Over the Moon

I wake up feeling dirty. I drag myself out of bed, into the shower, and pray the hot water will cleanse my body and my soul of this feeling. I put on my pale peach long-sleeved blouse to cover the marks on my arms and a pair of navy slacks. I am going to go directly to HR and speak with the director, Charlotte Newton. Before I fell asleep last night, I made the decision not to tell Lola yet. She would burn the place down to get to Rory if she knew. I can’t let her throw away her career because of this shitty situation. I need to see where the complaint will take me first.

Charlotte is standing with Mr. Ledger just outside her office when I reach the HR department shortly after eight o’clock. “Good morning, Ms. Bishop,” she says to me, unsurprised to see me there.

“Good morning Mrs. Newton. Mr. Ledger,” I say as calmly as I can. Mr. Ledger nods and greets me.

“Ms. Bishop. Please join us.” He motions for me to enter Charlotte’s office. I walk in and take a seat in front of Charlotte’s desk. The last time I was here was when I signed my employment contract three years ago.

Charlotte sits opposite of me, and I notice Mr. Ledger leans against the wall to my right. “There has been a complaint made against you, Aubrey,” she says.

“Yes. The complaint came from a partner of the Ledger Hayes team. This member detailed an assault of which there is physical evidence.”

“A witness has corroborated Mr. Finnegan’s account,” she continued. I am about to go into a tirade when Mr. Ledger shoos Charlotte from her chair and sits down.

“I know that this is an unfortunate situation, Ms. Bishop. However, here at Ledger Hayes, we have zero tolerance for that kind of behavior. Mr. Hayes and I have reviewed your work here and we would like to ensure that you can still work in Chicago.”

“I would be willing to put in a good word for you with another firm with the understanding that discussions regarding this matter are settled. In addition, though we are unable to continue your employment here, you will be given one month’s severance. Your desk has already been cleared. You can collect your things at the lobby security desk. Please go with the security officer now.”

It’s a done deal. No discovery, no trial, straight to execution. In a haze, I stand, grab my purse and walk out of the office. The short security guard motions in the direction he wishes me to go but doesn’t touch me. Smart because I’m not sure how I would react right now. I am escorted out of the building and handed a small box that contains a plant, a few personal files, and a picture of me and my mom sitting on the porch swing back home.

I take a deep breath and hail a cab home. Once inside my place, I set down the box on the kitchen island and scream at the top of my lungs. Thank goodness the walls in this building are thick. Tension leaves my body but there is still a ball of anxiety sitting heavy in my gut. I take the plant out of the box, water it, and place it on the table by the window. I take the picture of me and mom and tuck it right next to it. Mom wouldn’t have let this happen. I am not even sure how I did.

As much as I want to fight, if this is how Ledger Hayes is managed, I am happy to be out. I can only hope that Rory doesn’t tank the Thrive-Autism Hub merger to spite me. My phone rings and it startles me. I grab the phone from the counter and see it’s Lola. I answer it, “Hey Lola.”

“What in the hell happened?! I am almost at your door! Be ready to let me in!” she screams at me and then hangs up. Two minutes later I get the notification on my phone that she is here, and I buzz her up.

I open the door and she embraces me. We just stand there for what feels like forever. She lets me go and pushes me back into the apartment. “Tell me everything. I know that snake Rory is lying!” she says as she walks over to the cabinet and grabs the Oreos and two bottles of water from the fridge. I walk into the living room and wait for her to sit down, cookies in hand, and I tell her everything that happened the night before. Lola sat more silent than she did when I told her about Derek. When I was done, she was speechless for a few minutes.

“I am going to quit.”

I shake my head. “No! Please don’t quit. You need the money, and I won’t let you sacrifice your job for something that happened to me. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” I say.

“I can’t do nothing! I can’t work there and see that dick every day!” she cries.

“There is one thing that you can do for me” Waiting, she looks at me with a sad expression.

“What do you need, Aubrey? How can I help?” I take a deep breath, this is hard to ask.

“I need you to make sure that the Thrive-Autism Hub merger goes through. I won’t let this fuckhead kill this merger because he can’t control himself. I need to know that all my hard work wasn’t for nothing.” Her said expression changes to admiration.

“Girl, you just lost your job, wrongful termination, and all you can do is worry about others. Fuck, I wish I was so selfless! Yes, I will make sure that the merger goes through. I know the project almost as much as you do. I can do this. But once it’s a done deal, I am out of there.” I look at her, so lucky to have someone like her by my side.

After Lola was sure I was okay, she went back to the office. We made a deal to not talk about Ledger Hayes anymore and I trust that she will be able to make the merger happen. God, I wish I could be there to tell Sasha & Elijah about everything. I stop myself, I am not part of it anymore. I need to let it go.

I order take-out, curl up on the couch and lose myself in nineties rom-com. The first movie I pick is You’ve Got Mail. This was my mom’s favorite. We watched it every time it came on TV. She was so excited when I got it for her on DVD for Christmas one year. I have been thinking about my mom a lot lately. It has been almost twelve years since she passed away from heart disease. Her being gone left a huge hole in our lives. Dad and Nate hide it better than I have ever been able to.

The next morning, I woke up on the couch. I must have fallen asleep during Practical Magic since Netflix is asking me if I am still watching it or not. Not feeling the greatest, I hop in the shower hoping to make myself feel a little human again. Just to add insult to injury, my period has started. I check under the sink, and I only have a few tampons left. Argh! I check my phone and see I missed a call from Dad and a few texts from Lola. I check the texts first.

Lola:Rory is a lunatic today! He yelled at Clark, well tried. A little hard when your tongue has stitches and is swollen as fuck. Did you know he is Ledger’s nephew? Fucking nepotism for the win, I guess!

Me: No no!!! I am OK, really. And fuck him. Let’s run tonight after you get off work. I need to start looking for a new job today.

I should call Dad back, but I don’t know if I have the strength to talk to him right now. Everything is still fresh, and I suck at hiding when I am upset. If I tell him what happened, he will make me come home. He almost did after everything with Derek went down. I make a mental note to call him back tomorrow.

I go to the home office just off my kitchen and turn on my laptop. When I accepted the position at Ledger Hayes a few years ago, I kept all the offer letters and contact information from the firms I declined. I am glad I did because I need a job ASAP. The one-month severance will only get me so far. I pull up my contact information and start making some calls. Before the end of the day, I have a few meetings scheduled over the next few days and I am feeling more hopeful about my future in Chicago.

Lola arrives and leaves the tampons on the kitchen counter while I am getting ready to go on our run. “Thanks for picking those up for me,” I say.

“Anything for you, toots! I am here for all bleeding needs! Plus, we use the same ones, super... awesome!” A chuckle rumbles out of my chest. She is the only person that can make me laugh just by talking about feminine products.

Lola and I leave for our run and keep the chatter to a minimum. Not talking about work is going to be hard. As we round the corner heading back to my building I say, “I got a few meetings lined up. Hopefully, something will come of it. I just wish I left LH on good terms. I have a lot of things in my portfolio, but I am unsure of bringing them up.” Lola doesn’t miss a beat.

“Those projects are yours. Regardless of where you worked at the time. If anyone asks about your departure from LH, tell them the truth without details. Otherwise, you will look like a disgruntled employee, and no one wants to hire one of those.”

When we reach my building door, we hug our goodbyes. “Ow,” I say and Lola steps back with a puzzled look on her face. “Sorry, my arm is a little bruised.” Lola gives me a small smile that turns into something sinister.

“We could have him killed, you know? I got connections.”

“Let’s leave him alive for now, mafioso.”

She hails a cab back to her place about fifteen minutes from here. I head upstairs to grab a shower. Before I get in, I remember that I have to call Dad back. I pick up my phone and call him. He picks up on the second ring, like clockwork.

“Hey, Dad! How is everything going?”

“Everything is good. Just missing you.”

“I miss you too, Dad. What are you up to?”

“Just watching the Jays play the Mets with Nate.”

“I forgot the game was on. Don’t tell me the score, I will watch the replays later! I have to go, Dad, just got back in from a run.”

“Okay, sweetheart. Have a good night. Love you.”

“I love you too! Tell Nate hi for me”

Dad shouts at Nate, “Your sister says hi!” I have to pull the phone from my ear. When I put the phone back, I can hear a far away, “Hi punk!”

“Night Dad.” I chuckle and hang up the phone. I hop in the shower and then lay out the outfit for the first meeting tomorrow.

Over the next few days, I have five meetings with companies I previously applied for. Every meeting felt like fireworks. They were more than pleased with my portfolio, the conversations flowed, and everyone seemed to be on the same wavelength. So, by Thursday, one week after I was let go from Ledger Hayes, I received my first offer. The confirmation came in by phone and then the HR recruiter sent me the offer via email to review and sign. It was lunchtime so I decided to eat before I reviewed the document and signed on the dotted line.

Lunch is brought to me by the letter D: Door Dash. I sit on the couch with my taco salad and feel at ease again. Being free from Derek financially has been amazing but it leaves me feeling that anything can happen, and I will be back at square one. I need to get my finances in order. With the new job, I will make sure to set aside money every month because right now I only have enough money to fly home in case of an emergency. I finish up my taco salad, deal with the trash and head back to my office.

As I am reviewing the contract, I receive another email from the HR recruiter. I start reading the email and I think I must be going blind. I can’t be reading this correctly. Less than thirty minutes since they sent me my offer letter, they have now rescinded the offer with no justification other than that they are unable to employ me. I try calling the recruiter but to no avail. They iced me out.

Okay, that was weird. Well, I have a few more meetings this week. Something will pan out. But you know what? They don’t. Every meeting and every interview ends well but when it comes time to discuss employment I am brushed off, offers sent and then rescinded, or just completely ghosted.

“You have been blacklisted!” Lola spits out during our morning run on Sunday.

“I have been what?” I ask.

“It has to be Rory! You are one of the best juniors out there, there is no reason for anyone to turn you down. But you are telling me that you have been turned down by six firms?! Oh yeah, you have been blacklisted.” I take in what she is saying and the only conclusion I can up with is... she is right.

“Fuck! He just closed off Chicago to me! I am so fucked, Lola.” I start to tear up. Lola slows her pace and grabs my arm to stop me.

“Listen, I know that you love it here. I love you being here, but I think it might be time. Unless you want to change careers, you might need to find a new city.” I know that this hurts for her to say it, it hurts to hear it. Again, Lola is right. I need to move. And the only place that makes sense right now is Styre Cove. I have to move in with Dad. I say goodbye to Lola at the entrance to the trail we normally run and make my way the few blocks to my apartment. The closer I get the more confident I am in this decision. I will miss Lola, and lord knows I will miss that bathtub, but I think it’s the right decision.

Me:LOL funny weird. I’m not with Ledger Hayes anymore. I don’t want to get into it, but I am OK. Do you think Dad would mind if I moved back home for a bit? Just long enough for me to build up some savings and figure out where I want to go from here.

“Hello, daughter.” I laugh aloud.

“Hello, father.” I hear him chuckle back. What a goofball.

“What are you up to? It’s the middle of the day, isn’t it?” Dad says and I am reminded just how much he and Nate are alike.

“That it is. I have a question for you. What would you say if I asked to come home and stay for a while? I think it’s time for a change of scenery,” I ask without giving any details.

“What time is your flight? I will need two hours to get to Portland on time.”

I start laughing. “So, you would be okay sharing your house with me again? I am loud, and sarcastic, and I still snore,” I say.

“Aubrey Amelia Bishop, get your butt home. Maine misses you, and so do I.” I smile every time Dad uses my full name. Pride fills up in my chest knowing that I carry my mom’s name with me, even though Dad always called her Millie. I miss Maine too. I miss the salty air. I miss the Atlantic Ocean. If I close my eyes, I can almost hear the waves crashing against the shore. That’s it. Decision made. I just need to reach out to Henry to see if I can get out of the lease.