“We can decline.”
“What happens to the work?”
“We stop offering it.”
“Lost revenue.”
“Manageable.”
“You built the service because there was demand.”
“You built it.”
I looked at him.
“Me?”
“Your idea. You designed the storage. Chose the inventory. Made it profitable.”
A strange grief rose inside me.
Another version of myself had created a life I no longer knew how to occupy.
“Do you want me to do it again?”
“No.”
The answer came too fast.
I studied him.
“Boss answer or partner answer?”
His jaw tightened.
“Partner.”
“And boss?”
“Not now.”
“That is different.”
“Yes.”
I waited.
Reid rubbed both hands across his face.
“As your partner, the thought of you driving alone makes me sick.”
Honesty roughened his voice.
“I know that is my fear, not a rule for your future.”
I said nothing.
“As your boss, I would not authorize any employee to resume field work with your current fatigue, concentration limits, and driving restriction.”
