For two years, I haven’t had a life. I’ve been the first one in the office and the last one out. I salvaged our biggest client account when it was about to tank. My boss, Jennifer, told me repeatedly during my reviews: “The Director position is yours, Annie. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
I believed her.
Then came yesterday’s team meeting.
Jennifer stood at the head of the table, beaming. “I’m thrilled to announce our new Director of Operations,” she said. My heart started pounding. I sat up straighter.
“Everyone, please congratulate… Tyler.”
The room went dead silent. Tyler?
Tyler is the guy who takes two-hour lunches. Tyler is the guy whose spreadsheets I have to secretly fix every Friday so the department doesn’t look incompetent. Tyler is 26 and has been here for eight months.
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. I looked at Tyler, who did a mock salute. “Thanks, Jen. Drinks on me tonight!”
I almost quit on the spot. But I needed the paycheck. I decided I would go in early the next day, get my portfolio together, and start applying elsewhere.
I came in at 6:30 AM this morning to grab some files from the shared server room. It was empty, but Jennifer’s company iPad was sitting on the console table, left behind from yesterday.
Just as I walked past it, the screen lit up with a notification. It was an iMessage.
I know I shouldn’t have looked. But when I saw the sender was “Tyler,” I couldn’t help it.
The preview message read: “Can’t wait to celebrate my new salary at your place tonight, babe. Don’t forget to wear that black thing I like. 😉”
My blood ran cold.
It wasn’t merit. It wasn’t experience. I lost two years of hard work because Tyler was sleeping with the boss.
A sickening feeling washed over me, followed quickly by pure, hot rage. I realized I had a choice: walk away quietly, or burn it down.
I chose fire.
We had our quarterly presentation with the CEO at 10:00 AM. Jennifer was running late, so she asked me to “be a doll” and load the presentation onto the main screen for her.
I loaded the presentation. Then, I quickly AirDropped a screenshot from my phone onto the presentation computer. I inserted it as the very last slide.
The meeting went on for an hour. Jennifer praised Tyler’s “potential.” Finally, she got to the end. “And that concludes our Q3 outlook. Any questions for me or our new Director, Tyler?”
She clicked to the final slide.
It wasn’t the “Thank You” screen. It was the screenshot of Tyler’s text about celebrating his salary in her bed.
The silence in that room was heavier than anything I’ve ever experienced. The CEO put on his glasses, leaned forward, and read the screen. Then he slowly turned to look at Jennifer, whose face was bright purple.
I stood up, slid my ID badge across the table toward the CEO, and said, “I think I’ll take my talents elsewhere. You two seem busy.”
I walked out of the building feeling 50 pounds lighter. I don’t have a job tomorrow, but the look on Jennifer’s face was worth more than any promotion.