Nick recovers first. “What the fuck, Sadie.” He reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. “I’m so sorry. That’s completely fucked up.”

“Did Bill say anything?” Harley asks. “Give you any kind of explanation?”

Gemma throws her arm around my shoulder. “What explanation is there other than nepotism and the patriarchy?”

I let myself sink into her hold for a second, then pull myself upright. “That’s not the end of it.” I take a sip of my cocktail. “I sort of blew up in the meeting and dropped a bunch of F-bombs, and he fired me.”

Their mouths drop open in perfect synchronization.

Gemma speaks first. “What a fucking dick.”

“The crazy thing is, until today, he totally wasn’t a dick. He gave me a job right out of college. He’s always supported me. He’s never once hit on me.”

Nick scoffs into his beer. “He’s not a dick because he’s never hit on you? Is the bar really so low?”

“Yes,” the three of us answer in unison.

Our server brings over an armload of plates, laden down with appetizers, saving Nick from a lecture on the evils of men. The server piles everything in the middle, and we all dive in, everyone helping themselves. I order another drink because all this food is going to dull the slight buzz I’ve worked up between my first cocktail and the wine I had back at home, and we absolutely can’t have that.

“What are you going to do?” Harley hands me a fried chicken slider, as if she knows I’m going to need some carbs to soak up the alcohol I’m planning on imbibing.

I shove half the slider in my mouth in one bite, avoiding answering her question. A question I’ve been asking myself since the moment Bill made his announcement. I finally swallow and shrug, as if this whole situation isn’t the most devastating thing that’s happened to me since I left home for college. “I have a little bit in savings, so between that and credit cards, I’ll be okay for a couple months while I look for another job.” Because instead of finally getting out of debt, now I’ll be falling farther down the hole.

Gemma pounds her fist on the table, making the silverware jump and the glasses rattle. “Fuck that. Seriously, Sadie. Fuck that. Think about how many hours you’ve given these people. Given them, because they sure as fuck haven’t paid you for all of them. Not even close. Think about how many dates you turned down and vacations you didn’t take, going into the office sick and never getting enough sleep, and this is how they treat you?”