"I'm sorry?" Reece said, stopping at the door.
"You heard me." Autumn said. "I can't fucking believe this."
"I'm on my way." Reece said, hanging up the phone.

Reece ran out to his car, getting in and driving to Marjorie's nursery. He white-knuckled the steering wheel, and sped his way through a few red lights. He arrived at the nursery and speed walked into the office, finding Autumn on the phone.

"And what gives you the authority?" Autumn said, grabbing a pen. "We'll see about that."

Autumn angrily hung up the phone and looked at Reece. Reece stood in the doorway, the anger radiating off of him.

"How." Reece muttered.
"I was getting the paperwork together. I had to stop by the third nursery and get the last of the stuff to file it. Came back here, looked through the papers and saw the reversing of Marjorie's pay rise and board membership. And guess whose name was signed at the bottom." Autumn said, leaning back in her chair.
"Siobhan?" Reece asked, rolling her eyes.
"Worse." Autumn said. "Janice."

Reeces jaw dropped. He put his head in his hands and scoffed, looking back down at Autumn.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." Reece said, crossing his arms.
"Dead serious." Autumn said. "For once, I have no idea what to do."
"Have you called Mia?" Reece asked.
"Nope, not yet." Autumn said, shaking her head.
"We merge next week, right?" Reece asked, sighing.
"Yeah. Papers signed and everything." Autumn said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What the hell do we do?"
"Fuck." Reece said, resting his head against the doorframe.
"Call Mia. Get her over here." Autumn said. "I'll call the solicitor and see if we can do anything. Also, call Marjorie. She needs to hear this in person."
"Okay. She's at Chars right now. I'll see if she's done there." Reece said, stepping out into the hallway.

Reece dialed Mias number first, and started pacing the halls.

"Helllllooooo Reecey." Mia said.
"Not the time." Reece said. "You need to get over to Marjorie's nursery now."
"Okay. Why?" Mia asked. "I'm not going that easily."

"You—- Marjorie just lost her board permissions. And her pay rise has been reversed. Janice's name is all over this. She must have sneaked into the third nursery and signed all of this. Wouldn't put it past my dad to have his stench all over this too." Reece said, fiddling with the hem on his shirt.
"What the actual fuck." Mia yelled. "I'm on my way."
"Okay." Reece said, hanging up the phone.

Reece sighed and dialed Marjorie's number, praying she would pick up. She didn't, so he frantically called Charlotte.

"Hi Reece." Charlotte answered.
"Hey. Is my girl still with you?" Reece asked, trying to sound normal.
"Yeah. She's cleaning up. She just finished my hair. Why? What's up?" Charlotte said, starting to get worried.
"Tell her to come to the nursery. Tell her to stay calm for now." Reece said.
"Okay. I'll come with her. You're scaring me." Charlotte said, grabbing her keys.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's better if she hears this in person. Thank you Char." Reece sighed.
"Okay. I'll see you in a few." Charlotte said, hanging up the phone.

Reece shut his phone off and sighed, walking back into the office. He found Autumn at her desk with her head in her hands.

"Aut?" Reece asked.
"He didn't answer. I'll call first thing in the morning." Autumn said.
"Mia, Marjorie, and Char are on their way." Reece sighed. "I can't fucking believe this."
"Same." Autumn said, looking up.

Mia, Marjorie, and Charlotte arrived at the same time. Charlotte had a concerned look on her face, Mia looked like she was ready to kill someone, and Marjorie had a worried look on her face. Reece watched the three of them walk down the hall, and into the office.

"What's going on?" Marjorie asked, kissing her teeth. "You called Mia too. What the hell happened???"
"Gorgeous, you might want to sit down for this one." Reece said, placing a hand on Marjorie's shoulder.
"I'm fine standing." Marjorie said. "Go on. What happened. What is so important that all of us are here?"

Reece looked at Autumn and nodded. Autumn stood up from her desk and sighed, telling Marjorie what happened. Marjorie froze, putting her hand on her chest.

"Marjorie?" Autumn asked, looking at her best friend with concern.

Marjorie didn't respond, instead she just collapsed to the ground, sobbing. Reece caught her right as she fell, holding her tight. Marjorie was devastated. All of that hard work for nothing. Standing up for herself to her boss, a complete waste. Fifteen years, for nothing. Autumn looked at her best friend sobbing on the floor, and walked out of the office. Mia and Charlotte went after her.

"You're fucking kidding me." Charlotte said. "Janice did this? Roger did this?"
"Yeah." Autumn said, turning around. "Wow, Char. Using foul language."
"In this case, it's necessary." Charlotte smiled.

"What are we gonna do? For once, I'm stumped." Mia said, rubbing her hands through her red hair.
"I don't know." Autumn said. "Seeing Marjorie like that...... I can't. She's my..."
"Person. She's our person." Charlotte said, tearing up. "Our person is hurt. She needs us more than ever. She's always there for us, and we need to return that energy."
"Yeah." Autumn said, pushing her glasses up.
"On second thought....." Mia said, trailing off. "I might have an idea."

Meanwhile, in the office, Reece was still holding a distraught Marjorie. Marjorie had stopped crying, and was now staring into space.

"I'm so sorry gorgeous." Reece said, going to kiss her temple, but Marjorie swerved.
"Hmm." Marjorie hummed, wiping her tears.

Reece nodded and sighed, gently rubbing Marjorie's back. Marjorie pursed her lips and muttered something.

"What babe?" Reece asked.
"Why me." Marjorie whispered. "Am I not good enough?"
"Oh Marjorie." Reece said, tilting his head to the side. "You're more than enough. I promise you that."

Marjorie closed her eyes and started sobbing again, Reece pulling her in closer. Marjorie clung onto Reeces hoodie, hitting him with her fists. Reece kissed her forehead and continued holding her, letting her get it all out.

"No, that could work." Autumn said, leaning against the wall. "I have a few words for her."
"Me too." Charlotte said, crossing her arms.
"See? I'm a genius." Mia said, tapping her head. "I have brains. Not just beauty."
"Not the time." Charlotte said through gritted teeth. "I'll go check on them."

Charlotte walked in the office and saw Marjorie and Reece still sitting on the floor. Reece looked up at her, his bright blue eyes now a shade of navy. Charlotte nodded and walked over to them, motioning for Reece to get up so Charlotte could take his place. Reece gently slid out and got up.

"Hey." Charlotte said, rubbing her back.
"Hi." Marjorie whispered.
"I'm sorry." Charlotte said, kissing her temple. "I'm so sorry."
"It's whatever." Marjorie said, choking up.
"It's not whatever." Charlotte said, hugging Marjorie.

Marjorie started crying again and Reece walked out of the office. He had his head down as he walked towards Mia and Autumn. He rested against the wall, sliding down. He started sobbing, putting his hands over his face.

"I can't—-" Reece said through sobs.
"I know." Autumn said, sitting in front of him.

Mia sat down next to Autumn, and put her hand on Autumns knee. Autumn started crying too, and looked at Mia. Mia even started crying.

"We'll fix this. She's our person. We can't lose her." Autumn said, wiping her tears. "We've got this. We've got her."
"Exactly." Mia said, sniffling. "We got her."

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A/N— by far the saddest chapter i've written. apologies for any emotional damage caused<33