"Mr. Henson, did you forget?"
"That five hundred dollars was money I used to buy materials. I gave you the receipt at the time!"
I still remembered. It had happened last week. I'd been in a rush to purchase materials, so I withdrew the funds from accounting.
But by the time I finished repairing the instrument, the accounting department had already closed for the day.
Victor happened to walk by, so I handed the receipt to him.
On the other end of the line, his voice turned cold. "Have you forgotten the company's rules and regulations?"
"You gave the receipt to me? What kind of procedure is that?"
"Besides, I lost it."
He said it without a shred of guilt, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.
I kept my tone flat. "Mr. Henson, since the receipt is gone, that five hundred is on me."
"I'll transfer it to you right now. Will that settle it?"
My voice was cool, detached.
But Victor's response was ice. "That was a mistake you made on the job."
"Company policy: any error is penalized at triple the amount. Did you forget that too?"
"Fine. Then I'll send you fifteen hundred."
I had zero interest in dragging this out any longer.
If fifteen hundred dollars would make this go away, then so be it.
Besides, he'd be bankrupt soon enough. Fifteen hundred dollars wasn't going to save him.
I opened my phone and sent the transfer immediately.
I made sure to note the purpose of the payment.
Victor accepted it almost instantly.
Watching the transfer go through, I finally let out a breath.
After all, I wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Not even the thinnest thread of connection.
After I hung up, I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The next morning, I was up and heading straight to the airport.
I arrived at the resort town first, checked into my suite and stored all my things, then contacted the headhunter.
She told me the company had been waiting for me.
That same day, I went in.
Compared to Victor's operation, this company was in a different league entirely.
Their instruments and equipment alone dwarfed anything I'd worked with before.
All of it required specialized operators, and someone with my skill set was exactly what they needed.
I accepted their offer on the spot. The onboarding paperwork was done before I left the building.
They agreed to let me start after the holiday.
Only then did I leave.
For the next few days, I threw myself into the resort. Hiking, sightseeing, eating whatever I wanted. I knew this stretch would be peaceful.
But Victor's company equipment had been deteriorating for a long time.
And with Sybilla constantly mishandling the instruments, it was only a matter of time before something went wrong.
I just hadn't expected it to happen on the very first day of the holiday.
"Layla! The instrument broke down. You need to come back right now!"
Sybilla's voice was tight with panic.
I could hear the tremor running through every word, the barely concealed fear underneath.
I kept my voice even. "Sybilla, you seem to have forgotten. I don't work there anymore."
Silence on the other end. Brief, loaded.
Then her voice came back, strained. "I know you resigned!"
"But this was your job. You didn't do a proper handover. The instrument is malfunctioning now, so you're still responsible!"
