by Linda Hawley
“Let’s walk down by the water,” Bennett said, looking forward.
After five minutes of walking in silence, I asked forwardly, “Are we gonna walk, or are we gonna walk and talk?”
He looked over at me with cold eyes. “You flew to Salt Lake late last week,” he said, looking forward again.
“I did,” I said, guardedly.
“Why?” he asked, still looking ahead and down the hill we were descending.
“My daughter just eloped in France, and I went to see the newlyweds,” I said, reminding myself what the CIA taught me about sticking to as much truth as possible. “After Raymond’s death, I thought I should go see my daughter and her new husband.”
He stopped abruptly and faced me intently; I followed his lead.
“I was told that you went there to sell our company secrets,” Bennett said, challenging me.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Bennett! This again?” I said, angrily. “Would you like my new son-in-law to fax you his French marriage certificate?” I said with a sarcastic edge, leaning toward him.
“What’s going on, Ann?” he said, hurling the words at me.
“What’re you talking about, Bennett?” I asked, matching his language.
“You keep taking these strange trips. You don’t ask for vacation time, you just take off like you’re a volunteer here,” he said, the words flying out of him, accusing me.
“Are we talking about Vicki now? Vicki’s irritated that I’m not giving proper notice?”
“Vicki? You think I care about the opinion of that frumpy woman?” he said, offended by my words.
I just looked at him. He took me by the arm, persuading me to continue our walk down to Bellingham bay.
We walked in silence, both of us cooling down.
“From the moment I met you,” he began softly, “I felt a kinship to you. I felt like we could unite for a common cause here at AlterHydro. But from the time you interviewed with my brother, all I’ve been doing is defending you. Its three years now, Ann, and I’m losing the battle,” he said, defeated.
“The battle…the battle with who?” I asked, looking over to him as we walked toward the water.
“My family, who funds this corporation, and others who tell me about these trips you’re taking, without me knowing anything about them…”
“Who is telling you about my trips?” I said, interrupting, eager to know who the mole was.
He was silent.
“I think I have a right to know who is trying to sabotage my career,” I said, an edge sneaking into my voice. “This is the second time it’s happened, Bennett,” I said, peering at him.
Bennett remained impassive.
He’s not gonna tell me, I realized.
We reached the bay, and as the sea lapped up at the shore, he quietly said, “I need to let you go.”
“What?” I was incensed and nearly hollered.
He met my eyes. “You’re no longer an asset to this corporation.” It was edged in a cold stare.
I broke his gaze, stepped ten feet away, and sat heavily on a wooden park bench that overlooked the sea.
Fired? He just fired me? Disbelief filled me as I sat staring ahead, watching the seagulls scanning the sea for their meals, as though it were an ordinary day.
Bennett came and sat next to me. Life was continuing on, while I was being fired for the first time in my life. My mind was reeling in shock.
Astonishingly, Bennett broke through my anger with ten simple words. “The ideas you believe in and pursue, I share, Ann,” he said in a whisper.
I snapped my head toward him in shock. He turned his body to face me, his face inches from mine. His nature had changed entirely, with truth replacing anger.
“You, Ann, are a courageous warrior on the front lines, but I am only an executive who can financially support the cause without ever getting directly involved,” he whispered as I maintained eye contact with his blue, piercing eyes.
“I never knew…” I said softly.
Our intimate dialogue continued with raw honesty.
“Of course you didn’t…” he began.
“But why fire me?” I asked quietly.
“There is someone—he was already at the company before you were hired—who doesn’t only work for us. His primary job is to keep an eye on you for the government…”
“Oh no…” I recoiled.
“It’s dangerous for me to even tell you of his presence, Ann…” he continued. I could clearly see emotion in his eyes. “I’m firing you to keep you safe,” he said, peering into my eyes.
I suddenly realized that Bennett had been looking out for me the whole time I was at AlterHydro. We shared a cause, and he truly cared for me.
“Bennett, tell me his name…you’ve already put yourself in danger…telling me his name will not harm you anymore,” I pleaded.
“But it may do harm to you.”
“I’m tougher than you realize. I’m trained as a CIA agent, Bennett. Tell me his name,” I quietly demanded.
He was silent as he looked into my eyes, searching. Then he looked down and spoke so quietly, I was sure I misheard him.
“What?” I asked sharply.
He looked directly at me, repeating the name. “Paul.”
My breath whooshed out of me in shock, and my eyes involuntarily closed as I flashed back to all of my experiences with Paul. Being in Canada at the same time right after I was hired, showing up to run with me every day, his subtle pursuit of me, always saying the right things, seeming to be the kind of man I wanted, allowing me to come to him, earning my trust until I revealed my involvement with GOG…it was all a lie.
Oh no…he knows the codes…he’s penetrated GOG, I realized suddenly.
“Are you okay?” Bennett asked with alarm.
“What?” I said robotically, recalling the intimacy I’d shared with Paul.
“You’re suddenly pale. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, calling up my stone face.
“You sure?” he said with concern.
“The shock isn’t gonna get better the more you ask me, Bennett,” I said sarcastically. “I’m okay. Let’s go back, so I can clean out my desk, then I’ll be on my way,” I said, realizing that I had much bigger problems to deal with than having just been fired.
“Wait, wait,” he said as I started to rise from the bench.
“What is it?” I said, disassociating my emotions to deal with later—locking them up in a box.
“You are on dangerous ground, Ann,” he said quietly, looking at me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, meeting his eyes again.
“Paul. Be very, very careful from here on out, okay?”
“Yes, I will,” I said certain. “There’s no chance I’ll forget about the traitor,” I said coldly.
“You never cease to amaze me, Ann,” he said with a gentle smile.
“You may be amazed later, when I figure out how to deal with Paul. It might be a good idea to place an ad for a new technology geek,” I warned with a serious edge.
“I already have.”
“And now you’ve surprised me,” I said. I put my hand on his shoulder and looked at him. “Thank you for being honest with me.”
He didn’t reply, but instead his face looked worried.
“May I ask you something else?” I asked, a question niggling at the back of my mind.
“Yes. What is it?”
“Brock…is he in some way involved with Paul or the government’s fight against the cause?”
A look of fear filled Bennett’s face. He abruptly turned his head and looked out to the bay. I had clearly hit a nerve, and I waited patiently.
“There are some things that are extremely dangerous to speak of, and this is one of them. He’s my brother, Ann,” he said sadly, looking over at me.
Bennett had just confirmed—without using the words—that Brock was somehow involved with the government. Now Brock’s behavior toward me the past thre
e years made sense.
We sat together in silence watching the sea for ten minutes, then rose and started to walk back up the hill to AlterHydro. After a few steps, he pulled me to a stop and then turned to face me. I followed his lead. He looked like his normal self again.
“I forgot to tell you—I gave you a fifty-thousand severance package,” he said matter of fact, then winked.
I chuckled.
“Thank you. Can I get the check today, before I leave?”
He laughed. “Of course. I’ll have our friend, Vicki, run up to accounting and have the check written. I’m sure you know you’ll have to sign a letter saying you’ll never sue AlterHydro because I let you go.”
“Did the lawyer suggest that deal?”
“Yes,” he said flatly.
“My thoughts about lawyers might have just shifted,” I said with a smile. “It’s fine. If I take it to the company’s bank today and ask them to cash it in one-hundred-dollar bills, will they?”
“I’ll have our CFO call the bank as soon as they write the check. Cash is a very good idea, Ann.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
We continued to walk up the hill, and then I said, “Since you’re no longer my boss, I can finally tell you…”
“Tell me what?” Bennett cautiously asked, pulling on my arm to stop me from walking further.
“You need to lay off the Calvin Klein cologne, Bennett,” I said, serious.
He began laughing.
“It’s just too much! Do you know how I loathed going near you sometimes?” I said loudly over his laughing.
He only laughed harder.
“What’s so funny?” I asked with irritation.
“Someone told me you hated it,” he answered, still laughing.
“It figures. Who?” I demanded.
He was laughing so hard, he bent over and eked out the name, “Paul.”
Jerk.
“That’s not even the least bit funny, Bennett,” I said, anger rising.
Bennett rose and looked at me. “I guess he was trying to get you on my bad side even then. But that’s not the funny part. The funny part is that I wore the cologne purposely, just to watch your reaction.” He started laughing hard again. “I’ve never seen anyone but you try to speak and hold your breath at the same time. It was hysterical.” He snorted. “Sometimes it was all I could do to hold my laughter inside until after you left.”
“You are one sick guy, Bennett,” I said, certain.
“I know,” he agreed, his laughing starting to simmer down.
“So where was Calvin Klein today?” I asked playfully.
“I figured that since I had to fire you, I’d give you a reprieve.”
“You really are sick, you know that?”
“I said I know,” he snapped loudly.
I smiled.
We walked the rest of the way up the hill in silence.
It’s too bad I didn’t enjoy him this much when I worked for him.
We entered AlterHydro’s lobby together, and it was impossible to ignore the resounding smirk on Vicki’s face, clearly directed at me. Bennett saw it too and stalked over to her.
“Get up to accounting and have Jane cut her severance check,” he said quietly without pretense, nodding toward me.
Clearly Vicki knew that I was being fired.
Bennett continued quietly, but firmly. “Then I want you to tell Jane to call our bank and speak to the Branch Manager. Have him immediately release the funds to Ann when she comes in today, in one-hundred-dollar bills. Then I want you to hand deliver the check to me in my office. You’ve got exactly five minutes,” Bennett informed her, looking down at his watch.
With her face losing its color as he spoke, Vicki replied immediately, “Yes, Sir.” She moved up and out of her seat faster than I had ever witnessed in three years.
As we stood in front of the reception desk watching Vicki leave, Bennett whispered to me, “What goes around comes around.”
I chuckled.
“Why don’t you clear out your desk, and I’ll bring the check to you.”
“Thank you Bennett, I said, looking into his piercing blue eyes.”
He nodded in silence, then walked toward the elevators.
I descended the steps, realizing that I was entering my subterranean refuge for the last time. I also realized that I might run smack into the man that I’d nearly given my heart to.
When I opened the basement door, I could see that the betrayer was gone.
That’s a good thing. I hadn’t yet formulated a plan about Paul, and I might react with a can of mace in his face, simply out of spite.
As Lulu greeted me, I bent down to pet her. She was very still; I assumed she could sense my mood.
Or maybe I would sick Killer on you, I thought, considering what Lulu could do to Paul.
I stood and approached my desk, noticing Edwin pop up from a piece of equipment. I saw him move toward me.
Oh not now, Edwin…I’m a little busy, I thought, not wanting to play nice at the moment.
Finally there was no ignoring him as he reached me. He said nothing, and his face was grim. He held out his hand for me to shake.
I guess he knows. How the heck does he know? I wondered.
I shook his hand, and he looked into my eyes with intense, dark eyes and a serious expression. As quickly as he came, he retracted his hand, then returned to his desk. No words were exchanged.
Noticing a piece of paper that had slipped to the floor, I bent down and picked it up. As I rose, I glanced at it, ready to call out to Edwin that he had dropped it. But when I saw the four words, I pulled the paper to my chest, then immediately shoved it in my pants pocket. It read:
Chow is my brother.
Yet another shock today. Is Edwin GOG? I wonder what else will happen today.
My head snapped up to look at Edwin across the room as he stared at me. Then he did something that I will remember all my life. He bowed to me. It was a sweet, simple act of respect.
I returned his bow.
I’m sure Lulu wondered what was happening, because she was at my side from the time I entered the basement. Either that or she had to go pee.
“Just a few minutes, girl.”
I took my messenger bag, opened it, and set it on my desk to put my things in. After plopping down in my chair, I opened the bottom-left drawer of my desk. I took a milk chocolate-covered raspberry treat and put it in my mouth.
You should always eat chocolate on the day you’re fired.
The bottom-right drawer contained Lulu’s treats; I gave her one and scooped the rest into my bag.
What else?
I passed up all the papers on top of my desk. After pulling open each drawer and looking through the contents, I saw nothing that was mine. When I opened the last drawer, I heard the basement door open. I looked up, my heart racing.
Vicki.
Well, that’s a relief, I thought, imagining that she had my check.
Looking back down, I went through the last drawer as Vicki made her way toward me. After adding my Mother Earth magazine to my bag of goodies, I stood as Vicki reached my desk.
“You’d better not take any company property, Ann,” she sneered.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I calmly replied, making eye contact.
Holding eye contact with the wicked witch, I reached across my desk and grasped the scissors I had purchased after mine disappeared. I held them a foot above my messenger bag at Vicki’s eye level, opened my hand, and dropped them in, smiling all the while.
I heard a snicker from behind Vicki, just as she lunged into my bag to retrieve my scissors. I reacted quickly and grabbed them from her hand, and a tug-of-war ensued.
“Give ‘em here!” she screamed forcefully, pulling with all her weight.
“They’re mine, ya bully,” I said, wishing I had my Taser.
“Vicki!” Bennett bellowed.
She let go of my scissors and turned towards him. “
She’s taking company property,” she said, a whining tone sneaking from her voice.
Bennett came around Vicki to my desk and picked up the scissors, facing me. “Please accept these scissors and this check, in appreciation of your service to AlterHydro.”
“Thank you, Bennett,” I said with a smile, then looked at Vicki who was red-faced and blotchy.
“I still have to search her bag,” she said, her voice regaining some of the hardness she was used to wielding.
“Not in my lifetime,” Bennett said gruffly, not even turning around to address her.
Vicki then turned and left in a huff. As the basement door banged shut, I exhaled.
“I really must tell you that I’ll miss Vicki terribly. I might even shed a tear,” I said to Bennett sarcastically.
He then smiled and winked at me.
Bennett placed the lawyer’s severance letter on the desk for my signature.
I leaned over, reading it.
“My lawyer would tell me not to sign this,” I said flatly, picking up my pen.
“Then my lawyer would tell me not to give you the severance check,” he responded in kind.
“Lawyers,” I said with a laugh, signing it, then looking into Bennett’s eyes.
He held out the bank’s check, then extended his right hand out to me. I took the check and shook his hand in silence. Breaking from his gaze, I dropped both the scissors and the check into my bag.
“Come on, Lulu,” I said, looking down at her. Her bottom wagged.
I didn’t have any trouble cashing the check at AlterHydro’s bank; they had a bank bag ready with the amount pre-counted in hundred-dollar bills. The whole transaction took ten minutes. Then I brought the cash home and put it in my wall safe.
It was a shining moment in my day when I visited my bank, closing both my checking and savings accounts and getting my balance in one-hundred-dollar bills. I nearly asked for it in ten-dollar bills, just to spite them, but I took the higher road instead. Of course, that transaction took my bank forty minutes—an experience I expected. I returned home and deposited the cash in the wall safe as well. I sat down in the bay window overlooking the sea. Lulu plopped down next to me. After reaching in my bag, I pulled out treats for the both of us.
