Open At Your Own Risk Chapter 06
At three on Sean’s first day gone, one of my longest-standing clients called.
“Jenna. I heard Sean’s no longer at the studio?”
Polite tone. But I could hear her feeling it out.
I set down the wax carving in my hand. “That’s right. He’s left. Going forward, all custom work goes directly through me and the design team.”
Two seconds of silence. Then she laughed.
“Well. That’s a relief.”
I laughed too.
After I hung up, Riley leaned in and dropped her voice. “Jen. Did you know? Every time a client came in, Sean would insist on sitting with them for half an hour.”
“Talking about what?”
Riley rolled her eyes. “How much he understood art. How well he ran a business. How much he’d sacrificed for the studio. Clients hated it.”
I couldn’t hold in the laugh.
After that day, things just started running smoother.
Sean used to say clients came for his connections, and the brand ran on his charm. But he was gone, and no client left. No supplier walked. No employee even considered leaving. The studio actually got more efficient.
Five p.m. Chloe knocked. “Jen. Sean’s here.”
I was mid-sketch. “Does he have an appointment?”
Chloe blinked, then smiled. “No.”
“Then send him away.”
She turned to go. A minute later I heard Sean’s voice in the hall, tight with anger. “Jenna. Since when do I need an appointment to see you?”
Chloe: “Sorry, Mr. Archer. Ms. Wynn is busy.”
A beat of silence. Then he shoved the door open. Chloe followed helplessly. “Jen, I tried.”
I waved her out. “It’s fine. Give us a minute.”
Sean stood in the doorway. His eyes were bloodshot.
“Something you need?”
He rasped, “Jenna. Do you really have to take this so far?”
“Which part.”
“Firing me.”
“Standard contract termination.”
“You cut off all my access.”
I laughed. “Cutting access is literally what termination means. Are you okay?”
He went pale.
I closed my tablet.
“Sean. The studio is mine. Not ours. Certainly not yours. You got to stand here because I chose to trust you. I don’t anymore.”
He was quiet for a long moment. Then, softly: “Jen. I thought about it all night. I admit — the open relationship thing, I didn’t consider how you’d feel. But you and that Leo guy hurt me too.”
There it was.
His apology came with but you also—
“If Leo didn’t exist, would you think you did anything wrong?”
He froze.
“If yesterday I’d cried and accepted Zoe, if I’d stepped aside for her again today — would you be here apologizing?”
His throat worked. He didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
He didn’t regret hurting me. He couldn’t stand that I had someone too. He couldn’t stand that the rule he made had backfired on him first.
“Sean. Don’t come find me anymore.”
His eyes reddened. “You really stopped loving me that fast?”
“Honestly? I’m starting to find you annoying.”
He stood there like someone had nailed him to the floor. After a long time, he asked quietly, “What about our seven years?”
I said, “Chalk it up to seven years of temporary blindness.”
At the door, on his way out, he threw over his shoulder: “Jenna. I’m going to win you back.”