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My entire body starts vibrating.
“How can you be this mean?! Why do you hate everything and everyone with such venom? Why is it so hard to believe your son wants to be a part of my life?”
I don’t realize the loud, hoarse voice cry-talking is mine. It’s riddled with so much pain and anguish, but the man only smiles at my frustration. Is he enjoying my suffering? What a sadist!
I have more to say, but I’ll just piss him off further. I can’t believe this man is willing to cut off his own kid because he can’t stand me. I would never be able to live with myself if Harrison lost his place at work and in the family because of me.
Exhaling, I lean heavily on the door again. What should I say?
Bryce reaches into his jacket and pulls out a folded white paper. He doesn’t open it and simply hands it to me.
“Sign it as soon as possible and send it to your boss. The moment you do, it’s effective immediately. Goodbye.”
He’s gone in less than five seconds, his associate right behind him.
Weakly heading back into my apartment and locking the door, I unfold the paper. I‘m not even surprised as I peruse the content. I’m hurt all over again, but not surprised. Bryce has drafted a full resignation letter for me, written like it came from me to Building Bridges. He expects me to sign it and pass it to Harrison to seal my permanent exit from the company.
What kind of evil does this man eat for breakfast? How does he sleep at night? How did he raise a kind man like Roscoe or an emotional man like Harrison? I hope my child doesn’t inherit any character traits from him. I’m suddenly feeling very sick.
Crawling up into a ball, I sit on my couch and stare endlessly at the paper.
An hour passes.
Two hours.
My doorbell rings again.
Maybe I should ignore this one and run into my bedroom. They’ll go away after a while.
Another ding. Now I’m really pissed.
Without checking the peephole, I unlock the door and pull it open.
Harrison.
He instantly notices my puffy eyes and red face.
“Charlee! Are you okay?” He’s holding a bag in one hand and touches my face with the other. Not saying a word, I walk back into my living room and he follows.
“Charlee, what is it?” He tries to take my hands but I reflexively back away. I can see the shock on his face and now I feel guilty. How many ugly emotions do I have to stomach today?
“Your father was just here,” I say, and Harrison’s shock deepens, his face going white. Without waiting for him to ask, I tell him everything the man said to me, struggling with my choking tears as I relive the horror, and then I hand him the resignation paper.
“He drafted this and told me to quit. He said you don’t trust me. That’s why you haven’t told me a few important things about you. You think I’m not worthy of you.”
Harrison looks up from the paper and turns sharply to me. “Charlee, have we not come too far for this to keep happening? Why on earth would you take anything he says seriously? Come on!”
Blood rushes to my head.
“Don’t you dare put this on me, Harrison! I’m the victim here. I’m the one who’s being tossed around like a football by your family. Your father has accused me of getting pregnant to milk money from you. How should I live with that?”
Harrison sits up and faces me. “Charlee, do you think that man speaks for me? Why are you being like this?”
I laugh dryly. “How am I being, Harrison? Enlighten me, pleas. Because as I see it, I’m not the one who’s keeping deep secrets here.”
The words have barely left my mouth when Harrison’s mouth drops open. He struggles for a moment, and then he looks me straight in the eyes.
“Charlee, don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house. Aren’t you the one that already has a lawyer working out a deal with my dad’s legal team? To get a payout or heavy child support from? Aren’t you?!”
