Page 67 of A Shared Mind

“Hi, Justin. Go on inside. How’ve you been?” Sharmaine’s smile was definitely one of the things I’d miss.

“I’m great, Sharmaine. Thanks for asking.”

I knocked twice on Steve’s door and went inside. He held up his finger as his desk phone’s receiver rested in the cradle of his neck. “So, it was just a vagrant?”

Whomever was on the other end of the line responded, though I couldn’t hear it.

“Yeah, I’m going to list it. I can’t have people breaking in, even if they didn’t do any damage. Thank you for calling. If you don’t mind, keep the house on your watch list, please, Chief. I’ll reach out to the realtor tomorrow.”

He hung up and turned to me. “Hi, Justin. How was your vacation?”

“It, uh, it was g-good.” In my mind I heard Clay telling me what a strong person I was, so I sat up straighter in the guest chair and swallowed down the rush of nerves.

“It was good. I went to”—don’t say St. Louis. Someone just broke into his mother’s house in St. Louis—“New Orleans for a few days. Anyway, I’d like to discuss Clay Fines’ portfolio. You see, I’ve met someone, and I’m going to be moving. I’ll be turning in my resignation today. I’m available to work remotely for the two weeks if there’s something you’d like me to help with, and I’d like to take Clay’s portfolio with me. You see, he and I are a couple n-now.” I hung on almost all the way to the end.

“Oh, good. I mean, I’m happy for you. I guess he told you about his relationship with my late son, Hunter. The guy was so crushed when my son was killed, and we felt bad for him even though we didn’t—. Uh, that doesn’t matter. When he asked if we’d manage his portfolio, I didn’t want to say yes, but I felt bad for him.

“Look, Justin. I’m not going to speak badly about Clay. He’s a hard worker and a hell of a nice guy. I don’t believe my son would have become a veterinarian if it wasn’t for Clay, but that’s a moot point now. You may definitely take his portfolio with you, and I’ll have Sharmaine email you a termination of service letter for our files. Have him sign it, and please mail it back. We’ll send the file to you after you return the signed letter.”

“Thank you, Steve. I appreciate how much of a role model you’ve been for me. If you hear of any small businesses looking for a financial planner, send them my way, will you? I mean, only clients who are too small for Korr Financial Services. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you and learning the business. You’ve taught me things I didn’t learn in business school, so thank you.” I stood to leave, shocked when Steve stood up too.

“Wait, Justin. I want to say that it’s been a pleasure working with you. You’re a very bright young man with an amazing intuition for good investments. That’s nothing I can teach anyone. If you ever want to come back, I’d take you in a minute, and I’m happy for you and Clay. I like him, but I just didn’t see him and Hunter as a good fit. I hope I haven’t offended you, but I had hope that Hunter would take over for me when it was time for me to step down.” Steve extended his hand for me to shake and I did.

I wanted to tell him that his little speech didn’t absolve him of his bigotry, but I wouldn’t waste my time. I had a wonderful man waiting for me and a beautiful future to start. Steve Korr wasn’t worth my time anymore.

I took the stairwell to a lower floor and headed toward my office, smiling as I walked the hallway and suppressed the urge to flip the bird to all the pompous assholes in offices along the way.

When I stopped outside my door, I heard laughter coming from inside. It was amazing how all the people I held dear to my heart had seemed to fall in love with Clay, too. He was absolutely perfect, and it seemed like a lot of people agreed with me.

I opened the door to see Viviana wrapping a stapler in tissue paper before putting it in a box. “That’s not mine, Viv. That belongs to the company.”

She smirked and turned to Clay. “See, honest to a fault.” She then turned toward me. “You’re going to start your own business, and you’ll need supplies. I can promise you nobody will know or care that I’m giving you a few office supplies. Now, how was it with Steve?”

“He was very nice about it. He accepted my resignation, and he’s going to send Clay a letter of termination of service so he can sign it and then the file will be released to me. Can I give Sharmaine your name to forward it to me?”

Viv walked over to where I stood and tipped up on her toes to kiss my cheek. “I’ll do anything you need, Justin. Please stay in touch. I’d love to come see your farm someday.”

“Oh, uh, it’s not—”

“I’ll make sure he does, Viv. It was a pleasure to see you again.” Clay and Viv shared a quick hug before she let herself out.

“Do I need to go through this and see what she’s gifted me?”

Clay laughed. “Nothing too expensive. Anyway, you ready to go? We have an apartment to pack up.”

“Yes, but first, let’s go to Smokehouse Q KC and get something to eat. For old times sakes?”

Clay grinned. “That sounds great. I’m hungry anyway. Hell, do you think EZ and the hounds will show up?”

“Fuck I hope not. I don’t want anything getting in the way of my happily ever after.”

No lie.

Epilogue

Justin

Christmas one year later...