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The descending elevator arrives a fraction before the one coming up.
I step inside and punch the button for my floor. As the doors close, the elevator next to me pings its arrival.
34
ELLIOT
Icharge out of the elevator and into Max’s office, more fired up than ever.
He freezes, one arm halfway into a jacket sleeve, when I swing open the glass door. “I need to talk to you.”
His eyes are wide, and he pulls his head back, recoiling in surprise. “I was actually ju?—”
“I don’t care what you were just about to do. I need to talk to you.” My pulse races. But it’s no longer from fear or dread. All that consumes me now is excitement, the thrill of possibilities, and the buzz of taking control of my own destiny.
“That’s clear.” Max finishes donning his jacket. “But I was just saying that I?—”
I hold up both palms, like a cop stopping traffic. “Don’t care.” It’s time I made him listen to me for once. Time I showed him I’m a grown fucking man, not the little brother he can run roughshod over forever.
I’ve timed this perfectly. Late enough for Charlotte to have left for the day, but early enough for Max to still be here.
“Okay,” he says, his eyebrows finally dropping to their usual location. “Are you all right, though? You’ve never come into this building in shorts and a T-shirt before. And your hair looks like it hasn’t seen a comb, or maybe a shower, for…a while.”
“I’m not here for your opinion on my sartorial issues.” I pace over to the window, too wired to stand still. “And this is urgent.”
“You could have called,” he mutters to my back.
I swing around and square off against him. “I’m not messing around here, Max. I’m deadly fucking serious.”
He holds up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. So what have you raced over here for?”
“The way you treated Charlotte. The way you treated me. It’s completely unacceptable.”
“You as well, huh?” he mumbles.
“What?”
“Nothing. Look, what are you talking about?” Deep furrows appear across his forehead. “I haven’t done anything to harm Charlotte. I wouldn’t do anything to harm Charlotte. I’ve promoted her, for God’s sake. She’s got exactly the job she asked for.”
He did? And she didn’t tell me? And he didn’t tell me?
But I guess neither of them were speaking to me. And I’ve been away from the office so long, I haven’t even been around to pick up any news through the grapevine.
“Oh. You gave her the Joyntz job?”
Max nods.
The wind is momentarily sucked from my sails. But I am happy for her, that she got what she wanted. She’s worked hard and deserves it.
She chose the job, went for it, and she got it.
And I’m here now because I choose her. And I’m going for it.
My stomach tightens. Knowing I’m doing the right thing doesn’t mean it isn’t hard, or frightening, or that it will turn out the way I want.
The sweat on the back of my neck turns chilly. “If you’re so stuck on this absurd thing about not mixing family and business and it means I have to choose between you and Charlotte…” I have to say it. This is what I came here to say. This is the choice I’ve made. I must make the words come out. “Well, then, I guess we can’t be family anymore.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Max asks, his eyes drifting closed on an exhausted sigh.
