Her tone carried a hint of impatience.
“Fine, fine, I know you worked the hardest. But we’re all colleagues — isn’t helping each other what teamwork is about? You’re being way too petty! You have no sense of team spirit!”
Petty. Small-minded. No team spirit.
Each word made my heart sink lower.
“Claire.”
“So you’re saying Jason’s success is more important to you than mine?”
Claire froze. “That’s not what I meant! Why do you always twist my words? I’m saying we should think about the bigger picture. Jason—”
“That’s enough.”
I didn’t want to hear another word.
All my desire to argue evaporated instantly.
“If you like that proposal so much, keep it. I’ll deal with the promotion review myself.”
Claire completely misread my tone, relief flashing in her eyes.
“Ethan, you finally came around...”
“That’s more like it. I knew you weren’t unreasonable. Don’t worry, Jason will remember how much you helped him this time.”
“Okay, okay, I’m going to check how Jason’s part of the project is going. You should hurry and see if there’s another project you can grab...”
She seemed afraid I’d change my mind and didn’t dare linger for another second.