4: 4
That night, Zachery didn't come home.
Instead, one after another, photos of him kept popping up on Alice's feed.
The two of them out at a movie, then living it up at a bar.
I didn't scream or make a scene the way I used to. I just blocked every one of his contacts.
Once that was done, I scrolled to the very bottom of my contact list and dialed the number there.
"Is it still possible to enter the bid? I'd like to join under my own name."
There was a clear pause on the other end, then a firm yes.
"Sure. You're certain you've thought this through?"
"Ever since your mother got sick a year ago and you stepped back, I figured you'd handed everything over to your boyfriend for good."
"Honestly, out of your whole company, the only proposals I trust are the ones you write yourself. I'm looking forward to what you bring tomorrow."
The call ended. I glanced at the time. Ten at night.
The bid was at ten the next morning.
There was time.
And so I sat down, and I stayed there for eight straight hours.
The moment the new proposal was finally finished, my whole body ached.
But inside I was burning to go.
First thing the next morning, I went straight to the bid venue.
The second Alice's crowd saw me, the snide remarks started.
"Well, if it isn't Manager James. Weren't you too good for our proposal? What are you doing crawling back to piggyback off us? Some nerve."
"Let's get one thing straight. If we win this bid, there's not a cent in it for you. You were selfish enough not to care how we felt, so why should we care about you, right?"
Alice listened to them fawn over her, grinning ear to ear.
Then she smoothed her expression and stepped closer.
"Amelia, honestly, we're not heartless people."
"If you're willing to bow ninety degrees and apologize to us, we could think about splitting you a few hundred in bonus. Generous, isn't it?"
I laughed, rolled my eyes right at them, and turned to go find my seat.
Then a hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.
I turned to find Zachery glaring at me.
"Alice is handing you a way out, and you're still putting on this act?"
"Amelia James, quit spitting on a favor. Making a spectacle of yourself out in public like this."
He yanked me so hard I stumbled, and the small of my back slammed into the corner of the table.
The pain shot through me. I sucked in a sharp breath and went white.
Something like regret flickered in Zachery's eyes, and he reached out on instinct to steady me.
I slapped his hand away.
"Don't put your filthy hands on me."
"And another thing. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be fit to stand in this room. What gives you the right to lecture me about anything?"
Zachery choked on that, and was just about to explode.
Then, out of nowhere, Alice burst into tears.
"Amelia, please, don't fight."
"I'm sorry, it was my fault, I shouldn't have stolen your thunder."
"Amelia, you can hit me, you can yell at me, I'll even just hand the proposal over to you."
She looked so pitiful about it, as if I were some workplace bully.
The way everyone in the room looked at me changed on the spot.
Someone yanked me hard from behind, I don't know who.
I stumbled and hit the floor.
Then people started hurling the decorations meant for the event at me.
"You make me sick, acting like a drama queen all day."
"People like you are the worst, always stirring things up, never letting anyone have peace."
The whole room dissolved into chaos.
Security got there in time and shouted for it to stop.
"What do you think you're doing? Do you have any idea how expensive these decorations are?"
Alice's little hangers-on couldn't have cared less.
"Please. Who do you think you're talking to? We're about to win this bid. A little money like that, we'll pay you back when the time comes."
Only after repeated warnings from the staff did they settle down and submit their proposal.
As Alice left on Zachery's arm, she couldn't resist one more dig at me.
"Amelia, don't blame us for not giving you a chance. Winning this project comes with a five hundred thousand dollar bonus."
"Since you look down on us so much, well, there won't be any of it for you."
With that, they swaggered off, the whole group of them.
As if winning the bid was already in the bag.
Ten minutes later, the staff read out the result.
"The winner of this bid is the Y Group."
Everyone looked lost.
"Who's the Y Group?"
Alice shot to her feet. "We won. I named my proposal after the first letter of my name, Alice."
"The Y Group is us."
They shrieked with excitement and threw their arms around each other.
The executive came forward with the wreath. Alice, thrilled, stepped up and started to bow.
But the man walked right past her and set the wreath on my head instead.
"Congratulations. I have high hopes for you on this project."
