by Alexis Gold
“What can I do for you, Norman?” Callie asked politely, not at all sure that she wanted to talk with him about anything.
“I’m here to appeal to you on behalf of the entire company.” Norman spoke to her in what was easily the most civil tone he had ever used with her.
“You’re what?” She asked in astonishment.
“Appeal to you. To your broader sense of success and team, to your values and your moral compass, if you have one.” He blinked a moment, realizing that he might have slipped, and he kept going, hoping that she didn’t notice.
“What are you talking about, Norman?” she asked with an impending sense of forboding.
“I want you to think about what you’re doing and what you’ve done. This company is crashing down around all of us, because of you. The whole thing is imploding and it’s getting worse every single day because of you. There are new articles all the time, and the all of your private trashy life is smeared all over the front pages of the business and technology sections.
Your life is making this whole place implode. There are people who have worked here for years. People who have dedicated themselves and their careers to making this company a success, and you are dragging it into the ground and burying it! Surely you must have some sense of right and wrong! Surely you must know that this is all avoidable!” He gave her an almost desperate look.
“What are you saying, Norman?”
“I’m asking you to think of the multitudes of people who work here, instead of just yourself. I’m asking you to think of this company as a whole. I am asking you to put everyone else ahead of you for once, and to take one for the team here! Leave this job! Go off and do whatever you want to go do in the world, but just don’t do it here! Leave! Please! Stop being so selfish and just go!
No one wants you here anymore except Rosa and Alexander, and that’s only because she is loyal to him, and he’s sleeping with you! Take a look around you and get a clue! You aren’t wanted here! So please, just leave before the rest of us have to go because there’s no company left!”
He stared at her through his horn rimmed glasses, and she felt as if she had swallowed a stone. He turned and walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, and she began to sob. She had to admit to herself that he was right. He had to be. No one else in the office barely spoke to her anymore, and she knew that it was because of all the bad press that they were getting.
Alexander might not be too worried about it, telling her over and over again that it would blow over, that they would figure it out, that the newspapers would retract the stories, but they weren’t, and the problem wasn’t getting any better. Nothing was improving. She felt awful about it, and she left the office and went to a park down the road to think about and consider everything that Norman had told her. He was right and she knew that he was right. There was only one choice to make, and that was a choice that would benefit everyone, including herself, though not in the way that she had wished for it to go.
If she left the company, the tech world would no longer be interested in what she was doing or what was happening in her life. She wouldn’t have her dream job any longer, but she would have some peace, and she did have plenty of money to see her through for a long while.
An overwhelming sense of failure crashed through her like a breaking wave; like a storm rushing in over the seas from the horizon, and she wept bitterly as she accepted the change that had to be made. For the betterment of the company and of her lover Alexander, for the betterment of herself and her family, she had to go. There was no alternative, no matter what she or Alexander might wish.
She went back to the office just before close at the end of the day, while other people were packing up their things to go home. She noticed that none of them really looked at her, and instead they turned away or picked up their phones, they began speaking to someone else, or they gazed at her with a look of sadness or low judgment. None of them greeted her or smiled at her, and the reality of the situation hit home for her.
Callie walked into Alexander’s office and her heart ached when he looked up and smiled so widely at her. She felt as if she was betraying him, though she knew that it wasn’t really a betrayal, it was the best thing for all of them.
“There she is, the most beautiful woman in the world.” He gave her a glowing grin and stood up to come to her. She stopped before she got too near his desk and she held her hand up to him to stop him from getting too close to her.
He frowned slightly and gave her a puzzled look. “What is it? What’s going on? Are you okay?”
Callie tried to swallow back the emotion that was choking her. She shook her head in silence and then took a deep breath and struggled to find her voice.
“I… need to say something, and I have to say it fast or I’m never going to get through it.” She managed as she raised her eyes to meet his. The hazel eyes that made her melt and set her on fire. She was going to hurt him, and she hated herself for it.
“What is it?” He asked, looking panicked, as if he already knew what she was about to say.
“I have to break up with you.” She told him miserably, as the tears came and couldn’t be stopped.
He stared at her, dumbfounded. “What? What did you just say?”
She shook her head and closed her eyes, willing herself to find the strength that she needed. “I said I have to break up with you. We can’t keep doing this. The newspapers are saying the most horrible things, they won’t stop, and there is so much devastation here at the company. Everyone here is taking the hit for it. Everyone here is paying the price of my mistakes… of my life, and I just can’t handle the responsibility of that any longer. I can’t. I’m costing you business, I’m costing the company its reputation. I’m causing so many problems here and I just can’t accept that any longer. I can’t. It’s too much!”
He started toward her, his hands out as if he could reach for her and somehow stop her, but she held her hands up again and backed away from him.
“Don’t! Don’t do that. Please don’t try to stop me. I don’t think I can get through this if you come any closer.” She wept more and wiped at her eyes for a second before continuing. “Listen to me, I love you so much. You couldn’t even begin to understand how much, but part of that is loving you enough to know that I’m hurting you, and loving you enough to leave because it’s what’s best for you. It’s what’s best for your company. I can’t stay here and say that I love you, and let you and all your hard work, and your company and all of your employees be ruined because of me. I just can’t!” She wiped at her eyes and her cheeks again as he stared at her.
“I’m not going to cause your downfall. I love you too much to see you fail, especially because of me.” She backed up until she reached his office door, and he was still frozen in place where he stood, barely able to comprehend what was happening.
“I do love you, and I am so grateful for all that you’ve done for me and for my family. I am never going to forget you. Thank you so much. Goodbye.” She said quietly. Then she turned and walked out of the door and closed it silently behind her.
Callie walked to her office and packed it up quickly, only taking with her the things that she truly needed to take home. Then she left the building, got in her car, and drove away from the man that she loved most in the world, and her dream job.
She would still have the new app that she was programming, and she could try to figure out a way to release it, hoping that if she came up with a couple of layers of new names and companies above her own name, that the public wouldn’t associate the brilliant new app with her; the stripper who supposedly stole the Summitech app fix from Tony Barretti’s company. She hoped that that might make some money for her and put her on a new road in the tech world.
When she got home, there was a message from Kyle Reeves at the door. Jack said he’d seen the note but he didn’t open it and he didn’t know who it was from. She glared at the message at first, hating Kyle so much, but then as she
read the request; him asking yet again for another exclusive from her, she began to wonder if talking with him wasn’t going to be the best thing that she could possibly do for herself, and maybe even for Alexander and his company.
Callie calmed herself down and picked up her phone, calling the number that Kyle had left for her. He answered simply, as if he was in a hurry and she was going to have to make it short and sweet if she wanted his attention; until she told him who it was that was calling.
“This is Kyle Reeves.” He stated flatly. “You have thirty seconds.”
She took a deep breath. “This is Callie Forrester. I got your message and I’m calling you back.”
There was a moment of hesitation on the other end of the line. “Callie! Well great! Thank you for calling me. I want to ask you again about doing an exclusive with me.”
Callie narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “I’ll seriously consider it if you tell me why you’ve been spotlighting me so much.”
Kyle was quiet a moment. “I’ll just say this. There’s good money in it.”
Something about his voice, his tone, and his words made her realize that it wasn’t readership money. He was being honest in a round about way. “Money from whom, exactly?”
Realizing his mistake, he tried to correct it. “Everyone, of course. So, is it a deal? Can we do the exclusive?”
Callie’s face took on a shrewd expression. “Yes, but only on one condition. I have to approve the story before you print it.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal lady.” Kyle sounded as if he had just won the lottery. “So tell me what’s going on. How are things over at Summitech?”
Callie felt as if she had been gut punched, but she didn’t let it on. Instead, she ran with it. “Summitech is old news where I’m concerned. Alexander Kingston and I broke up, and we are no longer a couple.”
“Ohhhh sorry to hear it.” Kyle said, typing as fast as lightning. “Do go on. Does that make it tough around the workplace?”
She drew in a breath and sighed. “No, it’s not tough because I no longer work there.” She told him evenly, though she felt far from all right with it.
“You left? You’re not working there anymore?” He asked in amazement.
“Yes, I left. I would rather leave and let the company try to recover from my being there, than stay and drag the whole place under with me. I’m not on a mission to do them in, unlike some other people.” She couldn’t help throwing in just a little snark.
“Oh, you have no idea.” He commented quietly. “So what’s next for Callie Forrester, since Summitech is gone?”
“I’m working on my own app. It’s a pretty hot ticket, actually. An A-Z app for organizing travel. It’s going to be the biggest travel app on the entire market.” She felt confident in saying it, while realizing that it was a bold statement as well.
“New app. Travel. A-Z. Got it.” He repeated as he typed furiously.
They talked for a long while, and she insisted that he send the article to her before he printed it. He promised that he would, and he did. She read through it and was surprised that she approved of it. She even sent it back with a headshot of hers for the article, and he replied that it was done and going to print.
The next day it ran in the paper, and there was an all new buzz around her name. A positive buzz, and there was some good news in the newspaper for Summitech as well; with her departure. Norman might have been right after all, she considered.
Callie was just leaving one of her classes at school when her phone rang. It was a phone number that she didn’t know and she wasn’t sure who was calling her.
“This is Callie.” She said pleasantly.
“Callie, baby.” Came a man’s voice, dripping with pride and machismo.
“Who is this?” She asked curiously, stopping and sitting on a nearby bench so that she could give the call her full attention.
“Why honey, don’t you know? You don’t recognize me? I’m a little hurt.” He drawled, and her stomach turned. She realized who it was as he spoke his name.
“Baby doll, this is Tony Barretti.” He spoke smoothly.
She narrowed her eyes and her mouth. “How did you get this number?”
“Oh, a little bird by the name of Kyle gave it to me.” He teased her. “Listen, baby, I bet you’re wondering why I’m calling you.”
She crossed one arm over her chest. “Actually, I’m not.” She stated coldly.
He frowned. “Well then, I better tell you. I’m calling you to offer you a job, since you no longer have one. And, if you want, I can offer you some room in my bed as well, since you’re short a lover.” He laughed at his own joke and she wanted to tell him where to put his phone and his offer.
“Tony, I’m going to pass on your job offer. There is no way in hell that I would ever work for you, no matter how much money was involved, no matter what the benefits might be, no matter what. There’s no way. And, I’m going to turn you down on your offer as a lover as well. I’d rather be alone than be with someone as disgusting as you.”
“Hey!” He snapped irritably.
She smiled to herself. “Goodbye, Tony. Don’t ever call me again.”
With that she ended the phone call and slid the phone back in her pocket. If she couldn’t be with Alexander, she didn’t want to be with anyone.
THANKS FOR READING!
Authors Personal Message:
Hey beautiful!
I really hope you enjoyed my novel and I would really love if you could give me a rating on the store!
YES, I WILL RATE YOU ALEXIS!
Thanks in advance and check the next page for details of my other releases. :)
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