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I sigh. “Fine,” I acquiesce and pull the paper roughly toward me, scribbling my name where Janet tapped her pen earlier.
“Good,” she tells me, pulling the paperwork back across the desk. “We’ll be in touch.”
She gives me a curt nod. It’s not unfriendly, but it very much signals that this meeting is over and I find myself wandering out into the hall without another word.
I stand there for a second, staring at my hand still gripping the door handle, those same veins still raised and pulsing and I fight the urge to pull the handle right out of the door.
Instead, I release my grip, and pull out my phone, suddenly turning to stride down the hallway and out of the building.
“Gorlag!” I call into the phone after a couple of rings. He’s the only orc that I think would know what to do in my position. He once had just as bad of a temper before he met his wife and moved to her small town.
“Hey, Ragnar,” he says jovially. I can practically hear the domestic bliss in his voice — something that would irritate me at the best of times, and these are not the best of times. “What’s up?”
“I’ve just been kicked out of my own company,” I say, my voice brimming with anger and resentment and, I’m really honest with myself, shame.
“What?” Gorlag’s bewildered voice says on the other line. “Kicked out how?”
“Put on indefinite leave,” I tell him, and the shame inches its way closer to the surface. “They’re telling me I have to calm down.”
“Oh no, what happened this time?” Gorlag asks knowingly.
I sigh. He knows, from the startup we founded together, that I don’t always perform well under pressure. There were plenty of meetings back in the day that ended in a pile of broken furniture and it’s no surprise he’s anticipating a similar stunt this time. Still, it stings a little to know I’m that predictable. The thought that maybe Iwouldbenefit from a break starts to creep into my mind.
“I was in a negotiation. This was going to be a major deal, and I blew it,” I tell him, and the shame starts to edge into the light. “I actually really messed up this time, Gorlag. This company is my life, but I let my temper get the better of me. Again.”
“Good old Ragnar,” he says jokingly, and I can tell he’s trying to lighten the mood. Despite myself, I appreciate his attempt at making me feel better. Or at least, not making me feel worse.
“So, what are you going to do with the time off?” he asks. “Vacation to Bali? Paris? Hawaii?”
I sigh again, this time with resignation. “No such luck,” I tell him. “The company is telling me I should go somewhere…remote.”
“Oh, man!” Gorlag suddenly exclaims and I can hear the happiness in his voice. “Why don’t you come stay with us for a while in Green Haven then? Emily and I would be happy to have you!”
The thought of staying with Gorlag hadn’t crossed my mind until now. I just assumed I’d get a hotel until work was ready to call me back.
“I couldn’t do that,” I say, still a little reticent about staying in the little town at all.
But Gorlag won’t hear a word of it. “Of course you could, and you will. Seriously, I insist.”
I have to hand it to Gorlag — he’s a good friend.
“Are you sure?” I ask, slowly warming to the idea of staying with them.
If I have to be holed up in some tiny little town for the foreseeable future, I suppose it might as well be with an old friend.
“I insist,” Gorlag replies.
Even if I still resent the idea of staying in Green Haven, it might be a little less horrible if I’m staying with someone I know. And like Janet said, the faster I relax, the faster they’ll call me back. At least, that’s what I’m banking on.
2
BRADFORD
I’m practicing my catwalk moves all the way out of my hotel room, one foot set purposefully in front of the other but in a way that makes it look effortless. Not that I haven’t done this a thousand times before, but it never hurts to stay sharp.
But I’m so focused on my form that I almost run right into a cleaner coming around the corner. I come this close to knocking over the cleaning cart.
“Oh God, I’m sorry,” I say, suddenly embarrassed.
