32/
elliot
Friday morning, I strolled into Judith’s office at five minutes before nine in the morning. If they weren’t going to give me answers, I was going to camp out here until they had them.
The look she gave me was pureunimpressed.“I have a nine o’clock.”
“That’s me.” I gave her a tight grin, closed the door behind me, and took a seat. I hadn’t had to persuade Ivan as much as I thought, to get me on her calendar. “I have your time until ten.”
“To do what? I can’t make a decision without the board.”
Bullshit. There were some things she could do, and she had more influence than she was claiming. “That’s not like you. Standing aside. Not fighting,” I said.
She raised her brows. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want you gone and neither does anyone else. Everyone would prefer you stay.”
“Then let me stay.” I didn’t like her implication that I was closer to out than in.
“We’re not those kids anymore. Our world has rules and consequences.”
The oldworlddid too. I rubbed the inside of my wrists. This time, it was just more obvious to more people. “I guess that makes you happy.”
She’d always been more of aby the bookkind of person than the rest of us. “It should, but firing you had to go and be one of the consequences and fuck that all up.”
“Defying the status quo. Kind of my thing.” I wasn’t trying to apologize to her or convince her I was a good man. Judith knew exactly who I was. “Come to think of it, why didn’t you and I ever hook up?” Not a serious question, and I didn’t think for a second she would take it that way.
Judith stared back. If possible, more of her humor had faded. “Do you want to do things this way?”
“I want to do something. Go back to work. Get an answer. I have your time for another fifty minutes, so this is what I’m going to do.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Because you’re not ambitious enough for me.”
“Fair point.” I had a lot of drive, but when she set her sights on something, she was a truck with no brakes barreling down a six-percent grade.
“Besides,” apparently Judith wasn’t done, “you’ve always been in love with Link.”
I could deny it, make some sort of big protest, but I was tired of hiding how I felt from myself. Apparently it had never been hidden from some other people. “Which brings me to my next point.”
“You actually have a point?” Judith scoffed.
Perfect time for a dick joke. Or, worst time ever, given the circumstances. “I do. You’re right. I’ve loved Link for a long time. Which means we were together before this stupid rule went into effect, which means we didn’t break any rules.”
“I hope you brought a better argument than that.” She almost sounded disappointed. “Nope. Doesn’t work.”
Why not? “Why not? Phillip. Sonya. You’ve already set a precedent.”
“And they surrendered final say over whether or not Adrienne or Jeremy stays with the company. Phillip and Sonya can’t fire them,” Judith said.
That was easy. “Why would I fire Link? Ever.”
“I don’t know. Things change. I have to be realistic about that,” Judith said.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Okay. I give that up too. I’ll sign something promising I won’t fire Link.”
Judith pulled her hair loose from its bun, rewrapped her hair, and pinned it up again. “Let me cut off all your excuses now, even though I think you know all of this. You’re not in the same position they are. You own part of the company. You sit on the board. You have a say in how things go here.”
I opened my mouth.
“Sonya is an investor. She’s got money in the pool, not a voice,” Judith said.