Emma clocked in with minutes to spare. Normally the friendliest person on the floor, this morning she barely greeted anyone. Everyone who saw her simply moved aside to let her pass. She was immediately reminded of Alex, and she felt as if she was suffocating.
She shut the door to her office with a rattle. She was done. Done with all the people in her life, done with this company, done with living in hope.
Her laptop was fired up and she typed a resignation letter, printed it in her office. The next thing she did was save all her personal files on a thumb drive and wipe them from the hard drive. There wasn’t much, but it felt final.
She knew the correct protocol was to hand her resignation letter to her manager, but she was a Brown, and she wanted to look at the glee on her father’s face when she gave it to him.
Snatching up the letter, she took the elevator up to the executive floor and barged into her father’s office. She didn’t even acknowledge her mother or Lauren, who were with him.
Her father opened his mouth to yell at her. Not willing to give him the opportunity to say anything, she slapped her letter down on the table.
‘What’s this?’ he asked, irritated by her interruption.
‘I’m leaving, if you recall,’ Emma said. Her voice was hard. ‘But I will work out my notice period.’
His eyes scanned the page. ‘If you want to leave, you should go.’
‘Are you firing me?’ she asked in a steely tone.
Her father stared her down, but for once, Emma was not moved. She stood straighter. Unintimidated.
‘Dad, are you firing me?’ she repeated.
‘Yes.’
‘Peter!’ her mother exclaimed.
‘Fine.’
It was exactly the outcome she’d wanted. It wasn’t about the pay-out she’d receive—rather that everyone would know that Peter Brown had fired his hardest working daughter, and she silently wished him luck in sorting that mess out.
Initially she’d wanted to save the image of the company. Now she didn’t care. Now she would be able to walk into her dream job without having to wait.
Emma was almost through the door when she turned around. There was something she had to get off her chest.
‘I know you don’t approve of my passion for charity work, and you don’t have to, but just know that I was the one who ignored every dream to be what this company needed, and now I’m doing this for me. I don’t need you.’
She closed the door behind her and went back down to her office to gather her things. Glad that she wasn’t the sentimental type, and there wasn’t much to take apart from the framed degree that hung behind her. Placing it carefully on the desk, Emma looked around at the tiny office and realised that, as much as she’d enjoyed working with the people here, she would not miss the place.
A knock at the door made her jump and spin around to see Greg in the doorway.
‘Can I see you in my office?’ he asked.
Emma picked up her framed degree and her bag, and without a backward glance followed her manager who gestured for her to take a seat in front of his desk.
He sat heavily in his chair. ‘Where do we start, Emma? I can’t believe you were fired.’
She lifted her shoulders nonchalantly, an action completely at odds with how she felt inside. ‘It was going to happen sooner or later.’
‘I know. But it’s unbelievable. I just want you to know it’s been a pleasure to work with you and you’ll always have friends here.’
‘Thank you, Greg.’
‘And if there’s ever anything you need, just call.’
She gave him a hug, and had to fight tears she hadn’t expected from leaving Brown Hughs. Then she picked up her belongings and headed out to her car.
She idly wondered how long it would be before her name was removed from her parking space. Driving out, she glimpsed the handyman in her mirror. He was walking to her spot and she knew.