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Liam had emailed her the details of their meal. He’d booked a table at one of the smaller restaurants in town, which was known for being devilishly hard to get into. She’d been impressed when she’d seen the name on the invitation and she was looking forward to dining out.
“Where are you going?” John asked when she’d reached the bottom of the stairs. His hair was wet and clung to ears in thick strands. It was obvious from the pool shorts he was still wearing that he’d spent most of his afternoon out in the garden.
“I’ve got a work thing.” Amy sighed. She’d been hoping to get out of the house without anybody asking her anything. She didn’t want to cause any more contention than what was already flying around.
“Oh, you mean with Green?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. The front door was in her sight and taunting her with every passing second. “Look, I really have to get going.” She took another step forward.
“Amy, you need to think about what you’re doing,” John said softly. “I know that this is your dream job, but you’re going to be walking away from a hell of lot.”
What was he saying? He’d been telling her to go for it only the night before. What had changed? Why was he suddenly telling her to be cautious? “I know what I’m going to be walking away from,” she told him firmly. She wasn’t an idiot. She didn’t need John to remind her about the money she’d be walking away from.
“I know you do,” John said softly. Amy focused on his expression. He was normally pretty easy to read, but she was having trouble. It was like he was pretending to feel a different way to the way he really felt, and it was screwing up his normal telltale signs. “But you need to think about it, too. You can’t just shrug away the millions that you’re going to be walking away from. It’s going to change everything about your life.”
“What’s your point?” Amy asked, her eyes darting past him and to the door again. “You told me yesterday that I should do what makes me happy, so what’s with the sudden change?”
John looked uncomfortable. He looked as though he’d just been asked the one question that he didn’t want to answer. “I just think you might be rushing into this,” he said finally. “I don’t want you to look back at your life and regret the choices you’ve made. I want you to be happy.”
“But, yesterday you knew that it would be this job that made me happy,” Amy pushed. “So, what’s changed?”
John looked kind of annoyed. “Look, I’m just trying to give you some advice. You can do what you want with it,” he snapped.
“Alright then.” Amy wasn’t going to waste any more time. She walked over to the door and pulled it open. “Well, I’m going to my meal. I’m done getting whiplash trying to keep up with you.”
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Chapter 14
John
He felt terrible. What had he just done? Had he really tried to talk Amy out of taking her dream job? Was he really that selfish? Maybe he wasn’t any better than his dad after all. Maybe he was just as bad. He watched as Amy walked out the door. He thought about following her. He thought about trying to apologize, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. She was right; he couldn’t keep switching what side he was standing on.
He walked back through the house with his problems heavy on his shoulders. What was he going to do? How was he going to get the investment he needed? He stopped walking when the sound of a cell phone ringing disturbed his thoughts. It was coming from the study. John walked over and knocked on the door lightly, but there wasn’t an answer. The phone continued to ring and he found curiosity forcing him forward.
It was weird being in the study without his father. It wasn’t a room used by anyone other than him. John made it over to his father’s desk and picked up the ringing cell phone. “Hello?” he answered it.
“Hey, it’s Sam here. I’ve got the information you requested about Green Corp.”
“Okay,” John said hesitantly. It was obvious that Sam didn’t know he was talking to John and not his father.
“It turns out Amy got hired by a guy named Liam. He’s known around the office for being a bit of a ladies’ man. There isn’t any rock-solid proof, but I’m pretty sure he hired her so that he’d get a chance to get close to her. There were a few people in those interviews who scored much higher than she did.”
“So, what are you saying?” John asked.
“I don’t think she’s going to be working at the firm for very long. It’s my understanding that Liam fires almost all of the hires he makes. I think you’ve just got to wait out the clock with this one.”
“Right,” John tried to keep his voice sounding deep and tired. “Well, thanks for letting me know.”
“Don’t mention it,” Sam said before hanging up.
“What are you doing in here?” his dad’s voice boomed from behind him. John stood perfectly still. He’d been caught red-handed. The phone was still pressed against his ear.
“I was looking for you,” he lied quickly in the hopes that his dad wouldn’t think too deeply into it.
“Why do you have my phone in your hand?”
“It was ringing.”
“You answered my phone?” His dad looked furious. “Did that boarding school teach you nothing?”
“I guess not,” John said weakly. “It was Sam, calling for you,” he added.
His dad’s attention seemed to attach to that fact quickly. “It was Sam? Why was he calling? What did he have to say?”
“Well, apparently he’s looked into your issue,” John said dryly. “It looks like you don’t have much to worry about. Amy wasn’t hired by Green Corp for her merits.”
“That’s a real shame.” His father smirked. “She’s going to be upset when she learns about that.”
“Don’t act like you care,” John said bitterly.
“Of course I care.” His dad looked shocked. “I care very much. I’ve got a lot of money invested in Amy; I need her to be on my side.”
“Do you really think that she’s going to come and work for you?” John asked in disbelief. “She doesn’t want to work for you. She wants to do some good in this world. If she doesn’t keep her job at Green, she’s just going to look somewhere else.”
“We both know that you’re not going to let that happen, though, don’t we?” His dad’s focus bore into John’s face. “We both know that you’re going to talk her around, so that you can get that investment that you want.”
“Dad, I think you need to give this up.” John shook his head. “She doesn’t want to work for you. Why would you force her? It’s her life. Don’t you care about her being happy?”
“You think she’s going to be happy when she’s dirt poor?”
“She would only be dirt poor if you cut her off,” John pointed out.
“That doesn’t change my questions, John.” His father walked over to his desk and took a seat. “Do you think she’ll be happy when she has nothing?”
“I don’t know,” John said honestly. “Maybe she will, though. She isn’t like you. She doesn’t need a fortune in the bank.”
“No, maybe she doesn’t need a fortune,” his dad agreed. “But she’s going to have nothing. Not a single cent to her name. She’s going to be homeless and without a family. Is that really what you want for her?”
“Obviously that isn’t what I want.”
“Then you better talk some sense into the girl, before she ends up there,” his dad warned. “I’m not messing around, John; I don’t have time to mess around. I’ve already waited years for this plan to come together. I’m not willing to wait much longer.”
“Well, I don’t know what you want me to do.” John shrugged. “I’m not going to force Amy to choose money over her happiness.”
“That’s fine,” his dad shrugged. “I want you to know, though, if I cut Amy off, then I’m going to cut you off too.”
“What?”
“That’s right.” His dad gave him a sickly smile. “I’m not messing about over this, kid. If you
fail me, then you can say goodbye to any money that you might have been entitled to in years to come.”
“You really are a piece of work.” John shook his head. “I mean, it’s one thing to send your own son away, but to threaten both your kids with the streets? That’s a whole new kind of low.”
“I’m not threatening either of you with the streets,” his dad told him calmly. “I’m giving you a fair choice. You both either play this my way or you leave. I don’t think that’s being unreasonable.”
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Chapter 15
Amy
