My turn to bite.
“Effective immediately,” the Captain said, and the room sharpened instantly. “You’re promoted to SWAT Sergeant.”
There it was, the roar inside my head screaming ‘I’m the best.’
I could see the slight shoulder hunch of the other drones wanting my new position, and I stood a bit straighter just to drive home that defeat for them even more.
There was no buildup needed. No ceremonial bullshit that actually meant nothing. It was all words that changed how everyone in the room would look at me tomorrow and from here on out.
The hallways would be interesting, listening to my secret enemies acknowledge me as their superior.
A couple of heads turned toward me, but I kept my own head down and hid my smile.
I didn’t react right away. I wanted to marinate in this shit and let it sit in the air a second longer than necessary so others would feel it too.
Finally, I nodded once.
He started blabbering the minute I leaned back in my chair, but the words blurred until he shut up.
“About time,” I said with a laugh.
That got a few laughs, nothing loud, more like the controlled forced shit people thought they had to do to fit in. Some looks were timid, and others challenged me. Marty, in the back, was about to piss his pants, and I met his gaze.
He was the kind of person who was always testing whether they were allowed to relax around you, and now that I was top dog, he’d be my little bitch of choice.
The Captain’s eyes stayed on me. “You think you earned it, Hollis?”
My name.
Nobody said names around here. Not your first one, anyway.
What else did he say? Earned it? Ha.
That word always made me want to laugh.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was dumb as fuck to ask.
Earned.
Did anyone in the high ranks really earn shit?
Maybe.
Hell, most of us ‘top ranks’ had just been promoted after suffering here the longest amount of time. That was what built promotions in this world, suffering the abuse of the current top dog to become the next abuser.
I straightened just enough. Not aggressive, but enough to remind everyone I was paying attention and that I actually gave a shit. Maybe.
“I don’t think about earning it,” I said. “I think about results. I produce them. Other people don’t, and that’s why they aren’t where I am now.”
Silence followed.
Good. I meant what I said.
Someone near the back shifted and said it out loud for the first time.
“Sergeant Vhause.”
