After the Rain- Josh Kiszka

Chapter 21- In the Dark

*Josh's POV*

Monday Morning— a day many people dread.

It's the start of the work week, the return to mundanity, the constant reminder that we are just all cogs in the machine. I had never really related to others in the commiseration regarding this particular day of the week, until today.

When I had returned back to the room at the bed-and-breakfast the previous day, Celine was nowhere to be found. I felt a huge surge of relief that I could postpone having to discuss the logistics of how we would carry on with our rather unique situation, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of disappointment regarding her absence. I longed for her whenever she was not around, as much as I hated to admit it for the time being.

So now, it being Monday morning, and having to return to work alongside one another, with so much left unsaid, I couldn't help but feel anxious about this particular Monday morning. Everything would be fine, I was sure, but I felt bad we had to remain professional for the duration of the meeting while ignoring the elephant in the room that stood between us. I knew a conversation with her would be inevitable, but I was plagued with still being stuck, not knowing how I would proceed in regard to our relationship with one another.

I got to the office particularly early, the nerves motivating me to be on time so that I could mentally prepare for having to see her. I sat in the conference room staring at the clock, anxiously awaiting her arrival. Surprisingly, my brothers had shown up to the meeting on time, and as they joined me in the conference room, they were with the company of two people I didn't recognize. The pair began setting up a presentation, and as the minutes ticked closer to the start time of the meeting, Celine never arrived.

"Good morning gentlemen! We're excited to kickstart today's session with you all. My name is Erika, and this is Francis, and we are going to be showing you what our agency has in store for publicizing your new music." A bubbly blonde, named Erika, began, commencing the meeting.

"Why isn't the rest of the marketing team here?" I spoke up, the lack of amusement at her cheerfulness apparent in my tone.

Her expression faltered briefly before she carried on, "This is the marketing team! We're here to propel you toward the final steps of the process. We're so excited that your album release is so soon!" Erika replied even cheerier than before, with a now seemingly forced smile plastered on her face.

"No, no, this is all wrong, you aren't usually the ones who run the meetings..." I objected.

"Josh..." Jake whispered, issuing me a warning to behave and not cause any problems with the people before us who were clearly just trying to do their jobs.

Celine was the marketing director for our project and even though things between the two of us were complicated at this time, not seeing her at the meeting was cause for me to be concerned. I hoped that she hadn't left the project because of me.

"Right, normally we wouldn't be here for these meetings, but the company felt as though it would be good to let some of their younger employees have a chance to practice by having some more senior responsibilities." The man named Francis, who stood beside Erika, stepped in.

"Well, frankly, I don't care. What happened to Celine? She's the director of this project, and I'd feel more comfortable with her running the meetings than I would you. Is she in the office today? I'd like for you to bring her in." I said frankly.

Erika's face went pale, and Francis set his jaw, clearly displeased with my request.

"Well?" I asked expectantly.

The room remained silent, and the energy became very tense. Francis and Erika exchanged a look but neither of them said anything.

It was then that Sam cleared his throat and spoke up, "Sh-she, um, was dismissed..." he said apprehensively.

"Dismissed? From our project?" I asked hoping for clarification.

"Yeah, uh, and her job too?" He said wincing, knowing I would be upset with this information.

"She got fired?" My eyes widened in realization, as everything about this meeting had begun to make sense.

"We aren't supposed to discuss the status of her employment with you." Francis stated sternly.

"What the fuck?" I said turning to him, feeling my anger grow as he failed to realize the severity of what I had just been told. "We're done here, you both can go now, thank you!" I said abruptly, motioning for them to head out.

"But we're supposed to—" Erika objected.

"You're supposed to do as I say, we employ you, remember?" I said harshly, cutting her off.

"Maybe we should all just take a break?" Danny suggested, clearly uncomfortable by the direction the conversation had gone.

"We're employed by the record label." Francis bit back.

"You know what? I'm going to go." I stated, getting up from my chair. "Now you can explain to the record label that you drove out the talent."

"I should've listened when Maria warned me not to take up this assignment, all celebrities are assholes." He muttered, still loud enough for all of us to hear.

"Alright, that's enough. We're seriously done here. We'll talk to our team and resolve this later." Jake chimed in, joining me in standing and signaling for Sam and Danny to do the same.

I stormed out of the room without looking back as my mind raced. I was desperate for answers that I would only be able to find from Celine. I was halfway down the hallway when Jake, Sam, and Danny managed to catch up with me.

"Why didn't you tell me before the meeting that Celine got fired, huh?" I said, smacking Sam on the arm.

"I didn't know how you'd react." He responded meekly, regretting his decision to withhold such crucial information from me.

"Clearly that plan backfired." Dan chirped, probably agitated by my outburst.

"God." I sighed, "I have to go talk to her."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Sam asked, skeptical of my plan.

"I need to know why." I stated, feeling more overwhelmed by the second.

"You should go." Jake encouraged, putting a hand on my shoulder to show his support.

I took my brother's words as the only confirmation I needed to convince me that talking to Celine was the only solution. I hurried to my car and took off from the office, anxious to get to her apartment as soon as possible to find out what had happened and what I could do to fix it.