A Heart to Trust, A.L. Brooks [speed reading book TXT] 📗

the stall immediately to her left came faint sniffling sounds, and her heart ached for whoever emitted them. And from the stall farthest along the row came the sound of someone furiously tapping on a cell phone.

Not ready to cry and certainly not ready to share the news with anyone else, Jenny simply sat and stared at the back of the stall door.

TC Productions had been sold, and neither she nor any of her peers had any idea at the moment what that meant for them. Would she have a job to come to in the morning or not? And if she didn’t, what the hell would she do? It was like hanging onto a cliff edge, the stone crumbling beneath her fingers.

Jenny’s anger at the hopelessness of her situation surged, and she swallowed down the bile in her throat. I might be okay. It might be other teams that lose people. At least Adrienne would be all right, leaving at the end of the month for her big move to California.

Jenny’s heart skipped a beat. She remembered how weird Adrienne had been about telling her the all-staff meeting was scheduled and that she had to attend. Had Adrienne known something? And if so, why hadn’t she warned Jenny? She would have thought, after all these years together, she deserved better treatment than that. Her skin flashed hot and cold with anger. Though a small part of her mind registered she was directing her fury for the situation at the wrong person, there was only one place she wanted to be.

After exiting the restroom, she stomped along the hallway back toward her cubicle and veered left at the last moment to rap loudly on Adrienne’s door. At the tired, “Come in,” she pushed the door open and stopped herself from slamming it behind her.

Adrienne was in her chair but pushed back from her desk with a single piece of paper in her left hand. Her head was propped in her right hand and her arm leaned on the chair arm. “Jenny, I—”

“Don’t!” Jenny held up one hand as she marched into the center of the office.

Adrienne sighed and threw the piece of paper onto her desk. “Have a seat.”

“I don’t want to sit!”

Adrienne’s eyes narrowed. “Then at least have the courtesy to lower your voice.”

The coldness in her tone brought Jenny up short, and she sucked in a breath, finally realizing how close her behavior was to insubordination. “I’m sorry.” Her shoulders slumped, and she pushed a hand through her hair in frustration.

“Please. Sit down.” This time, Adrienne’s tone was warm and understanding.

Jenny fought back tears. She sat on the comfy chair on the visitor’s side of Adrienne’s desk and exhaled, willing the tears to stay locked behind her eyelids.

There was a short silence between them, and then Adrienne said, “I found out late last night. All the senior managers like myself who hadn’t been part of the negotiations were summoned to a meeting with the CEO and informed.” She sighed. “They’ve been working on the deal for weeks. I’d been aware of late-night meetings but just assumed it was all project related, and I never heard a whisper from anyone in the industry that this was on the cards. I honestly didn’t know, and even once I did, I couldn’t say anything because they made us all sign nondisclosure agreements.”

Jenny leaned back in her chair and breathed slowly. No point staying angry with Adrienne given what she’d just heard. “I understand.”

Adrienne’s expression shifted to one of concern. “You’ll hear it from HR soon, but yours is one of the jobs under threat. I’m very sorry. I’m not even supposed to tell you, but I don’t care right now.”

Jenny’s heart pounded, and her stomach flipped. “Shit.”

“Indeed.”

“What…” Her mouth went dry. She swallowed and tried again. “What will happen to me?”

“I’m not sure exactly, just that all production assistant jobs are up for review, as well as all admin-level posts and a handful of managers at my level.” She shrugged. “They’ll want to streamline and get economies of scale where they can. Buying TC is great for them—they’ve wanted to get more involved in sports, and this is an easy way for them to do that. But that doesn’t mean everyone from TC will be happy.”

“I bet you’re glad you’re already leaving.” Jenny couldn’t help the hint of bitterness that crept into her tone. It was bad enough knowing she was losing Adrienne as a mentor and manager. She’d never have imagined her own job would soon be at risk too.

“I can’t lie—yes, I am. I wouldn’t want to get into a fight for a position, not now. In fact, I know I’ve made it easy for them in that respect. One less headcount to worry about.” She hesitated for a couple moments. “Are you okay?”

Jenny, who had been trying to get her erratic breathing under control, snorted. “No, not really. To be honest, I’m panicking.” Her stomach did cartwheels. She wondered where the nearest drugstore was; she was in desperate need of some antacids.

“Hey.” Adrienne stood and walked around her desk to place a comforting hand on Jenny’s shoulder. “Please don’t panic.”

Jenny exhaled three times, Adrienne’s warm hand still pressed into her shoulder. “I’m sorry for coming in all angry and, you know, shouting.”

“It’s forgotten. It was understandable. And I’m sure you aren’t the only one in their boss’s office right now.”

Jenny nodded, her breathing calmer. “Probably not.” She thought of the mystery woman crying in the stall next to her in the restroom. “God, people are going to lose their jobs. This is awful.”

Adrienne backed away and sat against the edge of her desk. “It is. I’ve been through something like this once before, maybe twenty-five years ago. It’s not pleasant.”

Before Jenny could respond, Adrienne’s phone rang. She glanced at the display and sighed. “Right, that’s Harper from HR. I imagine she’s looking for you. Did you get a chance to see when your appointment was for?”

Jenny nibbled her