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“He’s... not happy,” he answers. “Especially after he, too, was reprimanded for his highly inappropriate presentation.”
“And Paige?” I ask. “What about her?”
Kingston takes a deep breath. “She’s still fired,” he says.
No.
No, fuck that.
“No,” I say.
“Oliver...”
“I don’t agree. Reinstate her instead.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Bullshit,” I say through my teeth. “She needs her job more than I need mine. You know about her mother, right?”
“Yes, I know about her mother.”
“Then, why aren’t you fighting for her?”
“I did, Oli,” he says. “They wouldn’t budge.”
“So, I get off with a slap on the wrist. How is that fair?” I ask.
“It’s not,” he says. “But it’s the deal they have given you. I suggest you take it. Paige will be fine.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do. So does she.”
“No.” I glare at him beside me. “You told me to find a woman whose dreams mattered more to me than my own. Now, you’re telling me to ignore her dreams in favor of my own? What sense does that make?”
“Do you know what Paige said today when Graham told her she’d lost her job?” he asks.
My stomach clenches. “What?”
“He said the first words out of her mouth were about you.” Kingston stares me down. “Her immediate thoughts, in the face of her own personal downfall, were about you and your well-being.”
“Yeah? So?”
He exhales through his nose. The answer, obvious. “So, she loves you, Oli. Love like that doesn’t happen every day. It’s precious, but it requires compromise and personal sacrifice — something Paige obviously understands more than you do right now.”
“This wasn’t her fault. It was mine,” I say. “I should be the one sacrificed here. Not the other way around.”
Kingston rises off his stool with a smirk. “Trust me, Oli. You’ll get the chance. Someday. That’s what love is all about.” He pats me on the back. “Now, finish your drink. Then, go get cleaned up and get back to work. It’s what she wants you to do. Hell, it’s what most people in this company want you to do.”
He gives my shoulder a final squeeze before walking away and leaving me to my thoughts. I sit still for several minutes, drinking and staring at the wall as our conversation sinks in.
This isn’t fucking fair.
“Hey, Doc,” I say.
Doc sidles over from the other side of the bar. “Yeah, boss?” he asks.
“Can I get a bottle of wine?” I ask.
