Don’t Let Me Break by Linda Verji
CHAPTER 1
~ 17 Years Later ~
Meetings had never been Marley Carter’s thing.
They involved too many people in one place, too much talking, and worst of all, being asked too many questions. But her employer, About It, was all about meetings.
The people in this company loved them. Any opportunity to gather together, they grabbed with open hands and annoying enthusiasm. For them, it was a chance to escape the doldrums of their desk-jobs and snack away while chatting with each other.
Even the meeting room had been designed so that people were tempted to stay it longer. The space was gigantic as was the white, square table that dominated it. Colorful, comfortable seats surrounded the table. One wall was all floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out into the sky scrapers that filled Philadelphia’s skyline. Another wall was dominated by a large TV that constantly played videos created by the various teams in the company. At the corner of the room was a long table that was constantly stacked with snacks. It was no wonder that once teams stepped into this room, they were tempted to draw their meeting out infinitely.
About It Home, the team that Marley was currently assigned to, was especially fond of meetings. At least once every day, they found a reason to gather. Sometimes, they met even more than once. That, of course, didn’t count the number of times they left their desks to shoot videos for their channel.
What were the agendas of these meeting? Sometimes it was to brainstorm. Sometimes it was to update each other on the progress of their various projects. Sometimes, it was to get a scolding. Basically, things that could be easily done via email!
Even the meeting that was currently in progress was, in Marley’s opinion, an utter and complete waste of time. Xavier Shivers, their channel manager, didn’t need to call a meeting just to discuss the status of tomorrow’s planned videos. He could’ve just shot the concerned parties an email. But alas, here they were.
“Is the video on ‘how to create your own artwork’ done?” Xavier, a lanky, bespectacled, white man in his early thirties, asked Quinn Fisher, the presenter for their show ‘Smart DIY’.
“Yeah!” Quinn, a slender, petite, dark-skinned black woman in her twenties, nodded. “It’s done. Marley already sent you an email with the edited video for approval.”
Xavier turned surprised eyes turned to Marley. “You did?”
“Check your email,” Marley returned quietly. She wanted to add ‘which is something you should’ve done before calling this unnecessary meeting’, but couldn’t sound out the words.
“Oh, that’s great then.” Xavier turned to Dawn Johnson, their lead writer. “Is the blog post written?”
“Yes!” Dawn’s answer held more than a hint of irritation. The heavyset, light-skinned black woman with short hair and several piercings, scolded, “If you actually read your emails, you wouldn’t be asking me that.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Xavier apologized, but his blasé attitude as he flipped through the documents in front of him said that he wasn’t really. His focus turned to Vicky Mandel, the presenter for ‘Fix My House’. “You guys are done with the Olly Harrelson video, right?”
“Yes.” Vicky, a white, bottle-blonde in her late twenties, nodded.
Penn Mitchell, one of the crew’s cameramen, chimed in, “I sent Felix what we had for editing.”
“You sent it to me?” Felix Tan, the other editor in their team, asked. Anyone who saw Felix could tell that he was gay. His flamboyant fashion, exaggerated gestures and shrill voice pinged gay radars from miles away. He gave Penn a surprised look. “When did you send it to me?”
“Yesterday,” Penn, a slender, white, thirty-year-old-man, said. “I even told you that I’d sent it while we were having lunch.”
“No, you didn’t,” Felix protested.
Here they go again. Marley sighed on the inside. Penn and Felix were infamous for their acrimonious relationship. No one knew what was up with them, but the gossip mill around the office was betting on unfulfilled sexual tension. Yes, Penn was gay too, just not as in-your-face about it as Felix was.
“I sent it,” Penn insisted. “Eugene and Ivan were there when I did.”
Eugene Martinez, a tall, curly haired Latino with glasses, nodded. “I heard him tell you.”
“I heard him too,” Ivan Ellis, Vicky’s co-host, chimed in.
“Well, you heard wrong,” Felix retorted sassily. “Nobody told me anything.”
Penn started, “I tol-”
Vicky cut him off with, “Maybe you told Marley.”
The hell! Marley sat up straighter. Why were they trying to drag her into this mess when all she was doing was sitting quietly and minding her own business? Unfortunately, she wasn’t the most vocal person, so all she could do was wait and see how this played out.
“No,” Penn insisted, “I told Fel-”
“You must’ve told Marley,” Dawn jumped into the fray. Pointedly staring at Marley, she added, “Felix would’ve remembered if you told him.”
It was no surprise that Dawn and Vicky were trying to get Felix out of hot water. Those three were like bread, jam and peanut butter; inseparable. Everyone in the office called them the three witches behind their backs.
It was also no surprise that they were using Marley to save Felix. As the only other video editor on the team and a shy one at that, she was the perfect target.
“Yo, stop trying to throw Marley under the bus,” Eugene immediately came to Marley’s defense.
“I’m not,” Dawn returned. “I’m just saying that if Penn told someone, it would be Marley.”
Penn tried again. “Like I said, I told Fe-”
“Okay, okay, okay, kids. Let’s settle down.” Xavier chose that moment to intervene. “So what I’m getting here is that the video isn’t edited, right?”
Several sulky faces nodded.
“When is it scheduled for upload?” Xavier asked the team’s intern, Zion Phasuk.
Zion, a slender, black and Thai man in his early twenties with dyed platinum blond hair, said, “Tomorrow evening.”
“Okay, so we’ve still got time.” Xavier turned to Penn. “Send the files to Felix again.”
“No way,” Felix protested before Penn could answer. “I’m working on Amber Sienna’s ‘Open Door’ video.”
“Isn’t that scheduled to be uploaded next week?” Zion asked. “You have a lot of time to work on it and this one.”
“Uh-uh.” Felix shook his head. “It’s a large file. Send Olly’s video to Marley.”
Marley could’ve reminded the team that she was also working on another video that was due a day earlier than Felix’s. She could’ve scolded Felix for trying to pass his work to her just because he knew that given the deadline, it would require overtime tonight. But as usual, she couldn’t speak up and defend herself.
After lots of back and forth with Dawn and Vicky defending Felix, and the rest of the team trying to save Marley while she watched in horrified silence, the winners emerged. It was the witches. The video landed in Marley’s lap.
As the team exited the meeting room and walked out into the hallway, Felix sidled next to Marley to say, “I’m sorry, girl.”
Perhaps the apology would’ve seemed more sincere if he wasn’t smirking as he sashayed away to join his ‘sisters’, Dawn and Vicky.
“God, I hate them,” Eugene said as he patted Marley’s shoulder in consolation.
I hate them too, Marley thought. I wish they’d just disappear.
“You should’ve said no.” Zion came up behind them. “If you don’t stand up to them, they’ll keep treating you like their housekeeper and making you clean up their messes.”
I wish I could say no too, Marley thought.
“One of these days I’m going to send an anonymous email to HR about them,” Eugene threatened. A moment later, he offered, “Is there something I can do to help with the editing? I can free some time to help you.”
“Me too,” Zion chimed in. “My afternoon is free if you need help.”
Even though Marley appreciated their offers, she hated working in teams more than she hated doing overtime. So she shook her head. “No, I’m good. Thanks for offering though.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Ivan rushed over to join their group. “Did you guys hear about our new Editor-In-Chief?”
“I thought Ben was supposed to take the job?” Quinn chimed in as she joined them too.
“Nah!” Penn jumped in too. “I heard they were looking for someone outside the organization.”
Soon everyone around Marley was wrapped up in the company’s latest gossip. Marley wished she could participate too. A couple of times, she even opened her mouth to ask a question or add something. But as usual her timidity overwhelmed her, and she found herself just walking silently beside her colleagues as they enthusiastically conversed.
It sucked to be her sometimes.
Correction, it sucked to be her a lot of times.
The team emerged into the main floor of the company.
About It was about fun and openness, and their headquarters reflected it. The main office was divided into two levels. Level one was a large, circular, open area that held workspaces for most of fifty-plus staff. Level two contained the executives’ glass-walled offices and was completely visible from the lower level. Any one of the execs could stand on the balcony of level two and have a panoramic view of everything that was going on in level one.
Marley settled at her desk, waiting for Penn to send her the video so she could start working on it. She’d just received a video when there was a sudden commotion. She looked up from her computer to find that everyone’s attention was on the upper floor. Three men had just emerged from one of the offices there.
The first man was their CEO and founder, Omar Powell. Omar was a handsome man by any standards. Though he was in his early forties, the chocolate-skinned, six-foot tall, bald man had quite a few admirers in the company. Walking on Omar’s left side was the company’s Managing Editor, Ben Thompson. Early fifties, overweight, graying hair, pale-skin… definitely not GQ cover material.
However, the man walking on Omar’s right side could have the whole magazine. He was hot… the kind of hot that got women and some men panting, sweating, and fanning themselves. Handsome was too tame a word to describe his facial features. It was better to call his looks arresting, as in, they held one hostage and never let go. Once you saw him, you couldn’t stop looking. His skin was naturally tanned to a delicious olive tone to match his dark as coal, wavy hair that licked at the collar of his white shirt.
Though he was wearing a suit like Omar and Ben, it was obvious that the man was working with a great body underneath. The light gray suit clung to his tall, athletic frame and broad shoulders perfectly and lovingly.
Instantly, he had everyone’s attention. Even Marley’s.
They watched him keenly as he, Omar and Ben took the stairs down to the main floor. Omar didn’t even need to draw attention to himself because everyone’s eyes were already on them. In fact, half of the staff members were already standing in anticipation of an introduction to the beautiful man.
“Guys, guys.” Omar clapped twice. “I have an announcement to make. We finally have an Editor-In-Chief. Everyone-” He gestured to the man on his right. “- this is Sebastian Levy, formerly of Avenue Z, now ours.”
An instant buzz swept the room.
“That’s Sebastian Levy?”
“Oh my God.”
“What’s he doing here?”
“He’s our new Caesar?”
“Why is he so hot, and is he single?”
They had all heard of Sebastian Levy. Though few had met the man behind the name, he was a legend in their field. He was the shadowy brain behind Avenue Z’s rise from being just a small-time click-bait site to their current position as one of About It’s toughest competitors.
“Yes, yes, you’re right.” Omar grinned proudly. “This is that Sebastian Levy. Sebastian say hi to my people.”
“Hi.” Sebastian waved. His voice was just as seductive as his looks. It was deep and melodic, the kind of voice one could imagine saying very dirty things in the middle of the night. “I can tell from your faces that you already know me and I don’t have to send you all my résumé.”
That earned him chuckles from everyone around.
“It’s great to be a part of About It.” Sebastian smiled, and Marley felt her heart stutter. Oh, what a beautiful smile he had. He added, “Omar here tells me that you’re an enthusiastic, results-driven team, and I’m really excited to get to know each one of you better and to work with you all. Since I’m a rookie at this thing-”
The laughter this time was even louder because a rookie was the last thing he was.
Grinning, Sebastian continued, “-I’m counting on you guys to help me out. Take care of me.”
Thunderous applause followed his last statement. Marley found herself clapping along with her colleagues. Maybe her claps weren’t quite as forceful and enthusiastic as everyone else’s, but she was right in there with them. Something about the man just made her want to smile and applaud.
Omar cut into the clapping, “As is usual, we’ll have a party to welcome our new exec member. Day? Tomorrow. It’s a Friday, so we can meet in the evening after work then party until the crack of dawn.”
Several people cheered enthusiastically. Those who didn’t cheer grinned like Christmas was on the way, which was technically true. Omar knew how to throw a party.
Omar continued, “Location? Callery’s because they’ve got the best alcohol and food. What do you have to bring? Nothing, especially not a plus one. I’m broke.”
Raucous laughter met that cheeky ending.
“Now get back to work, kids!” Omar ended the impromptu meeting with two claps.
As the three men left the main floor and headed back to level two, Marley couldn’t take her eyes off Sebastian. He was a dreamboat, the kind of man every woman wanted to attract the attention of. But even as she watched Sebastian, Marley knew that hers was just an empty, impossible fantasy.
A man like Sebastian Levy would never notice, much less be attracted to a woman like her. She was a mere cog in the big machine that was About It, and not even a beautiful one at that. Compared to her many attractive and boisterous coworkers, she was wallpaper. If Sebastian was anything like their previous Editor-In-Chief, he would never even know that she existed.
With a sigh, she turned back to her work.