I sit for less than a minute before I rush out of the conference room. Scurrying as quickly as possible down the hallway I strutted through less than an hour before, I duck into my office without meeting any eavesdropper’s looks. The few personal items I keep on my desk—a color-coded planner, my college diploma—get hastily tossed into my purse. I lovingly cradle my air plant in my arms, attempting to gain even a breath of solace from my spiky green friend.

The door to my office opens before I have the chance to escape back out into the hallway.

For a minute, I just look at Margo. My mentor, the woman who took me under her wing and has always had my back—until today. I hold my stuffed purse in front of me like a shield. “Did you know?”

She sighs and tugs on the cuff of her right sleeve, her nervous tic. “I heard a rumor, but I didn’t think it was actually true.”

I wait for her to say something, anything, to offer a small word of comfort, even though I know comfort isn’t her style. “Why didn’t you say anything in there? You hung me out to dry, Margo.”

She bristles at the accusation. “You hung yourself out to dry with your inexcusable outburst, Sadie. Do you know how bad you made me look? Did you even think about how your behavior would reflect on me as your mentor? How selfish are you?”

I almost laugh because I know exactly how selfish I am. Margo sure as hell isn’t the first person in my life to tell me.

But selfish or not, I know I just got screwed over. “I watched a man who hasn’t been here for five minutes take the position I rightfully earned over the past six years. But my words were inexcusable?” I move to push past her, beyond ready to be free of this place.

She blocks my path. “Sometimes you have to take what you’re given and make the best of it.”

I stare at her for a second, not fully believing what I’m hearing. Shaking my head, I pull open the door to my office for the last time. “Fuck that.”

I practically run to the elevator, my finger hovering over the button for the lobby before I think better of it and hit the one for the next floor up, where the HR office lives. The chances of my scraping a reference out of this are slim, but I’ll at least have to try if I have any hope of finding another job in finance.