Unfinished Ex (Calloway Brothers, #2)(91)

As if there isn’t enough already.

Leaving the bathroom, I bump into Jenny. “I was just looking for you,” she says. “I thought you might have left.”

“I’m on my way out.”

“Xuan Le and Barry would like to see you in Xuan Le’s office.”

I’m being called to the president’s office. This is big. I keep myself from touching my stomach. I fear that’s the reason they want to see me. Clarice warned me Barry would be onto my wardrobe changes before anyone else.

“Thanks, Jenny. See you tomorrow.”

Shuffling my feet on the way to the eighth floor, I contemplate everything I’m going to tell them. I pass Makenna’s dressing room and notice activity inside. My breath catches. Are they cleaning it out?

She’s due to be back in two and a half weeks. Oh my gosh. Is she leaving? Are they going to offer me her job? Suddenly my feet are no longer dragging as I practically skip the rest of the way. This would be the answer to my prayers. Two full days off every week. Home by six Wednesday through Friday.

And Jaxon would be home on the weekends. We’d only need three days of childcare.

I knock and Xuan Le calls me in. I haven’t been in her office since I first started here. It’s huge. It takes up an entire corner of the eighth floor, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.

There’s a wet bar on one side, a conference table on the other, a seating area larger than my living room, and four big-screen televisions embedded in the wall behind her desk.

“You’re in a chipper mood for a Wednesday,” Barry says in his normal clipped manner.

“It’s hard not to be when you love your job.”

A little sucking up never hurt anyone.

“Sit,” Xuan Le says, motioning to the chair beside Barry, whose face looks to be in a permanent scowl.

Making sure my bump isn’t showing when I sit, I try not to seem too excited.

“We wanted to talk to you before word got around and rumors started flying.”

I pull my sweater tightly around me. “Okay.”

“As you know, Makenna Kendall is set to return the first of the year.”

“Yes, of course.”

But she’s not? I try not to bounce in my chair.

“In fact, you may have seen them outfitting her office with baby shit,” Barry says. “She actually wants her nanny to bring the kid here for feedings. This is a place of business, not a damn wet nursery.”

“Barry, must you be so anti-feminist?” Xuan Le says. “I might remind you we are well into the twenty-first century now.”

Wait, wait, wait. I had this all wrong. This is them telling me I’ve been a great team player and how grateful they are to have had me here and good luck in my future endeavors.

I paste on a smile, even though I want to cry. “Yes, I saw them working. You must be thrilled to be getting her back.”

“We are,” Xuan Le says. “But there’s been a new development.”

“Oh?”

“Brenton Carmichael turned in his resignation two weeks ago.”

“Brenton? The chief meteorologist?” I want to slap my hand against my forehead, because obviously they know he’s the chief meteorologist. I’m stunned, and breathless as I wait to hear what they say next. Because what I think they are going to say is that Tom Killian will take over the nightly news, and Makenna will move to the daytime slot, leaving weekends for me. It’s perfect. This is going to work out just as I’d hoped.

“I’m not going to get into his personal details, but he has cited health reasons for the decision.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

And while I truly am, part of me feels like a traitorous opportunist, salivating over what they’re about to offer me. The baby flutters. She must feel my excitement.

“Here’s how this has played out,” Xuan Le says. “Tom is being promoted to chief meteorologist, leaving the weekday morning weather anchor slot open.”

“Makenna will be perfect for that,” I say.

Xuan Le and Barry share a look. “That’s not really the direction we were going.”

I stiffen. “What?”

“We want you to be XTN’s new weekday weather anchor.”

I put a finger to my chest, stunned. “Me?”

“Don’t look so surprised,” Xuan Le says. “You’ve done a spectacular job. And don’t worry about any bad blood between you and Makenna. When she heard about Brenton leaving, she came to us preemptively. As a new mother, she didn’t want the added hours or pressure of morning weather anchor. As a mother, I get it. It’s a huge commitment. But between the three of us, the job was never going to be hers. We love Makenna, and she’s a valuable part of the XTN family, but she doesn’t quite have what it takes to be an anchor. We believe you do.”

Barry rolls his eyes. He’s reluctantly going along with this. Over the past months, I’ve come to realize he views all female meteorologists as weather girls, preferring humans with testicles to be in such positions.

Xuan Le pushes a packet across the desk. “Here’s our offer.”

While paging through, my excitement wanes when I realize what will be expected of me. In addition to the early morning hours five days a week, it specifically cites things like traveling to the Olympics, embarking on a state-by-state weather broadcast marathon, and co-hosting the third morning hour on a more regular basis than my predecessor had.