Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
How could I be angry with him? It didn’t sound like Sebastian had put him up to it, and Kaylan had always been such a good friend to me in the office. The only reason I would have avoided telling him was out of shame for my place, but sitting there with him as I opened a beer, it didn’t feel like it mattered.
“No, I’m not pissed. I’m touched that you were worried about me.”
“Of course! I loved working with you, and how things went down was fucking wrong.”
“How’s morale in the office?”
Kaylan shrugged one shoulder as he grabbed a slice of pizza loaded with toppings. “Not great. Everyone is worried about earnings and if there are going to be layoffs this winter. Of course, there’s the thing with you and Sebastian. Last week was rough. I’m kind of hoping that things improve this week after everyone has time over the weekend to chill.”
I took a big bite of pizza and moaned. To make my money stretch, I’d already slashed my meager food budget to the essentials. A greasy, hot pizza loaded with meat and veggies was just the thing I needed to fill my stomach.
“However, Mr. Courtland is planning to announce later this week that they are going to implement your proposal to improve earnings and save jobs. They’ve still got one new product they are planning a big splash for, but he said that he thinks your proposal is brilliant and will save the company even without the new product.”
The bite of pizza was forgotten in my mouth for a moment as I struggled to digest what Kaylan had said.
“Really? He told you that?”
Kaylan nodded. “He did, and it wasn’t Sebastian pitching it to his dad. Declan Foster and a bunch of the other executive VPs all pushed it. They’re excited about your plan.”
Wow…
Just…fucking wow.
More than anything, it showed my termination wasn’t personal if he was willing to hang the company’s future on my plan and that so many people supported it. Now, if I could get someone to admit that during a reference call, I’d be golden.
“How are things with you?” Kaylan asked as he snagged another slice of pizza.
I shoved to my feet and went to the kitchen to grab a hand towel for us to share. “It’s about as good as you would expect. The job market isn’t all that great right now. I’ve sent out about twenty résumés so far, but I’ve heard nothing back.”
“Yeah, but it’s too early. It takes forever for those big companies to work through the stack of résumés and then send the ones that meet the qualifications to the manager and then the manager has to go through them. You’ll start hearing from people later this week.”
The smile that grew on my lips felt so damned forced. I knew Kaylan was trying to help, but the idea of waiting and not knowing was the worst part. Plus, most of these enormous companies were using algorithms and AI to weed through applicants. There was no telling if my application was getting through the AI sorting or if I was being rejected before a human even saw my qualifications.
Thankfully, Kaylan was good at reading people and wandered off to a new topic. This one was the more enjoyable random gossip he still heard, despite being on the top floor. Unlike me, he was always smart enough to make a trip to the coffee cart in the first-floor lobby at lunch and always volunteered to deliver random documents and other things to the various other departments. He said it was to “stretch his legs” but I knew it was his chance to chat with other departments and get all the good tea.
While we talked, we polished off half the pizza and a couple of beers a piece. I was debating another slice when there was a knock at my door. I looked at my companion and raised one eyebrow.
“No clue. I didn’t tell anyone I was coming here,” Kaylan said.
I answered the door and was floored again, but not in a good way.
“Mr. Stern, this is a surprise,” I choked out. The Courtland family lawyer was standing in my hallway. Jacob Stern had appeared in the office here and there to deal with some personal legal matters for Sebastian over the years. We’d exchanged pleasantries, and I’d fixed him some coffee, but that was the extent of our interactions.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Graham. I hope I’m not disturbing you. If you have a moment, I’d like to discuss some legal matters.”
“Um…sure,” I said, fighting the urge to mumble as the pizza I’d eaten now churned in my stomach. I stepped aside and waved him to enter. “Mr. Stern, I don’t know if you’ve met Kaylan Baumgartner. He is Sebastian Courtland’s executive assistant now.”
Kaylan jumped to his feet and stiffened, going from relaxed and easygoing to prim and proper in a flash.