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CHAPTER ONE
April stared out the window on the cool September day, praying for a way to touch the leaves on the trees. The top floor of the New York City skyscraper looked right over a park by the East River. She pondered how fresh the air would feel in her lungs, how loud the crunch would be as she walked through the early fallen leaves and branches.
“April?” One of the partners came into view, his suit perfectly tailored and horribly plain. As her reality snapped back into place, she felt the shame rise along her cheeks. She nodded at her boss, who continued talking. “Anyway, we’re under crisis control, people. I’m going to need everyone to start brainstorming now.”
She looked around the room at the intelligent people surrounding her. They would probably find a way for the company to get out of this one. Their client, Reed Industries, had put out another robot vacuum which hadn’t gone through all the proper safety tests. So far, it’d started four home fires because of the lack of proper function in the fan to cool down the electronics.
It was a complicated way to say that Reed Industries put out a bad product and now needed legal help getting them off the hook.
At the long rectangular table sat the CEO of Reed Industries, a large man with extremely muscular arms. His brows were almost constantly turned downwards in a kind of anger.
Everyone had their heads down, looking at the files in front of them. April had already looked them over before the meeting. In fact, she’d been looking them over all night to distract herself from the new emptiness her house held.
The house had been quiet since her daughter left for college just a few days before. It was nice at first, but then yesterday the meaning of the silence hit her harder than she ever thought it would.
A breath caught in her throat as she’d almost started to make a second breakfast to feed Georgia. Her heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces. April hadn’t had much time with her daughter during the day, so she tried to make every minute count. Which meant that now those minutes felt lonely.
Her daughter wasn’t there to laugh with her at the crazy people on reality tv, or gossip about the neighbors who always had their fights with the windows open for the whole neighborhood to see.
She thought about calling Georgia, but realized that she was probably out trying to make new friends. College was a whole new experience for her. April’s loneliness wasn’t a reason to interrupt this precious time in Georgia’s life.
But then April got to thinking about it - was it really loneliness? It felt like more than that. It felt like dread. Like she was stuck inside of a fishbowl, everyone else looking in on her and waiting for her to do a trick; then they’d just ignore her until she died from being in such a tiny bowl.
She was drowning in the misery she felt with her everyday life. It took a genuine effort to feel like things were worthwhile.
She was guilty, lonely, and most of all, dissatisfied with the life she chose. The life where she couldn’t even help her daughter move into her college dorm because she needed to work on a case to save billionaires a penny.
It was depressing, and she knew it. Look at her, pretending to read a file she’d already gone through. And she knew the solution. They should recall the bad products and issue full refunds and apologies. But the company and the firm would never go for that. They wanted their clients to maintain the most amount of money possible, so that they could make the most money in return.
“Look, what I think we have here is a defense. In the handbook, it states various fire codes to ensure the products don’t catch the house on fire. That should be enough for us to explain that users have been using the product incorrectly.”
Using the product incorrectly?thought April.If consumers are using the product as the instructions in the manual suggest, then it doesn’t matter if they put a fire warning in. A fire warning only tells consumers the possible consequences for incorrect use. This is ridiculous. They won’t listen to anything I say.
It made her want to throw up. There was no reason to punish consumers for things the company did wrong. But it was just like them to suggest something like that.
Morals and ethics were thrown out on a daily basis. In fact, it was April’s job to find ways to throw them out so that the ‘good guys’ could win. But those good guys were usually the true villains.
“Very well,” Maxwell, the senior partner in charge of the meeting, said. “I don’t think that’s a terrible idea. Eliminating liability can help your company by keeping consumers calm and continuing to buy.”
George at the other end of the table nodded. “As long as we can get them to blame consumers, we run from the liability. Which is what we really want here, right?”
The CEO and other men at the table laughed. April tried to smile, but she knew it wouldn’t look real. Because it didn’t feel real. It felt like she had a stomachache.
Maxwell was the director who took this type of business theater seriously, always in charge, but never knowing what was right and wrong for the production. George was the senior who got all the lead parts, even though everyone knew he wasn’t right for the role. Lilian was in the chorus, but always acted like it was a Broadway show and gave even the simplest of things full drama.
And April, well April was working backstage. She dealt with all the crappy parts of the job, the paperwork, the cases that no one else could figure out. Even though she dreamed of being anywhere other than this theater, here she was, trying to look like she belonged.
“ April, do you think you could come up with a plan of action by tomorrow morning?” Maxwell asked. The entire cast looked over at her, judging her every move.
April gulped, then cleared her throat. “You want me to take charge on this account?”
Maxwell nodded his head. April tried her best not to look like a deer in headlights, but this was the exact opposite of what she wanted. With the holidays coming up, she was sure she would be able to get more time off and spend it outside of this office. If she took this account, she’d be stuck in here for sure. This was the last thing she needed right now.
“Yes, and they’ll need it by tomorrow morning,” he said to her.
With everyone staring, April thought of ways to turn down the job. But the CEO was glaring at her from the other end of the table. If she didn’t take this, what would they say? Her boss would probably be angry with her. Could she lose her job over something like this? Over saying no to corrupt business owners?
She began to sweat as they all waited for an answer. Did it get hotter in this room? Was the bird chirping outside mocking her? “April?”
