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“Training new hires… Client briefings… Even your meals are scheduled.”
“By design,” I noted. “It’s the nature of running a security firm.”
“When was the last time you took a vacation?”
“I don’t need one.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
I thought about it briefly. The last time I had a real vacation was when Wally was eleven. Melissa and I were still married, albeit our relationship had taken a turn for the worst. We were as emotionally distant as two people could be, hanging onto the threads of our marriage for Wally’s sake. I took them both on a trip to Paris for two weeks. It was fun for the most part, as long as I deliberately ignored all of Melissa’s passive-aggressiveness. It was the last trip we ever took as a family.
I found Melissa in bed with Alexei five months later. I filed for divorce by the end of the day.
“Years,” I grumbled.
Devin set his laptop down on my desk and —finally— put his feet on the floor. “Look, man. I’m not telling you what to do, but you should take a break every once and a while. You’ll go bald faster if you’re under constant stress.”
“My hairline is fine, thank you.”
“Seriously. It’s not good for your health. Remember what happened to Dad?”
I set my jaw. I didn’t like talking about our father. “Dad did everything he could to provide for us.”
“Yes. And he worked himself to the grave.”
“He had a heart attack. It happens.”
“He had a heart attack because he was pulling triple shifts four times a week.”
“To put food on the table,” I snapped. “To buy you those advanced textbooks you wanted. To give us abetter life.”
“I know you looked up to him—”
“Of course I did. Dad gave up everything for us so we could succeed. He taught us that hard work was the only way out of that dump of a trailer park. Now look at us.” I gestured vaguely about the space. “We did it. We got out. The only way to have a good life is to work hard. Making excuses and taking breaks… That’s the fastest way back to that hell hole.”
Devin closed his laptop and exhaled slowly. “You really believe that?”
I pressed my lips into a thin line. I could still remember the late nights when Dad would come home well after midnight exhausted, dripping in sweat and hands covered in grime. He’d pass out on the couch so he didn’t have to disturb us as he passed our room. At the crack of dawn, he was up again to take a quick shower and scarf down a bowl of cereal before heading off to his morning job.
We didn’t have much. Prospects were limited. Money was always tight, and bills were always paid a day or two late. When I turned sixteen, I offered to drop out and get a job. Do the honorable thing. Devin had all the smarts, anyways. He had a way better chance of getting into a good college than I did. Dad wouldn’t have any of it.
“Hard work is the only way to get out on top,” I said.
A long pause settled over the office. My brother simply sighed and stood up. “If you say so,” he mumbled, clearly not wanting to drag this out any further. “I’m done for the day. I’m going to have to come back tomorrow to finish up. Whoever you hired to install your firm’s firewall were idiots. They left a huge backdoor. Anyone with intermediate coding experience could get through and gain access to all the files they wanted.”
I frowned. “That’s a security breach waiting to happen. Did you—”
“Already took care of it. Don’t worry. I’m not even going to charge you extra. Consider it a family discount.”
“Thank you for your generosity,” I replied dryly.
“All work and no play makes Jesse a dull boy,” Devin muttered amusedly to himself as he left.
I pretended to ignore him. There was too much work to do.
Chapter 7
Vivian
