Businesswoman Chapter 96

Lisa Rose Conway looked at the number on her smartphone. It displayed seven figures. She inhaled sharply. Then, she pushed out the air as if she were on the bench press. Never in her life had she seen such numbers. She put down the phone and looked at it. She surveilled it, thinking it suspicious, not fully formed to the constraints of reality.

Lisa walked around the room seeking to make sense of this. She knew she put in the work. Every ounce of effort had been poured into her work. She never slouched. All of what she did she became part of her being. As she observed the fifteen hundred dollar a month rent, she knew that greater things lay just before her feet.

But pangs of guilt wracked her. She wanted to be a team player but knew that Loreen was the star of the show. Never once did she think her boss had been overbearing or unkind. Loreen always showed her the way of doing tasks with care, focus, and even wit.

She sat at the foot of the bed, cradling her phone like a precious gem.

Then, she thought about how even with her three businesses, she only made six figures and really five figures after taxes. Her mother’s medical bills popped on the dashboard in her mind. Her father’s own foray into business stymied her. The ache of wanting to help her parents, although they did not share her ideals, hampered her.

A tear dropped onto the screen. Her thumb streaked it and then she found a tissue.

After a few sniffles, Lisa strengthened. Her chin remained level with the floor and she took to her desk like a leopard leaping on prey. She opened her tablet and began to divvy all of her earnings.