4: 4
Right before the end of the day, Clint came back to the office, all smiles.
"Dudley, about the London project. I want to draft the contract myself. Hands-on, you know."
"You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"No."
Early the next morning, I'd barely reached my desk when I heard the whispering.
"The number on the contract is way off..."
"The company must've lost a couple million..."
"Who did it?"
Clint stood at the door of Lucretia's office, his eyes red.
"Dudley, this is the contract you handled yesterday, right?"
I walked over and glanced down at it.
The figure in the amount column had been changed.
"I didn't write that."
"Clint says he handed it off to you for review yesterday."
"He wanted to do it himself and just have me look it over. I pointed out formatting issues, but I'm certain the amount was correct."
Clint's eyes went fully bloodshot, his voice shaking.
"Dudley, I know you hate me for taking your spot in the promotion contest... but you really didn't have to do this..."
"No matter how much you hate me, you don't get to play games with the company's money. You of all people know how much Ms. Henson has poured into this place."
Lucretia came out of her office, her eyes settling on me.
"You reviewed the contract?"
"Yes, but I checked it carefully. I only changed the formatting."
"He says you changed the amount."
"He says it and you believe it? Lucretia, I've worked hard here for six years. Have I ever made a mistake that stupid?"
The room went quiet.
Lucretia looked at me, no warmth in her eyes at all.
"Dudley, you're suspended."
She paused. Her voice wasn't loud, but the whole corridor heard it.
"As of today, the company takes a neutral stance on your entire record here."
"Every deliverable you submitted, every project you contributed to, none of it counts anymore."
"Because in this role, you weren't professional enough."
Not professional enough.
She compressed six years into one phrase and threw it in my face.
The emails sent at dawn. The nights I stayed up training the new hires. Those moments after a project wrapped when she nodded in a meeting and said, "Nice work."
None of it counted now.
She said wipe it clean, so it was wiped clean.
"And you should count yourself lucky you didn't win the contest. The company would never let someone who acts on impulse run operations."
I stared at her, my throat working.
I wanted to speak, but the words jammed there, and no sound would come out.
The murmuring rose up from every direction.
"Who does he think he is to Ms. Henson, changing a contract like it's nothing..."
"He doesn't actually think she'll cover for him, does he... thinks sleeping with the boss means he can do whatever he wants?"
"One more thing. Let me set the record straight." She added another line.
"There is nothing between me and Dudley Delgado."
She turned and looked around at everyone.
"All that gossip in the office. It ends here."
No one said a word.
Lucretia took Clint's hand and led him toward the door.
His wrist held in her grip, Clint leaned in closer against her side.
"Don't be scared. I've got you. Don't let something this small ruin the mood for London."
I watched her walk away, her back growing smaller, and all at once she felt very far from me.
So far it was as though I'd never known her at all.
That evening, I packed up the things on my desk.
As I reached the front door of the building, I saw Clint's latest post.
In the photo, he was in an airport departure lounge, Lucretia's back visible not far behind him.
The caption: 【Setting off with Ms. Henson. The future looks bright.】
Right after that, a message from Lucretia popped up.
【Away on business in London, back next Wednesday. There are some things we need to talk through properly.】
I stared at the message.
Talk about what?
About the 58 she gave me?
About the watch worth millions she gave Clint?
About standing in front of the whole company and saying there was nothing between us?
I blocked her on my messaging app and closed the chat.
The night wind blew over me as I carried the box toward the subway station.
By the day she came home, there was no Dudley Delgado left in this city.
