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I paused for a moment in front of the framed photos ofthe executives of Cody Technology. My photo was up there, though no one would identify me as the same clean-cut go-getter in the frame at this point. I was a scraggly shadow of myself. No wonder Rob’s secretary hadn’t recognized me. There also was a picture of Dad—Adam, my mind quickly corrected. He looked smug, I thought, and my mind darkened. I felt my fists clenching as I stared up at him, and I had to force myself to take a few deep breaths and turn toward the elevators.
The receptionist jumped up again as I entered, but she didn’t speak to me or try to force messages into my face. I tried to give her a look that was slightly friendlier than a glare, but doubted I succeeded.
I didn’t stop to say anything to Rob’s secretary, though I probably owed her an apology, too. I made a mental note to send her some flowers. That was the coward dick move men made when they didn’t want to bother with actual conversation. My own secretary glanced at me as I pushed through Rob’s door, but I closed it behind me and she didn’t follow. Pamela, I think her name was. Nice girl. Another Adam hire—he’d moved her up here from another department just before the accident.
“You’re back.” Rob’s voice was flat and emotionless.
“Don’t look so happy to see me, sunshine.”
Rob stood and shook his head, and then made a show of moving a potted plant back from the edge of a small table where it sat by the door.
“Your decorative greenery is safe. I came to apologize.”
“I don’t need an apology, Oliver. I’m not your fuckinggirlfriend. I’m your business partner, and I need the goddamned CEO to do his job. Did you know Tony was getting ready to leave? He’s taking half the board with him, too. Screaming at him the other night probably sealed the deal.”
My vision darkened. “Fucking weasel.”
“Whatever.” Rob rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “The point is, if you want to leave this place still functioning—which I’d appreciate since I still want to work here—then the board needs to see you here, and the company needs to land a major deal to buy back some confidence. Once things are solid, you can sell if you want to. I’ll figure out a way to buy you out if the board will let me, or I’ll bring in a new partner. But it doesn’t matter if the first two things don’t happen soon . . .” He shook his head and stared out the window, a crease bringing his dark eyebrows together.
I didn’t want to think about what would happen. I wasn’t ready to come back, I couldn’t find it in my withered soul to care much, but I really didn’t want to see the company fail, either. A lot of people depended on Cody Technology for a job. I just didn’t want to be one of them. I stared at an architectural print on Rob’s wall, trying to form my thoughts into something coherent and useful. My voice came out like a rasp. “I don’t know what I can do, man.”
“You can come back to work, Ollie.” Rob’s voice was softer, and I let myself find his eyes. Rob and I had been friends since we were kids, and I noticed with a shock that he looked older suddenly, deep lines around his eyes and down the sides of his mouth. Had I done thisto him?
I shook my head and pulled my gaze from his. “I will.” The office carpet muted my steps as I paced the perimeter of Rob’s office. “But not right now.”
“Fuck, Ollie!” Rob lost his temper. His face reddened and he stormed toward me. “When? I’ve been as fucking patient as I can be! I can’t keep this up!”
“I know,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I appreciate everything you’ve been doing, I do . . . I just . . .” I felt drained, and the energy needed to explain was more than I could summon. I shook my head and shrugged, and then turned around. “Sorry,” I said. At least I’d managed to apologize. Kind of.
I walked through the heavy office door, letting it slam shut behind me. Rob’s secretary was still cringing at her failure to recognize the CEO of her company, and she quickly blurted out another apology as my own secretary jumped to her feet and came around her desk.
“Sir?” she said in a crisp tone. Pamela was a nice girl, pretty in a classic put-together way. Quiet, timid. “I have a few . . .”
“Not now,” I growled, waving her away. Against my better judgment, I glanced at her face as I stalked by. Her wide eyes were full of fear, but there was a glimmer of something else on her face, too. Something I didn’t expect. Anger?
I stared at her for a minute. Maybe she wasn’t so timid after all. She was pissed. She didn’t like being treated like a worthless peon. Good for her. Maybe she had more backbone than I’d given her credit for. Not that it mattered.
Just as I approachedthe reception desk, Tony’s office door opened and the little prick came waltzing out, looking self-important as ever. I turned back around and stepped in front of him. “Oh, hey, Tony.”
“Hey, Oliver.” He looked uncertain, probably wondering if I was going to toss any more ornamental plants in his direction.
“Just dropped in to let you know you’re fucking fired.” I turned and walked away, wishing for some glimmer of joy to erupt inside me at having just done what I’d been wanting to do for years.
It took him a couple seconds to process, but as the elevator doors closed, I heard him saying, “Wait, what?” I texted Rob to let him know I’d made a CEO decision. Figured he’d be proud.
I rode the elevator down to the lobby, trying to feel something. Anger, irritation, sadness? As I descended, I vaguely wondered how long a person could merely exist in the world before something had to change. Nature abhors a vacuum, right? And I was a vacuum of humanity.
I stood in the lobby for a long moment after stepping out of the elevator. I knew Rob needed me. And he’d need me even more now that I’d given Tony the ax. But I wasn’t ready to come back, and no application of will was going to change that.
Just as I turned to leave, Pamela stepped out of the next elevator and marched over to me, her chin in the air.
“I was trying to tell you that I had some messages for you,” she said, her voice level but thin, like a knife’s edge. “But you walked away. Which was rude.” She raised aneyebrow at me and thrust a book full of message slips at me.
My hand reached out for it before I could stop it, and I took it from her. “Sorry,” I said automatically.
“I copied each of these into an email for you as well,” she went on. “But you haven’t checked your email in several months, according to the system admin I asked.”
“Right. Thanks.”
