4: 4
4
In the days after, I started handing off the projects and resources I still held, clearing away whatever scraps of work remained.
Dozens of documents a day, running from department to department.
On the last day, I walked into the company and felt every pair of eyes crawl over me, the whispering never stopping.
"That's her. Thinks that because she's an old-timer here, because she pulled off a little something at the branch, she doesn't have to know her place anymore."
"So annoying. Overtime again today."
I had no idea what any of it meant. I'd barely sat down at my desk when Clifford came striding over.
A stack of documents slammed down on my desk, the pages fanning out, one sharp edge slicing my finger.
"Valerie! Look at what you've done!"
"Because of your screwup, the launch date got pushed back a full three days."
"Do you have any idea what that means for the company? Channels, supply chain, the whole PR schedule, all thrown into chaos. Can you afford a loss like that?"
Regina stood beside him, her eyes rimmed red, her whole face pinched with worry.
"Valerie, I know you think I don't deserve this position, so you didn't want to cooperate with me."
"But that's between us. If you're holding a grudge, take it out on me in private. Hit me, curse at me, I'll take it."
"Everyone's been putting in overtime for three whole months on this project. We were finally about to see the results, and you—"
By the end she was nearly in tears.
I drew a slow breath. I didn't rush to defend myself.
I took the flash drive out of my bag and threw the screen recordings of every step of the last three days up onto the big screen.
"Anyone with eyes, open them wide and take a good look."
Then I turned to Regina.
"A project this size, and the most critical milestone got quietly merged onto me? Someone who's about to resign, someone who, strictly speaking, no longer even counts as part of this company, and who wasn't told a thing about it?"
"Is that a reasonable process?"
I paused, and looked at Clifford.
"And let's say I did handle it. Did I even have the access to?"
The whole office went quiet.
Clifford pressed his lips together, his expression cold.
"Even so, you should have flagged it right away!"
"The company deciding not to give you that position was the best call it ever made."
"Someone as irresponsible as you doesn't deserve to stay here."
The words landed on me one after another, and something in my chest shook hard.
I wanted to speak, and found I barely had the strength left to breathe.
All these years I'd worked myself to the bone at that job. When things were hardest for him, I'd handed over the savings my father left me, everything I had, to back his startup.
I listened to him and kept my distance to avoid gossip. I listened to him and went to the branch office.
I even gave up my first child for what he called his prime years to build.
And now he was calling me irresponsible.
He pulled a tissue from the desk and handed it to Regina.
"Mistakes happen. Bring your laptop to my office and we'll go through it."
I looked at his face gone soft, and started to wonder if he was schizophrenic.
To wonder what these past eight years had even been for.
But I didn't want to dig into it anymore.
"Clifford Greer."
He stopped walking and turned his head.
"Valerie, I don't recall the company training telling employees to call their boss by his full name."
"No, it didn't."
I looked at him steadily.
"But this is the first time, and the last."
Then I set my badge on the desk and left without looking back.
Early the next morning, I'd just finished the last round of online interviews. I took out my phone, ready to talk to him about the divorce, when Regina's feed updated.
In the photo she lay on a bed at the wellness clinic, the thin blanket I'd knitted last year draped over her, and he stood there talking to the doctor, his brows drawn tight.
I stared at that photo for a long time, then blocked his number.
Before the plane took off, I turned the divorce over to my lawyer, in full.
From then on, there would never again be any him in my life.
