“I’m not angry with you.” Her flat voice made me even madder, and I fisted my hands on my lap.
This was leading us nowhere. I was getting angrier, while she was becoming more reserved.
“Fine,” I said and looked away. “If you say so.”
We spend the rest of our flight in uncomfortable silence, which did nothing to tone down my anger and anxiety. Why did she have to be so difficult?
I went to the board the first thing next morning, ready to notify them about my decision to quit. Just like yesterday, Chloe gave me the cold shoulder, sticking to business and refusing to talk about things irrelevant to her work, claiming she was too busy.
My anger had diminished, leaving fear in its wake. I didn’t want to lose her. Now that I knew how much she meant to me, I couldn’t let her grow more distanced from me or even worse—to completely lose her. None of this would happen if I talked with her first and told her I wanted to be with her, but now it was too late to cry over spilled milk.
If my guess was right, she was distant because she was afraid to lose her job, so I had to make sure she stayed on her position. I wasn’t going to let her lose her job.
On my way to the conference room, I found her next to a photocopier in the hallway. My eyes instantly went down her slim back and lush ass, which were hugged tightly by her sexy gray suit. She was wearing sexy high heels, and once again, I wished to have her only in those.
Inhaling the sweet fragrance of her perfume, I stopped right behind her and leaned into her ear.
“I’m going now to the board to notify them about my decision,” I whispered, and she winced, startled by me. I placed my hands on her shoulders, reminding myself that we were in the hallway where anyone could pass and see us, and forced myself to maintain control over my urge to take her right here.
“I’ll also make sure they keep you on your position, so you don’t have to worry about losing your job.”
I planted a brief kiss on her earlobe and pulled away from her before she could even answer me. Spinning around, I headed to the conference room.
“Good morning, everyone,” I greeted the members of the board, who were already seated, waiting for me.
“Good morning,” they replied in unison.
The secretary offered me coffee, which I accepted eagerly, needing a big dosage to keep me energized. I leaned into my chair and glanced at all ten members that were present today.
“Let’s get down to the business. All of you have been with me since the beginning, so you’ve witnessed this hospital’s exponential growth from its humble beginnings.”
“It’s all thanks to you,” Mr. Rowe, my CFO, said. “Your business skills showed us time after time that you’re capable of achieving anything you want.”
“That is true, but all of that would be impossible without your help.” I motioned at them. “You’ve put a lot of faith in me, but you also gave me freedom to make decisions and proceed however I wanted. So I want to thank you all once again for everything you’ve done and enabled me to do so far.”
“Why does this sound like goodbye?” Mrs. Lewis, one of the shareholders, asked.
“Because it is goodbye.” My answer was met with shocked gasps and frowns, all of my members equally surprised. “I’ll be completely honest with you. For years my business has been everything to me. I planned to expand it, hoping to make an empire that would bring us billions one day. I hoped to create a hospital network, which would expand across several states and serve millions of people.”
“And we gave you our full support,” another shareholder said.
“Exactly. So, that had been my mission and top priority. But the thing is—I didn’t always want to be in the business. That is not why I started studying medicine. My dreams and goals were completely different back then, and I’m afraid I’ve forgotten them completely in my pursuit for money.”
Mrs. Lewis leaned toward me, intertwining her hands on the table. “What are you saying, Bryce?”
“I’m saying that I’ve completely disregarded my original dream. I’ve forgotten that my first and biggest dream was to save lives. But thanks to a special someone”—I broke out into a huge smile, thinking about Chloe and her words—“I managed to remember what truly matters to me. I want to see more patients. I want to get back to research, which will allow me to help more people. I want to dedicate myself to what truly matters to me.”
No one said a word as they waited for me to continue, still bewildered.
“So I decided that I won’t be in charge of the hospital anymore. As of today, I’m stepping down as a president.”
Mr. Hernandez, my COO, was the first to break the silence that stretched on after my revelation. “Are you absolutely sure about this, Bryce? You are aware that this can change a lot of things, right? If we assign someone else to take your place, we will have to postpone the new hospital project.”
“I’m perfectly aware of this, and I’m fine with it. After all, the future of my business
now lies in your hands.”
“Let me make this clear,” one of the shareholders said. “You are okay with any outcome?”