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The voting deadline passed, and an email popped into my inbox with the results. I couldn’t bear to look at it. The results would just make me angrier at Owen, and Jude, and especially at Furio. Maybe if I ignored the grim reaper, I could postpone my death just a little bit longer.
Dave had the office next to mine, and through the glass wall I saw Nancy go inside and close the door. The two of them began speaking, a worried look on their faces. Now that the vote was over, maybe they were realizing just howfinalit all was. As senior engineers, they would be taking severance packages as well, and would have to train their replacements.
Should have thought of that before voting yes,I thought.Now we sold our soul to the devil: a big corporation. There’s no going back, now.
Other people came by to speak to them. I tried to ignore them, but the stream of people was distracting. Everyone looked confused and alarmed. Nancy gestured with a hand.
Another knock came at my door, and this time it was someone I didn’t want to ignore: Melinda. She had a weird expression on her face. Thoughtful, and maybe happy? She tried the door, but it was locked.
Sighing, I pulled myself away from the code and got up to unlock the door. “I know, it’s over. I don’t care.”
“I know. I can’t believe it, can you?”
“Yeah, I guess I can’t,” I said. “I don’t know when everything takes effect, but I’m trying to finish a few small tasks while I still work here. If you want to go out for drinks later, I’m planning on getting absolutely shitfaced. Might as well spend the sale money on something worthwhile, huh?”
“What? No,” she said, a strange tone in her voice.
“Suit yourself. I’ll drink alone.”
Melinda grabbed my arm before I could turn around. “The vote failed, Amber. The sale didn’t go through!”
66
Amber
Melinda smiled at me, and for a long moment I only stared at her.
“Did you hear me?” she said. “The sale failed!”
“I don’t understand,” I said slowly. I didn’t dare believe it. Not yet. “Everyone I talked to was voting yes. Combined with Furio, they have a majority.”
“Furio didn’t vote yes, Amber,” she said, bracing my arms. “He voted no!”
“But he’s the one who brokered the sale in the first place!”
“I know, it doesn’t make any sense to me either,” she replied. “But the vote totals don’t lie. He voted no.”
A trickle of hope began to flow into me. Was this really happening? The vote failed?
I ran back to my desk to see it with my own eyes. Nine percent voted yes, but ninety-one percent voted no. The votes weren’t public, but there was only one combination of votes that added up to that number.
Owen, Jude, and Furio all voted no!
When I turned back to the door, Jude was standing there. He looked just like he did the night I met him atMarcello’s, after I had given him a quick makeover: dress sleeves rolled up, hands in his pockets. And a bashful little smile.
“You voted no? All of you?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I guess we did.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I can’t speak for Furio or Owen. But you made a convincing argument to me. We have so much more work to do here. I kind of want to be around to see it happen.”
I threw myself into his arms and kissed him, not caring if anyone around us could see.
I ran down the stairs into the main room. Everyone was milling around, confused, talking in clumps. Owen was at the foot of the stairs, looking totally out of place in his suit rather than a T-shirt.
“I’m not insane, am I?” he asked me. “Voting no on a deal that would make me the thirty-third richest person in the world? And yeah, I checked the list. Don’t judge me.”
