Free The Other Side of Us (Harlequin Superromance) by Sarah Mayberry Page A

“What
about work?” Apparently she did.
    “You’re not going to like this, but as soon as I heard I knew
you’d want to know. Gordon came out to the studio today to talk to Phil. It’s
not official yet, but the word is that Phil’s signed on for another two
years.”
    Mackenzie closed her eyes.
    She’d lost her job. All those years she’d put in, slaving away
like a good little worker ant. All the unpaid overtime, the days she’d worked
when she’d been dead on her feet with a cold or the flu, the many, many times
she’d gone beyond the call of duty to get the job done...
    All for nothing.
    Her loyalty, her passion, her dedication, none of it had
mattered when push had come to shove. She’d been replaced.
    “Mac? Are you still there?”
    “Yes.”
    Barely.
    “I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I figured
you’d rather hear it from me than through the grapevine. For what it’s worth,
everyone thinks it’s a shitty move.”
    Everyone being the other members of
the cast, she assumed. Which also meant the whole world knew and there was
absolutely no way for her to salvage an ounce of pride out of this
situation.
    “You’ll get something else. The moment you’re back on the
market you’ll be snapped up. Everyone knows how good you are,” Patrick said.
    It was nice of him to try to bolster her, but they both knew
she’d struggle to find a position at the same level. The opportunity to produce
a successful show didn’t come up every day in the Australian television
industry—and even if something did come up, her accident and extended
convalescence were well-known in this tight-knit world. No one would want to
take her on until she’d proved she wasn’t a liability or a spent force. She’d
have to start the climb all over again....
    Despair gripped her. She could live with the fact that she
might never regain full range of movement in her arm and shoulder. She could
live with the occasional killer headache and the fact that she would never walk
with a swing in her hips again. But that job had meant so much to her. She’d
been so proud of it. She’d earned it, damn it.
    It wasn’t fair. It simply wasn’t. She’d done all the right
things. She’d always done all the right
things—worked hard, sacrificed, kissed ass, taken shit, swallowed her pride. And
a slick mountain road had taken it all away from her.
    “Mac, say something. You’re starting to freak me out.”
    “I’m okay.”
    It was such a lie she could barely get the words out her
mouth.
    “If you need me, I can be there in an hour. Hour and a half,
max. Just say the word.”
    She pressed her hand to her forehead. Her fingers were icy
cold.
    “You don’t need to do that.”
    “I want to do it. If I’d be welcome, that is. You don’t deserve
this, Mac. No one knows better than me how much you put into your career.”
    He’d blamed her work for the breakup of their marriage. Said
that she cared more about her career and proving herself than she did about him.
It wasn’t true, but the long hours hadn’t helped an already fraught situation,
that was for sure.
    “I half expected it, anyway.” She had no idea where the words
came from, or her almost-casual tone. “Gordon warned me. So it’s not really that
big a surprise.”
    Except it was, because she’d never really imagined that Gordon
would choose Philip over her. Amazing to think that after all these years
working in such a cynical industry she could still be so naive.
    “You should sue them. You’re still on sick leave, aren’t you?
They can’t just give your job away.”
    “They can. They only have to offer me something similar. One of
the game shows. Maybe the Christmas Carol special.”
    “You’re better than a game show,” Patrick said, his tone full
of disgust.
    “Listen, I need to go. My guest is here,” Mackenzie lied. “I
appreciate the heads-up, Patrick.”
    “Call me if you need to talk, okay? Anytime. Evidence to the
contrary, I’m