Rennie hadn’t believed this was her office, not even when her boss placed the keys in her hand. It wasn’t until maintenance installed the gold-plated nameplate outside the door, etched with her name, that it finally sank in. She stayed late the night it went up, well after everyone had gone home and only the glow from the auto-timed night-lights illuminated the pathways to the exits, to drag her fingers across the hollowed letters of her name, Renee Wallace. She traced each one until the pad of her index finger was sore. Years of hard work and determination came down to this moment. She had finally been recognized for her worth.
Those feelings lasted about five minutes. It wasn’t long after she moved into her new office that her coworkers started mumbling under their breath. According to gossip, the only reason for her promotion was because she had devoted herself to the job. She didn’t have kids or a spouse, nothing forcing her to leave at five or six o’clock to rush home. Day cares and schools didn’t phone needing her attention. The midnight flu didn’t force her to call in sick the next day to care for her child. The doctor’s appointments, early dismissals, snow days, or field trips taking time away from other staff wouldn’t affect her. To everyone around her, she got the promotion because she was alone, not because she’d earned it.
Years ago, when she was young and hungry for success, right after passing the bar, she made many comments about how motherhood wasn’t her thing to whoever asked when she would settle down. Rennie never saw herself with a husband and 2.3 children. The white picket fence wasn’t her lifestyle. She wanted a high-rise in the city, the weekend gala fundraisers, and the one-night stands that weren’t awkward because both parties knew exactly what they needed from each other. Her passion for sitting in her oversize chair with a cup of coffee and a good book far outweighed any thoughts of dirty diapers and teething rings.
What she wanted now was a ring on her finger. She could still do without a child, but marriage was something she found she wanted ever since she met her boyfriend at a college fair in Spokane, Washington, over a year ago. Rennie was asked to fill in for a coworker and attend the recruiting session and speak to interested interns. Public speaking wasn’t her forte, but the thought of getting out of the office for a few days excited her. She never thought a trip across the state would be life changing, but this one was. The staff who had accompanied her to Spokane set up their booth in the convention center and joked with her about how nervous she was. They assured her everything would be fine and the speech she planned to give to prospective interns was spot on. Shortly after her speech, she spoke to the students who stopped by their booth. She handed out flyers containing details about their intern program, the housing they offered, and their hiring process. In the booth next to hers, Theo Wright recruited for a whole other field: forensic accounting. The two of them couldn’t have been more different career-wise, yet as the day wore on, they smiled at each other, gravitating toward one another and flirting. Casual conversation turned into drinks at the hotel bar, which turned into dinner the next night. Rennie’s staff would later comment on the subtle touches they witnessed her and Theo exchange and how each time they brought him up on the flight home, she would smile.
Theo and Rennie lived four hours apart by car—longer in the winter—and a little over an hour by plane. They often met in Ellensburg, which was halfway for both of them, or Theo would come to Seattle to visit. Rennie rarely went to Spokane, since Theo loved the nightlife in Seattle. The vibe was more his speed, as he always told her. Every other weekend they were together, either at her apartment, skiing in Canada, spending time in the Bavarian village of Leavenworth, or walking hand in hand along the boardwalk on Venice Beach when she would occasionally join him on a business trip to Los Angeles. They were in love. He talked about leaving his job or pushing his company to open a branch in Seattle so they could buy their dream home in the coveted Queen Anne neighborhood. They talked about their future, their desire to travel together to Italy and Greece, and she showed him a condo she wanted to buy in Portugal, giving them a place to escape to when their jobs became too much.
Her promotion changed her dreams, or maybe falling in love had done so. She wasn’t sure anymore. She loved her job. She loved Theo. But neither was meeting her halfway. He was demanding of her time, as was her job. With her new role, her responsibilities doubled. She now had lawyers under her, a full office staff, and interns. People depended on her more. When Theo was in town, she was in board meetings or going over briefings. Their normal weekends together turned into her spending hours researching, reading, and highlighting. Plans they had made before the promotion were tossed by the wayside and rescheduled for another date or, more aptly, “to be determined.”
She was driven to manage her ever-growing workload and get back on track with Theo, but it was the rumors that made everything worse and had her questioning whether the corner office, pay raise, and gold-plated nameplate were worth it. Of course, the sneers she’d get from her male counterparts who had not been promoted to her current position and the backhanded comments from other coworkers suggesting she was sleeping her way to the top weren’t helping. The fact that Theo declined her invite to the firm’s Thanksgiving party hadn’t squashed the gossip surrounding her. She depended on him to be there for her, to show everyone she was happy and in a healthy relationship—that she wasn’t taking part in extracurricular activities with the president of the company or any of its senior staff—and that she could have a career and be in a committed relationship.
She sipped her gin and tonic and looked toward the Queen Anne area. There were houses for sale, many in the price range that she and Theo could afford. Brooklyn suggested they buy a fixer-upper and have Bowie do the work. They could flip and invest. Her friend made it sound so easy. They didn’t need a lot of room and could buy small, remodel, and move on to something else. When she asked Theo what he thought, he said it would be a waste of time, and he didn’t want to live in a construction zone. He, too, made sense. Their time was valuable, and with Rennie’s job keeping her at the office longer hours, the last thing she wanted to come home to at night was a dust-filled house. After the first of the year, they’d find the right house—she was sure of it.
Her intercom buzzed, and within seconds, silence filled with music and laughter. The voice of her assistant, Ester, came through the receiver. “Ms. Wallace, are you coming to the party?”
Rennie continued to stare out the window, her eyes scanning the darkened city for any sign of Theo . . . not that she could see him—or anyone, for that matter—from her office. Besides, she knew deep down he wouldn’t surprise her, not tonight and not likely over the extended holiday. Their last words had been curt. She would call him later—if not tonight, then tomorrow—and apologize and tell him that once they lived together, things would be different. It was the distance that frustrated them, not their jobs. She would promise to put work aside so they could keep their reservation at the quaint bed-and-breakfast they’d fallen in love with in Vancouver, British Columbia, so they could spend New Year’s together. Everything would be on track for them; she’d make sure of it.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” she told Ester as she stepped away from the window. She placed the glass on the corner of her desk before walking out of her office and closing the door behind her.