Picking Up The Relationship Trash

food. The noise was a dull roar, a welcome distraction. I found Danny

," he said, giving my sho

sports and work, but my eyes kept scanning the room. I wa

heard h

by her friends. She looked fine. More than fine. She was

dn't see me. One of her friends, Chloe, was tal

a ten-year relationship over

? That's what she

was casual, dismissive. "He just got dramatic and walked out. He'll b

ts like this sometimes. A little po

boyfriend. My friends in the booth went quiet, all of t

ding the situation; she was rewriting it, making me the villain

er there right now," Danny

haking my head. "I

ar figure push through the crowd toward Olivia'

. He was

d in and whispered something in her ear, making her laugh again. He looked so

ed back to Olivia, completely dismissing me. He had won.

the bar felt suffocat

he subject line was "URGENT: Project File Corruption." My stomach dropped. It was the project I wa

a had helped him get-had been assigned to assist with the file man

was corrupted. All the renderings and design sp

t had t

ly. "I have to go

"Go. We'll han

o the door when

h! W

urrying after me, his

I don't know what happened. I was just trying to clean up the server

boss is going to kill me. I'm going to get

, just like he always did with Olivia

right? You have local copies on your laptop, don't you? You

s, to cover for him. He had likely deleted the files on purpose, a final act of sabotage to create a

, the word c

h, please. You have to help me. Think about

again. The final, pathetic

, my voice dangerously low. "You wanted the

rowed with concern. "What's going on? Lia

er, his ultimate trump card. "The project files are gone, and he ha

r eyes filled with the same dis

as an accident. Are you really going to let him lose his job out

etween me and him, between my professional integrity and his

his, a perfect team. The e

no lingering doubt, no "what if." There was just the c

e doorway. I didn't look back. I had a long night of work ahead of me, rebuilding a projec