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It’s made even more apparent when Sera broaches a topic I hadn’t expected. “Why’d you fire Roger Sanders?” she asks far more seriously than anything else that’s been said so far.
That sobers everyone up, including Phillip. He sits up straighter, and I wonder how he’s going to answer this. After hearing Sera and Trish talk about that the last time we sang karaoke, I’d like to know as well. I’ve started falling for Phillip, but I know there’s more to him than what he’s told me. He’s certainly surprised me at every turn.
He clears his throat and smiles seriously at her. The familiar expression he’s worn at the office every day washes away the playful one that was there only moments before. “Roger Sanders was fired because of a sexual discrimination report,” he says plainly.
“He’s been discriminating for years,” Sera says. “What changed?”
Phillip is as calm as ever. “There were no reports. Though we suspected things, he had a way of keeping everyone happy. When his group exceeded expectations, which they routinely did, he was very giving of the bonuses. From what I’ve gathered, most of his team disliked the way he treated his employees, but they enjoyed working for him because of the financial incentives he doled out. All of which were fair and equal. No one reported him because they didn’t want him to be fired since he took pay cuts to give his employees more money.”
Sera frowns. “How did you miss the fact that every person who got promoted was a hot woman?”
Phillip raises his eyebrow. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but most of those women were also his top performers. You can say what you want about the sales side of things, but appearances do matter. The discrimination report had nothing to do with promotions, actually. It had to do with him not being willing to give time and help to men, where he was very generous with his time with the women who worked for him. I assume that the reason the discrimination was reported had something to do with their lack of bonuses for two quarters, but maybe Roger just went too far. Tough to tell why exactly someone gave me a chance to do something about it.”
He sighs and leans back in his chair. “I shouldn’t have said any of that. Maybe my father has it right about not drinking, though I think it’s the karaoke that made me forget myself tonight. I’d really prefer it if you didn’t repeat any of that since I’d have to deny every word of it. Talking about why someone was terminated is a lawsuit waiting to happen.”
Victoria glances at Sera, but it’s Trish who speaks up. “That’s what I thought the whole time. Fuck Roger. Good job on canning that asshole. Here’s the real question, though. At what point do we get scheduled naptime like Google employees?”
Phillip blinks as Trish grins. “If that’s what Google does, then you can have naptime when they hire you. Obviously.”
She slaps her hand on the table. “Damn. A girl has to try, you know?”
This entire conversation has just been bizarre. Truthfully, the whole night has been super weird. But even Sera seems to lighten up after Phillip explained his reasons.
I try to step in and redirect the conversation. “Okay, we’re supposed to remember that Phillip is trying to step away from being the boss. He wants to just be a normal guy, so let’s treat him like he’s just another new guy.”
Sera and Victoria nod to me, but Trish already gave up the hunt for naptime. “I guess that means we can go back to performing.”
She grins at everyone else and says, “I’ll just go ahead and get us scheduled for Bohemian Rhapsody…”
Twenty-Nine
PHILLIP
“The End.”It’s done. I sigh as I lean back in my chair.Love Through Timehas been edited in a week. That’s half as long as most books take. Now I send it off to my lead editor, James Pritchard, so he can run through it again and make sure that he’s willing to sign off on it.
As I’m sending the email to my boss, someone that I actually promoted to lead editor, a Slack message pops up from my father.
Russel Loughton
Come to my office. We need to discuss some things.
My jaw instinctively tenses, and I can hear my teeth grinding together. My father is the last person I want to see right now. I have a splitting headache from all the drinking last night.
Obviously, this would be the morning my father wants to talk. I don’t even know what he’d want to talk about. He agreed to take over for me for an entire month, and it’s not like he’s interested in what’s actually happening to me.
I take a deep breath and hit send on the email before swapping over to my father’s message.
Phillip Loughton
Fine.
No explanation or questioning. It doesn’t matter what I type, he’ll just tell me to go talk to him. I glance at Addison, who’s staring at me. She mouths, “What’s wrong?”
How does she even know that I’m pissed? I just shake my head and stand up. Sera glances up at me as I walk out of the cubicle, but neither of them says a word. I appreciate it because explaining that I get to go have a fight with my father is the last thing I want to do.
I walk the path through the office and take the elevator up to the top floor where my father’s office sits. As soon as I step out of the elevator, a shiver runs through me.
My office is right there. The one I’ve had for more than a decade. Damn near empty except for a single disc golf trophy sitting on a cabinet that I won when I was twenty-three. My diploma hangs on the wall. My desk is empty save for a monitor that I rarely even use.
