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Eight
The cold,windy February night rattled Jason’s apartment windows. It reinforced how much he hated winter, especially when it got so bitter. He sat on the couch, with his favorite sweatshirt on, a beer on the coffee table and his laptop open. He’d spent the last hour going back and forth between a proposal he needed to finish, and going through information sheets on the office spaces he and Ben would look at over the next couple of days.
He didn’t perform either task efficiently. He’d type a paragraph or two on the proposal and then read some details on office space. His mind worked overtime on a dozen different things, including the problem that landed in his lap today.
A key turning the lock provided the perfect distraction. He set the laptop aside and headed for the door. Ben’s face lit up as Jason approached. He dropped his bag and wrapped Jason in a hug.
“This is a nice surprise.” Ben tightened his embrace and peppered Jason’s face with kisses. “I thought you had a dinner tonight.”
“Client got stuck in DC with the weather, so here I am.” Jason ran his hands over Ben. “It’s so good to see you.”
Jason kissed Ben and rested his head against the taller man’s chest. They’d been separated longer than normal since the new year. Ben had a huge project that had him over scheduled in Chicago so they’d gotten by on texts and FaceTime.
“Everything okay, Jay?” Ben asked as the embrace continued.
“It’s been a long day.”
“Tell me.” Ben planted a soothing kiss on the top of Jason’s head.
Jason pulled back so he could talk without muffling his words against Ben’s shoulder. He loved how in tune Ben was, his green eyes going from “great to see you” to “I’m concerned.”
“Work threw some curve balls. Make yourself comfortable and I’ll get you a beer.”
Ben nodded and gave Jason’s hand a squeeze. “Be right back.”
Jason went to the kitchen while Ben took his bag to the bedroom. Today’s meeting with his superiors left Jason at a loss on how to proceed. He grabbed another beer out of the fridge and returned to the living room. Since he couldn’t sit still, he straightened up the papers he had strewn around the couch and shut the laptop down while he waited.
Comfortable in sweats, Ben looked wonderful and Jason wanted to curl up against him and relax rather than having to dive into problems.
“So, what’s going on?” Ben took a drink from the bottle.
“Remember how I thought things were in motion for me to transition out at the end of next month?” Jason ran a hand through his hair and sighed as the annoyance of the meeting slammed back into him. “This afternoon Julia called me in for a meeting with Bradley, the managing director. Apparently the company feels differently about my departure.”
Jason paused to grab a drink to steel himself to go into specifics. Ben shifted on the couch, drawing his legs up under him, sitting sideways so he could face Jason.
“Bradley wants to promote me to a newly created position. I’d go specifically after mid-size clients that the company doesn’t currently pursue. I’d be armed with a couple million dollars to start and the ability to hire staff. The position would be a senior VP with a sizeable raise. He sold it as being like running my own business, except I’d stay in the company fold. Of course, I said thanks but no thanks. Then Bradley went on to say that I could leave at any time, what I couldn’t do was violate the non-compete I’d signed.”
“Oh, man, really?” Ben took Jason’s hand.
“I’ve been there ten years. I don’t remember the shit I signed day one. Julia told me after the meeting that she knew he was going to offer the promotion. But, she had no idea he’d try to force my hand.”
“How are we competing?” Ben kept his voice even, which Jason appreciated since he had enough anxiety for them both. “We’re not going after the same clients.”
“Except we would if they start the new division.”
“Did that even exist when we started talking?”
“I doubt it. Julia heard the idea for the first time when Bradley told her he wanted to offer it as a way to get me to stay. Anyway, I dug up the non-compete before I left today. Michael said he’d review it and get back to me in the morning. Hopefully there’s a loophole. From what I read, it sounded like I either need the company to waive it, or leave and wait twelve months before I went into competition.”
Ben grimaced and squeezed on Jason’s hand.
“The new offer’s lucrative too. It’s a forty thousand a year raise plus some major bonuses for growing the business. It could help us bank more money for the startup.”
“But how long would you be stuck there, Jay? You were excited about getting out. Wasn’t that the point?”
Jason got up and went to the window.
“Yeah.” Jason watched the people scurrying from place to place on the sidewalk below. “And working with you. And getting us in one city.” He returned his gaze to Ben. “I feel trapped—stuck between what I want and what’s being forced. We can’t spend a lot of money to fight this.”
