“But I—you can’t?—”
“I think our legal team will want to hear about this latest development in your case, Mr. Evers,” Albert said. “This is more than just a disciplinary matter now.”
Matthew stood there looking like the ground had just opened up under him. In so many ways, it had. Then he turned tail and bolted away from them, toward the front of the house.
No one chased after him. They didn’t need to. It wasn’t like he was a thief who had made off with everyone’s jewels. Whatever Albert planned to do with him legally going forward, Matthew wouldn’t be able to run. At best, he’d lose whatever job he had now and never be able to work in the financial sector again.
“So that’s what your resignation was about?” Albert asked once Matthew was gone and mostly forgotten. “Fear that Evers would use an embarrassing slip against you?”
It would have been easy for Desmond to say yes, that was it. He knew the light in Albert’s eyes, too. Harry had probably had a long talk with him about all the ways they could woo him back. All would be forgiven and he would probably be offered his job back if he merely answered yes.
That wouldn’t have been the truth, though. At least not the entire truth. The truth was what he’d discovered about himselfthrough Javier, what he’d spent all week thinking about as he’d missed his boyfriend and not his job.
“Er, that’s not it entirely,” he said, a bit sheepish to start, then quickly scolding himself for falling back into old patterns. He wasn’t ashamed of figuring out he wanted something different for his life than what he’d always assumed he wanted. He was ready for change. “To be honest, Albert,” he continued, “I think I’m done with finance.”
“Done with finance?” Albert looked shocked, like not wanting to be part of that world anymore was a foreign concept.
“I’d like to do something else with my life,” he said, smiling cautiously, then fully as he glanced at Javier. “I’ve spent nearly a decade helping myself,” he went on, “making money for myself and my clients. To be honest, I don’t find it particularly fulfilling. Not like everyone told me it would be.”
“I see,” Albert said, though Desmond wasn’t certain he did see.
“I think I’d like to try my hand at something that makes other people happy, that helps them to discover the things I’ve discovered,” Desmond went on, his thoughts coalescing even as he spoke.
“I’ll admit, that’s a noble sentiment,” Albert said with a sigh. “Do you have any idea what you’ll do?”
Strangely enough, Desmond did have an idea. It was a bizarre idea and it might not actually work, but it was an idea all the same. He smiled at Javier again, since the man he loved would be instrumental in the mad plan hatching in his head, and said, “I have one idea.”
Javier’s brow inched up in surprise, or, at least, as much as it could with all the glitter plastered on his face. Desmond couldn’t wait to tell him what he was thinking.
“Well, I guess if I can’t make you reconsider keeping your position at Pickering Jones, then that’s the end of that,” Albertsaid, extending his hand to Desmond. “But I trust that you’ll continue to think of me as a friend, even though we’re no longer colleagues.”
“That’s very generous of you, Albert,” Desmond said, taking the man’s hand.
They said a few parting words, then Albert went on his way, leaving Desmond and Javier standing alone at the edge of the rose garden.
“This has been an interesting party,” Javier said, breaking the potentially awkward silence.
Desmond laughed and shook his head, rubbing his face. “It’s been a bit of a ’mare, if I’m honest.”
Javier stepped closer and pulled him into a hug. Considering that all he wore was a tight bodysuit and a kilo of glitter, the hug was almost indecent. But Desmond definitely liked it that way.
He liked it even more when Javier said, “What say we ditch this party and go home?”
Desmond pulled back, staring up at him. “Aren’t you on the clock? This is a job for you, not a social event.”
“What are they going to do if I leave early?” Javier asked flatly. “Cancel all future contracts with my business?”
Swirls of guilt filled Desmond’s gut. “Once again, I’m so sorry things didn’t work out with your agency.”
“It happened,” Javier sighed, sliding his arm around Desmond’s waist and starting to walk back toward the house.
“It did,” Desmond said, the seeds of his idea popping and fizzing again. “But perhaps there’s a way to learn from the whole experience to do better next time.”
Javier eyed him warily. “Is this what you meant when you told your ex-boss you have an idea? Because I still refuse to accept money from you in order to keep beating a dead horse.”
“No, that’s not it at all,” Desmond rushed to say, taking a half step away from Javier so he could send him a serious look.“I have an entirely different idea. A mad idea, but one that you might be on board with.”
“Okay, now I’m curious,” Javier said as they neared the house. “But maybe we could hold off discussing this until I’ve de-flowered and we’ve gone home.”
