The moment Harper threatened my job over babysitting duties, something inside me snapped. For months I’d been her unofficial personal assistant – scheduling her kids’ dentist appointments, running her dry cleaning, even reorganizing her chaotic Google Calendar. But this? This was the last straw.
What she didn’t know was that I’d spent my lunch breaks interviewing elsewhere. That very morning, I’d signed an offer for a position with actual work-life balance. Her ridiculous demand just accelerated my timeline in the most poetic way possible.
As I stood in her immaculate kitchen watching her daughters color at the table, I realized these sweet girls were just as much victims of Harper’s control issues as I was. Their father Lucas had told me during our phone call how hard he’d fought for more visitation rights. So when Harper left for her date, I didn’t just quit – I facilitated a long-overdue family reunion.
The look on Lucas’s face when he arrived? Priceless. The texts from Harper when she discovered what happened? Immediately blocked. Sometimes the most professional thing you can do is refuse to be treated unprofessionally. Now at my new job, when my boss says “thank you,” it’s for my actual work – not for being available 24/7 to solve their personal problems.
