AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The fundamentals of the Plus business are strong. You have no need to be concerned about your job or career prospects because of me. Plus’ leadership across the board is the best in the industry, and the company’s five-year plan is so exciting I can hardly bear to think about what I’ll miss out on.
I posted this on the company intranet, yes, I hacked in and that’s a jackass thing to do as well (close port 733, dudes), but I wanted you all to have access to this without any filters. Be nice to Sarina if you see her this week. No doubt she feels like punching someone in lieu of being able to thump me, because there’s no way she’d think this was anything but another dumbass move on my part.
I’ve spent today telling journalists the same things I’ve said here, so you can expect to see the confessions of the dickhead Reid McGrath in the media over the next few days. If we’re lucky, some other Silicon Valley CEO will screw up in a day or two and the focus will shift. Until it does you know who to blame.
I’ve apologized privately to Kuch, key stockholders, and to my Plus co-founders, Owen, Sarina and Dev, who continue to be my dearest, most trusted friends (assuming they ever forgive me).
My plan now is to hide for a while. It was pointed out to me recently by someone new in my life, who I care about immensely, that I’d never learned to deal with failure. I think I’ve done a bang-up job of proving that. I’m going to focus on getting my shit together and when I’ve done that I’ll get to thinking about what I might do next.
I’m worried abo
ut Ziggurat. It would be disingenuous to say I wasn’t. The point of Ziggy is to secure the future of Plus. I’d be worried if I was still there with you because it’s a huge undertaking, but you know what?
You’ve got this.
I believe in you. You’re skilled people and you know your stuff. Dev’s got this. He’s a rockstar engineer, any of you who’ve worked alongside him know it. Owen’s got this. He’s a far better CEO than I ever was. Give him your support and you can’t help but do well.
Better Together.
And as it turns out, better off without me.
Now get the hell back to work.
Reid.
TWENTY-FOUR
Zarley nearly broke her nose on the door when it didn’t open. She saw the notice taped there at the same time as Vi opened up and hustled her inside.
“What’s going on?” No customers, only half the lights on. Lizabeth sat on a barstool with an open bottle in front of her. Zarley clocked Vi’s expression. “Tell me.”
Vi’s face crumpled and she let out a sob. “Lou had a heart attack.”
Zarley’s hand went to her mouth. “Oh my God. Is he all right?” Therese came in from the kitchen carrying a pile of plates. Everything was out of order.
Lizabeth got off her stool and put her hand on Vi’s shoulder. “He died.”
Someone was knocking on the door. Kathryn came in. “What’s the deal?”
“It’s Lou,” said Vi. “He’s gone.”
“Gone where?”
“The big beer keg in the sky,” said Lizabeth.
“What?”
More banging on the door. Therese let Melinda in. “Health violation. Goddamn, Lou,” she said and froze. “What?”
“Health inspectors slapped a closure notice on Lucky’s this morning. Five minutes after they left here, Lou had a heart attack,” said Lizabeth.
“He drank and smoked too much,” said Melinda. “What hospital took him?”
“He’s dead,” said Vi. “Dead before the ambulance got here. I tried.” She broke down again.
Lizabeth took over. “Vi tried to revive him. Hospital said he was probably dead before he hit the floor.”
Melinda moved to stand in front of Vi. “That’s a terrible shock. We need to take care of you.”
