Fridays are usually the easiest days of the week. Not today. I’ve been visiting clients all morning. There’s buzz that Claire Solis is leaving 23 Media Inc. and moving to New York. I knew our customers loved her, but not to the point of sending them into panic mode because of some unfounded news.

I don’t know the source of the rumor, but I need Claire to come back right away. I told her to take a couple of days off, not the entire fucking week. We have work to do. Shit to fix.

When I arrive at the office from my last meeting, I find Devon sitting on the leather couch.

“What the fuck do you need, Evans?”

“And he’s still breathing fire,” he says, staring at me. “What the fuck is going on with you?”

“Have you been able to get in touch with Ms. Solis?” I question, because she’s ignoring my calls. 

“Should I remind you that after we fired her, she quit?”

I shake my head. “She quit, I suggested she take a couple of days off, and whatever you and Gary said is not relevant.”

“You can’t undermine me. We’re a team.”

“We can’t lose her,” I snap.

I can’t lose her.    

He crosses his arms, tilts his head, and squints.

“Unless,” he pauses. “There’s a reason why she has to stay. Is there something you’d like to share with me, your best friend?

“Like?” I raise an eyebrow.

He grins. “Maybe she’s the magic pussy you left behind in Cancun.”

“You’re a fucking asshole,” I say, and dial her number one more time, but as it’s been happening for the past couple of hours, it goes to voicemail.

“She’s not coming back,” he insists. “Gary handed me a list with her current clients. If they leave to follow her, we’ll sue.”

I comb my hair with one hand, what the fuck is wrong with Devon?

“On what grounds?” I say.

“My guess is she’s trying to open her own shop and we have a non-compete clause in her contract.”

I wouldn’t sue her; I want to tell him.

In fact, I want her back. What if he’s right?

She’s not coming back, and this is all my fucking fault for crossing the line with an employee. There I go again, using my company as an excuse when the real problem I’m dealing with is I’m losing her, and I have no idea how to fix this shit.

Starting with an apology. “Call me if you need me.”

He sets a hand on top of my laptop. “You can’t be leaving already. We have work to do.”

I glare at him, snatching my computer. “I have a personal situation that needs to be fixed now.”