“I’m managing fine for now.”
“There is a difference between manage and carelessness. I don’t mean to sound indifferent to your decisions, but you’re lucky. Many don’t have your luxury. Don’t think you’re taking it for granted by asking for help. Being a Casper is a privilege, not a birthright.”
Isn’t that exactly what it is though? A title carried because of a name’s sake. The blood that runs through one’s veins.
His eyes deepen in anguish and something else I can’t quite figure out. “Again, it’s your life. Just know I’m here if you ever need me.”
I scoff. “You mean if I change my mind?”
Why do I sound so hostile all of a sudden?
“That’s not—”
“—That’s exactly what you’re saying. You think your child working in a mail room is beneath you. Embarrassing even? At your own company, no less.”
He sighs, pulling the glasses away from his tired eyes. “I am trying to help you, Rory, but you have a way of making it extremely difficult.”
“Why do you care so much? This, where you are sitting right now, has always been Finn’s spot to fill. I wouldn’t even have been a thought if my mother hadn’t died.”
“You are not utilizing your potential. You are so much smarter than,”—he waves his hand dismissively—“handing out misdelivered mail to my staff.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. People who are no smarter than you could be running this company. Possibly even better, but they aren’t given the same opportunity. The same luck.”
I lean in, pushing my palms into the edge of his desk. Driving the truth home.
“You may think you are better because you hold the highest title, but you aren’t. You’re not above them outside these walls, same as my job is not below me inside them.”
Abram goes quiet for a moment. His gaze is as unsettled as it is enamored. I don’t appreciate either expression.
What I said wasn’t meant to impress him. I said it because it’s the truth.
The Caspers are fortunate because they found opportunity and ran with it. I’m not negating their success, just pointing out that so many others do not receive that chance. I know what it’s like to struggle. To live off every paycheck. So no, this job is not beneath me.
“You underestimate the value of your team,” I say finally after several drawn-out minutes. Pushing off his desk. “I need to get going.”
Abram clears his throat, rising from his chair, a heaviness in his posture that wasn’t there before. “I’ll walk you out.”
I agree only because it seems easier. Not because I’m not up for the fight, but because I’m already going to get a mouthful from Hailey as is for being late. And I don’t need another boost of criticism.
One for the day is enough.
Abram may be respected in the business world, but how much of that would be lost if people learned about his past? Abandoning not only his unborn child but the mother as well when a better opportunity presented itself.
The elevator pings and we both step out into the main lobby. A woman steps on as we pass.
Abram gives a curt nod while I greet her by name. Her face lightens to a grin as I do the same.
I can feel the weight of his expression as we continue to walk, but he says nothing.
The same thing happens again as we make our way across the oversized lobby. But by the fourth time, he does say something.
“Does everyone know my daughter?”
I shrug. “They know me as Rory. A person who drops off their mail.” Also, who shows an interest in their lives—not as a Casper.
“Thanks, Gary,” I say, thanking the security guard for opening the door on our exit.
His cheeks swell as his spine straightens, taking in who stands beside me. The complete opposite of his relaxed posture when he’d seen me.