Page 108 of Pretty ’n Peak

He didn’t say it like he was curious about Austin’s destination, a colleague spotting his bag and making small talk or, gasp, showing genuine interest in his life. It was more of a why are you leaving at six when there’s an emergency?

“I’m going to a friend’s art show.”

Because there was always going to be an emergency. That was something Taja had helped him see. His company had a history of pushing updates too fast without sufficient testing, and he’d signed up to be in the hot seat for their bad planning.

She said it sounded like working in emergency medicine—it could be a high for people who loved triage, but there were a lot of other options out there.

“You going to be in tomorrow?”

It was Friday night, for fucks sake.

“No,” he replied, for once not caught up in all the adrenaline surge of “saving” the company. “It’s down near Salem, and I’m staying the night. There’s a friend I want to catch up with.”

“Did you put it in the calendar?”

There was a spreadsheet where they all noted blackout dates when they wouldn’t be available. The one that Ryan had ignored three weeks ago when he called him at the Cuffd retreat.

How had Austin never noticed how bad this situation was?

Had it always been this bad?

Or had it just come as a good excuse not to deal with the failure of his previous relationship?

The job at Cuffd was looking better and better.

It would definitely be a pay cut. But what did it matter if his colleague—not even his boss—was giving him shit about leaving at a reasonable hour on a Friday night?

“I put it on the calendar. I even mentioned it at the production meeting before the new release went live.”

“Shit.”

Austin had nothing to say to that. Ryan would definitely be working more hours because Austin wasn’t there. They were both paid for the same job.

But he didn’t care.

Maybe he hadn’t cared in a long time.

And maybe, he was finally starting to realize, that was the right attitude. Not because of who he was, but because the job wasn’t sustainable for someone who wanted a life outside the office.

“Hope it goes well,” he finally said, getting a noncommittal grunt in return.

He strode to the elevator, intentionally bypassing his boss’s office.

It was petty, avoiding that corridor. And maybe a little bit sneaky.

But he was starting to feel angry.

Not just irritated that the schedule was always impossible, or annoyed that the company had once again pushed a new release that wasn’t ready.

He was truly angry.

There was always the excuse of being short-staffed, and just waiting for some new hires to jump in… but the turnover wouldn’t be so high if it wasn’t such a miserable place to work from the beginning. He’d noticed that anyone who wanted to have a family jumped ship, and most of his colleagues were always on the job hunt.

He’d prided himself on his commitment though, seeing it as a symbol of success that he could handle any challenge with calm and diligence.

But clearly, some companies—like Cuffd—didn’t require that of their employees. They managed to plan things so that their employees could have a work-life balance.

It just… it wasn’t fair. And it wasn’t right.