Here's To Us [Shourtney]

18. I'm sorry, the class is over; my cat's been arrested.

Hey, how you doin'?

WOAH. This is the final week of Here's To Us. I'll save my emotional farewells for the Author's Note at the end of the book (which has an epilogue by the way, so don't forget). But main point of it is: this wouldn't be Here's To Us if it weren't for you guys. I am super glad to have written something that brings joy to a community that loves and gives joy back.

I've been having a hard time sleeping lately, but some lovely people here gave me some techniques in getting some good sleep. I'll try sleeping earlier hopefully! Hurrah?

Anyway, lettuce start, shall we? Courtney's POV and see ya!

-/-/-

There's nothing more awkward than sitting in a room with your spouse, your friend-boss, and your two 42-year-old company heads on New Year's Day, all of you no longer intoxicated and all of you looking like you had just gotten home from seven consecutive rave parties.

"So," Rhett mumbles, glancing at Ian and Link, "honestly, I don't know where to start. I mean, it's three in the morning. My wife and my kids headed home a couple of hours ago."

"So did mine," Link says. "They told me they were too tired, but Christy told me to just stay for a while in here. You can already tell 2021's going to be the year of the tired."

"I don't have a wife... or kids," Ian remarks, slightly frowning. "But anyway, that's not the issue right now. Let's talk about what had happened in Vegas ten months ago, how we found out, what you've been doing since then, and how we'll deal with this situation."

"Friendly reminder, we're not your villains here," Rhett adds, crossing his arms. "But the gravity of your sanction depends on how you plan on explaining yourselves. Now, romantic relationships aren't really much of a deal, but as this is a professional environment like other offices, we do consider it probably... banned?"

"Prohibited maybe?" Link asks him. "It's frowned upon, basically. When Ian, Rhett, and I were signing the contracts last last year, we had made it clear that office relationships were not allowed. But since we know what had happened was an accident, it's still up to you two, Shayne, Courtney, to explain what has happened after your Vegas mistake. So first, what happened that evening?"

I glance at Shayne, who was only looking at his feet and not meeting anyone else's gaze. Not even mine. I take a deep breath and decide to explain, "So as you know, we celebrated one year of being here at Mythical through a Vegas trip. Shayne and I individually got intoxicated, we got married drunk, and then we fell asleep in the same bed afterwards. Nothing sexual happened, just wanted to throw that out there."

"Do you agree with this, Shayne?" Ian says to Shayne.

"Yes," he mumbles quietly, still not looking up.

"Okay, that's good that nothing more happened," Rhett remarks, scratching the back of his head. "What means did you use to resolve this matter?"

"We hired a divorce lawyer the morning after," I answer. "Atty. Lopez told us to gather documentation for the next few months, which resulted into me moving into Shayne's apartment for documentation purposes. We also explained what had happened to our families probably a month ago to mine and a week ago to Shayne's."

"How is the divorce going?" Link asks, nodding.

"Um, well, I guess," I reply a bit nervously. "I mean... it's undergoing the process now, and if it goes smoothly, we'll be divorced by February. I moved out of Shayne's apartment yesterday."

Ian sighs and continues, "Who else in this office knows about what had happened aside from the people in this room?"

"Damien," Shayne and I answer in unison.