Welcome to the Karma Café. There are no menus. You will get served what you deserve.
-Author Unknown
The next morning, after applying ice packs to her dry, swollen eyes, which felt hot to the touch, and willing herself not to cry anymore, Karma gathered herself, got ready for work, and headed in to the office.
She had to act unaffected when Don told her. Talk about a poker face. She’d never been good at poker. And that made her think about blackjack, which made her think about Mark, and she was crying again.
She pulled over, dried her eyes, and touched up her makeup, but who was she kidding. She looked awful. Maybe no one would notice. Then again, what if she couldn’t hide how upset the news made her that Mark’s assignment with Solar was up? Somehow, the idea of dropping to her knees and praying that he wouldn’t go seemed like it would give things away.
Just a tad.
Inevitably, her short drive to work came to an end, and she faced the longest walk of her life. Steeling herself, she got out, threw Mark’s BMW a mournful glance, and headed up the sidewalk.
As she walked in, Nancy was already situated at the front desk and caught her eye. “I think something big is happening today,” she said in a hushed voice.
Karma forced a perplexed, I-wouldn’t-know-a-thing-about-it look on her face. “What do you mean?”
Nancy waved her over. “Mark was in early. Don’s already with him. And HR has been in and printing off documents since seven o’clock.”
Nancy looked at her as if she was fishing for information.
“I guess we’ll find out what’s going on soon enough,” Karma said, trying to act clueless.
If only Nancy knew, what was about to go down today was nothing compared to what had gone down last night. Call her selfish, but Karma wasn’t feeling too sympathetic or compassionate to the plights of those who may or may not be losing their jobs today. Maybe under better circumstances, or maybe pre-Mark Strong, she would have given a damn about the fate of her coworkers, but with her own problems to worry about, which felt like the weight of the Rocky Mountains on her shoulders, there wasn’t a whole lot of energy left for anyone else. She needed to save her strength to endure the natural disaster about to occur in a week when Hurricane Mark finally moved back out to sea and left her in a state of emergency.
Karma left Nancy at the reception desk and headed upstairs. Mark and Don were already in the conference room poring over a stack of papers. Mark already had his coffee.
Disappointment throttled her. Apparently, she couldn’t even get his coffee, anymore. The transition back to being Mark-less had begun.
Silly girl. It had begun last night when he left her apartment instead of staying. Screw that. It had begun the moment she wore that brooch to work back in May. She had known then that this day was coming.
She set down her bags, resisting the urge to stare at Mark’s perfect profile. And failing. He looked tired, his shoulders rounded instead of squared.
“Karma. Ah, there you are. Could you step in, please?” Don said, turning to see her sitting there.
Mark didn’t even flinch.
“Uh, sure.” She got up and hurried in. At least, she hurried as much as she could, being that she felt like a giant ball of lead.
Mark finally turned and met her gaze as she entered. His eyes were bloodshot, and when he spoke, his voice was full of gravel, as if his throat was irritated. “Don and I will need your assistance today,” he said. Then he cleared his throat as he glanced down at his paperwork and lifted his mug of coffee for a sip. “We’ll be talking to some of the employees and will need you to call them in for us.”
“Yes, of course.” She frowned. “You sound like you’re catching a cold.”
He kept his eyes averted. “Allergies. Seems the dry summer finally caught up to me.”
Hmm. He had seemed fine last night. Better than fine, actually. Not a hint of the sniffles.
A moment later, Kathy, the HR director, walked in with a file folder in her hand.
Don gestured for Karma to have a seat then shut the door. “We thought we would start with you,” he said. “Get it out of the way, so to speak, so you wouldn’t sit and worry all day.”
She wanted to ask, “Get what out of the way?” But given her conversation with Nancy, she was pretty sure what. And based on Don’s proud smile, she was one getting good news today.
If only he knew that all the good news in the world wouldn’t make up for the one bit of bad news she had received last night.
She sat down and laid one hand over the other on the polished wood.
“Karma,” Don began, “Mark and I have discussed your future with Solar quite extensively in the past few weeks.”
Her gaze flicked to Mark, who met her eyes for only a second before he looked back down at the piece of paper in front of him.
“Mark seems to think you’ve got a tremendous amount of potential,” Don said. “He advises that your talents extend far beyond what even I was aware of.”
The tops of Mark’s cheeks reddened, and he cleared his throat again.
Was he thinking the same thing she was? That if Don knew about the personal time they had spent together, he would rethink his phrasing? Because knowing what she knew, Don’s comment was almost comical. Or would have been under less depressing circumstances.
Don continued. “We’re creating a new position for you. One in which you will not only function as my assistant, but also take on more responsibility from the sales team, among others. We’ve worked up a new job description for you.” He slid a piece of paper in front of her.
She read her new title: Coordinator of Administrative Services and Logistics.
As Don went down the list of responsibilities and highlighted a few of the key changes to her role, all she could think was that this had been Mark’s doing. He had given her this new title. He had seen something in her beyond their personal time together and had recommended her for this new position.
“Of course, we’re prepared to offer you a salary increase,” Don said. “We consider this a promotion.”
Kathy passed another piece of paper to Don, which he placed in front of her. He rattled off some percentages and numbers, but all Karma saw was the bold number at the bottom of the page. Her new salary nearly made her choke on her own saliva. This was no chump change. And there was an option for quarterly bonuses based on company performance.
She remembered something Mark had told her early on. He had been given carte blanche where the personnel was concerned. His human resources recommendations were sacrosanct.
Suddenly, those private conversations between Mark and Don seemed more important than anything else. He had spoken of her. To her boss. And his words had helped decide her fate. And all this time, she had thought their relationship went no further than their time outside the office.
But that wasn’t the case. He had taken care of her. Mark had seen fit to leave her better than he had found her in more ways than one.
Maybe this was his way of showing her how much he cared. He couldn’t give her his heart, but he could give her this gift to let her know that, while he couldn’t stay in body, he could at least stay in her thoughts as the one who had set her up for success and a future she hadn’t dreamed possible. One in which she made more money than she ever had, and which stuffed her resume with experience that could take her even further if she ever chose to leave Solar and pursue her writing career. Yes, she still wanted to be a journalist, but in the meantime, she didn’t have to scrape to get by. This was his way of letting her know she was special. That’s what she chose to believe, whether it was true or not. Because believing that made his leaving just a little bit easier to stomach.
Don went on about how they wanted to cross-train her in all operational tasks, including project management, as a means of furthering her potential and possibly allowing her another departmental move into an even more encompassing position if she wanted, and then they were finished.
She signed the appropriate documents and returned to her desk with a list of all the other employees scheduled for a visit with the three of them this morning. It was Karma’s job to call each person in and keep the door revolving. Some of those employees would be like her and keep their jobs, but she was certain that some would come out of the conference room not wearing such happy faces.
Jolene was one of the names on the list, and as the door closed behind her after she went in, Karma was certain that she wouldn’t come out happy, and she was right. A few minutes later, she exited with tears in her eyes and glared at Karma as she passed her desk, Kathy beside her.
“She should be the one being let go!” Jo pointed at her. “Not me. She’s—”
“Enough, Jolene,” Kathy said sharply. “Don’t make this any harder on yourself.”
Whatever Kathy held over Jo’s head was enough to shut her mouth, and they disappeared around the corner as Jolene let out a quiet sob.
After their falling out over Memorial Day weekend and during the weeks before, Karma really wasn’t surprised by the show of aggression. If anything, Jo should have seen this coming. All the signs had been there, and even Johnny had said anyone in administration should be looking for new work. But oh well. Jo wasn’t Karma’s problem, anymore.
Jo had tried to stir up trouble for her and Mark, and who knew what she would do now. She could still make waves if she wanted to, but it didn’t really matter. Mark was leaving.
Today was going to be unsettling for everyone, and come Monday, the landscape would look a lot different around Solar.
* * *
Mark had barely slept last night. He had been too sick with misery, which felt like it might be translating to actual sickness. He could see his weekend with Karma slipping away, but he would fight through it. He didn’t want anything to ruin their last weekend together.
“How are you feeling?” Don asked during the short break between employees. “You sound worse.”
“I’ll be fine.” It was a lie, of course. He was so far from being fine that he wasn’t even in the same zip code. If only things could be different. If only he could take her with him instead of leave her behind. If only Carol hadn’t torn his emotions to shreds. If only. Because then everything would be different, and he wouldn’t be so wary—no, terrified—of letting himself fall in love again.
He needed to stop considering alternative options.
It. Was. Over.
Period.
Karma was a sweet, wonderful, magnificent woman, but she would have to be someone else’s perfect match, because there were simply too many things that stood in the way between them.
One more weekend together, and then next week, he would start packing up and make the necessary arrangements to leave.
Kathy returned to the conference room and dropped into the chair beside him.
“That was fun,” she said sarcastically.
“I didn’t think Jolene would take her dismissal well,” Don chimed in.
“I’m not surprised. I pegged her early on as one who would cause trouble.” Mark riffled through the last four letters in his stack. “Let’s bring in the next one.”
Don glanced out the door. “Karma, we’re ready for the next one on the list.”
* * *
By the end of the day, long after the last terminated employee had been escorted from the building, Mark was feeling slightly better. His throat wasn’t as raw, and at last check, his eyes weren’t quite so bloodshot.
He picked up his phone and typed out a text. You’re still coming to Chicago with me this weekend?
A moment later came Karma’s reply. Yes. If you still want me to.
Yes, I do.
The screen on his phone lit with another message from her. In that case, count me in, Mr. Sicky.
He looked up and caught her eye as she grinned secretly without meeting his gaze. Even now, with the end looming, he found such joy in the simple act of texting her.
He looked back down and typed out a response. I’m not sick, but you can still feed me chicken soup and herbal tea…play nurse with me.
Do I get to take your temperature?
He chuckled. That depends, he typed.
Are you worried about where I’ll stick the thermometer?
Now he laughed. You must be psychic.
Nah. Just very good at my job.
That you are, Miss Mason. You’re good at ALL your jobs.
He looked up and met her gaze. Then she glanced down, and he could tell she was typing out a response. His phone dinged with her message a moment later.
Thank you. And thank you for whatever you said to Don. Today was such a surprise.
A welcome one, I hope. That was the intent.
Yes. Very. It means a lot to me. I can’t thank you enough.
You already have, Karma. Believe me. You’ve given me more than I ever imagined. So much so that I feel I should be thanking you. And you deserved that raise.
*hug*
Mark smiled at the simple message, and quickly tapped out his answer. *hug and kiss* I’ll pick you up at 6:00. Bring your dancing shoes and a nice dress. He would take her dancing this weekend. It had been years since he had taken a woman dancing, but it just felt right with her.
He began to pack up his things but stopped as another message came through.
And a thermometer.
He heard her stifle a giggle, surely because she had just seen the goofy, amused look on his face. His fingers danced over his phone’s touch screen.
Perhaps I should take YOUR temperature, Miss Mason. But I won’t use a thermometer if I do. ;)
It took a few seconds for her to get it, but when she did, the resulting gasp was music to his ears.
As morbidly as the day had begun, it was ending on a much nicer note. And even though by next Friday he would be gone, they still had one last weekend together. Two more days to forget about the rest of the world and enjoy one another.
On his way past her desk, with his bag over his shoulder, he gave her a secret wink.
For a few more days, she was his.
And he wouldn’t waste one more second of the little time they had left dreading the inevitable moment when he would leave for good.