I'm a medical software consultant and I travel a lot. Based in Atlanta, I spend one week in Atlanta, then the next week in New York, then back to Atlanta. Back and forth; New York, Atlanta, New York, Atlanta. Simple schedule. Chad, my Atlanta boyfriend, called it the, "week on, week off" schedule, but he was just trying to be funny. Nick, my New York boyfriend just called it, THE SCHEDULE. Neither of them knew about the other one, and that's how I wanted it. To keep things separate, in neat little boxes.

Everything was going fine, and the balancing act became almost routine. I really cared about both of them. A lot. They seemed to care about me. They were so different from each other. It was strange and exciting and I loved it, but when I was with Chad, sometimes I'd think about Nick. And sometimes with Nick, I'd think about Chad. I pushed away my pangs of occasional guilt and suppressed the stray confusing thoughts and feelings. We went places, did things, and the sex was great. Sometimes, I reminded them that my career came first. They accepted that and all was well. Until the disaster.

You see, it all started go bad when the new sales manager changed my schedule. Serena was hired in to take over the sales department and you could tell from day one she was the stainless steel panties type. I admired her success and take charge attitude, but not her constant bitchy abrasivenesss. It got on my nerves, so I stayed out of her way and did my job. I could succeed without being hated. Things were quiet, until one horrid Monday two months after she took over the department, she called me into her office.

As I sat down across from her, she smiled her biggest insincere smile. "Gina, I'm sorry, but I'm changing your schedule."

She handed me a file folder. "Denver."

Fear chilled my stomach. "But my clients are here and in New York."

"I know, dear, but Julian has left and there's no one else to serve the clients in Denver. And since you've been doing so well, we thought you'd appreciate the opportunity to shine."

I swallowed hard. I'd heard Julian talk about the Denver bunch and from his horror story descriptions, they were all tough, demanding, and unreasonable. Even worse, they were all very small, producing little in the way of sales. Shine, my ass. She was setting me up to fail. But why?

"Denver is so small."

"All customers are valuable. And I'm sure you can expand sales and expand the territory."

"But..."

"Here's the schedule. I've already gone over it with the travel department and they have your tickets and reservations all arranged."

Her sicky sweet happy voice made me want to gag. I looked at the page in alarm. One week in Atlanta, one week in New York, then one week in Denver, then back to Atlanta.

"Serena, this is a lot of travel."

"It's only temporary, dear. Just until we find a replacement for Julian and train her."

"How long?"

"Only a couple of months."

I shook my head. "I don't know..."

Suddenly, her eyes went cold and her voice dropped. "You know what the economy is like, but if you can't handle it, we'll have to find someone who can."

I recognized her threat instantly and nodded. There was nothing else to do. I needed this job and needed time to get re-organized. I managed a small smile. "I'll try. I'm glad to help."