Chapter 2The Hustle Queen

The next morning, I woke to bright sunlight streaming through my window. For the first time in weeks, my body felt light and refreshed.

A wave of joy washed over me. The sleeping pills had worked.

But a second later, a sharp pain shot through my temples. My vision went black, and my knees slammed into the floor. A violent nausea roiled in my stomach, as if I’d spent the night chugging cheap liquor.

I knelt over the toilet, dry-heaving, my hands trembling as I pulled up Valerie’s social media feed.

Her latest post was from 3 AM.

“Still going strong at the club! A Long Island Iced Tea and three shots of tequila down, and I can still party all night!”

I stared at the screen, a metallic taste rising in my throat.

She used alcohol to fight off the sleeping pills.

No wonder I felt like I had a raging hangover. She hadn’t slept at all. She’d been drinking all night.

When I finally dragged myself to the office, I found Valerie, her makeup flawless, holding court as the center of attention.

“Valerie, you were out until 4 AM and you still look this good? You’re incredible!”

“Seriously, I’d be dead on my feet!”

Valerie tossed her hair, unable to hide her smug satisfaction. “What can I say? I’m just built different. Alcohol doesn’t really affect me.”

Her eyes darted to me, and she covered her mouth in mock horror.

“Oh my god, Hannah, you look terrible! Don’t tell me you were out all night again?”

Every head in the office snapped in my direction.

“She looks like a ghost!” someone blurted out.

I stood in the doorway, my face chalky white, my lips a sickly shade of gray, the dark circles under my eyes like deep bruises.

“I…”

I started to speak, but a wave of dizziness hit me, and I nearly fell.

Valerie rushed to steady me. “Hannah, you have to take care of yourself. You can’t let your… nightlife… affect your work. You’ll slow down the whole team.”

Her words shifted the atmosphere instantly.

“So that’s why she’s always so tired lately. Her nights are more exciting than her days.”

“She acted so professional before. The second she gets a promotion, her true colors come out.”

“Who knows what she’s doing all night? Probably busy chasing guys.”

The whispers came from all sides, but I didn’t even have the strength to argue. Looking at Valerie’s phony, concerned face, I couldn’t figure out how she was doing this.

But I couldn’t just wait around to die.

Suddenly, an idea came to me. I went straight to the boss’s office and handed in my resignation.

He slammed his hands on the desk. “Hannah, you’ve been sleeping on the job for weeks! I should have fired you already, and now you have the nerve to quit?”

“Fine! You walk out that door today, and I’ll make sure you’re blacklisted in this entire industry!”

I didn’t hesitate. I walked out without looking back.

My colleagues didn’t bat an eye at my resignation. Only my supervisor, Diane, stopped me.

“Hannah, I trained you myself. I know you’re not the kind of person they’re saying you are. Is there something going on that’s affecting you?”

My nose stung, and I nearly burst into tears. Diane had been my mentor, the only person who still seemed to believe in me.

“You fought your way out of a small town and worked yourself to the bone to make it in this city. Are you really going to give all that up now?”

I clenched my fists. Of course I wasn’t. But before my career, my future, my dreams… I had to stay alive.

“I’m sorry, Diane. I have to resign.”

Back at my apartment, I drew the curtains, turned off all the lights, and prepared for a long, deep sleep. If sleeping pills didn’t work, then I would just cut myself off from Valerie completely.

Surely, she couldn’t transfer her exhaustion to me then.