Trainwreck 2 (Trainwreck #2) Read Online Free Page A

to buy me lunch. I didn’t have much of an appetite but agreed to it anyway.
    We headed up to the commissary located on the fourteenth floor, which was shared by all the toy manufacturers in the building. The lines weren’t too bad, and after we ordered, we found a table easily.
    “Do you want to talk about it?” asked Fernando over the Chinese chicken salad we were splitting.
    I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I can’t yet.”
    The truth is I wasn’t ready to tell Fernando that my evil boss was Ari’s evil ex-wife. I might never tell him; Ari’s private life meant too much to him, and he meant too much to me. Fortunately, my companion, who usually wanted to hear about everything that was going on in my life, didn’t press me for more information. After another bite of the salad, I addressed the other crisis in my life.
    “I need to come up with some ideas for boys’ toys for the bitch by the time she gets back from lunch. My mind is a total blank.”
    “ Ay, caramba! Let’s think.”
    By the time we finished the salad, we had six solid ideas. My favorite was one I had come up with: Combat Wombats…a team of marsupial superheroes from Way Down Under who fought to save the environment from evil polluters. I had a hunch Ike Abrams, the head of the company, would like the catchy name and latch on to the pro-social educational element. I almost threw in a Brain Train concept, but I wasn’t going to give the bitch something else that was mine.
    Fortified and confident, at least when it came to my assignment, I returned to my desk following lunch. Secretly hoping that Ari had called again, I checked my messages. Not one. Just a single message from Catherine’s masseuse confirming her Friday appointment. My heart sank. I quickly hung up the phone at the sound of her voice.
    “Your desk looks much better.” She smirked, pleased all the flowers were gone. “Can I assume you came up with some fresh boys’ toy ideas?”
    “Yes,” I murmured.
    “Good. I assume they’re on my desk?”
    “Um, uh, I have them here,” I stammered.
    With a roll of her eyes and a sharp snap of her fingers, she ordered me into her office. I grabbed the file with my toy concepts and followed her inside.
    “Take a seat,” she said as she stood before her gold leaf mirror, brushing her shimmering waist-length black hair. Catching sight of her reflection, I noticed how much she resembled the bestselling Poutz dolls she created, pouty lips and all. She narrowed her eyes. “Let me hear what you came up with.”
    All the confidence I had just minutes ago flew out the door as I did what my intimidating boss asked, lowering myself to the chair I sat in earlier. She said nothing as I explained the six concepts, except “next” after each one. When I was done, she sat down at her desk and glared at me.
    “Well, Sarah, to be honest, I’m a little disappointed that you could only come up with six ideas. Thankfully, there’s one I like—Fancy Pantz. I’ve always thought there should be a complete line of boys’ fashion dolls. Little boys need to learn how to dress well at an early age. Maybe we could name each of the dolls after a famous fashion designer…hmm…Yves, Calvin, Alexander, and Oscar.
    As depressed as I felt, I had to bite down on my lip to hold back my laughter. Fernando threw that one in as joke.
    She dismissed me from her office. As I headed toward the door, she called out to me. “Sarah, subsequent to our little tête-à-tête this morning, I can assume you will not be testing out any of these concepts on my son, correct?”
    Her son! The child whose life she almost ended! More times than once! Rage pulsed through my bloodstream. It took all my willpower not to shove the file down her throat. I stomped out the door, slamming it behind me. By the time I reached my desk, my rage had dissolved into grief. I was never going to see Ari—or Ben—again.
    I spent the rest of the afternoon heavy-hearted, typing up the toy