you need to get that company started and hire an assistant to manage your schedule.”
“Oh my gosh, Dad… I don’t know what to say.”
Meghan practically squealed in the seat beside me. “Vanessa! This is perfect; it’s what you’ve always wanted!”
I turned to her and smiled, overwhelmed by the complete shift in my life’s plan over the last twenty-four hours. “You’re going to come on board with me, right? You know Frank Howell’s clients better than anyone; you could help me pick up some of my own.”
“Heck yes, I will! Thank you so much, Mr. Butler. This is going to be the best thing that ever happened to us,” Meghan said to him.
Tears started forming in my eyes as I stared back at him and smiled. “Thank you, Daddy. I promise I won’t let you down.”