Thankfully no one was encouraging him, but my blood ran cold anyway.
Bern Evangelos was tall enough to see over everyone and noticed us approaching first, his damp dark hair glinting in the sunshine as he turned his head toward us. The poor guy was still half asleep with an iced coffee clutched in both hands like a caffeine baby. He nodded at us. Shelby, Tony, and Edgar all looked irritated as fuck, which at first I thought might be bad, but they seemed to be glaring at Xadrian. I shifted their dire expressions into the good column of my assessment of this shitty situation.
“Or maybe we should start our own company so we can have creative freedom. Who would leave with me?” Xadrian’s bellowing disturbed pigeons from the roof and they flew off.
I nudged my way through to the front of the crowd. Xadrian was in his glory, standing right next to the building with his team at his back in a line; although, they didn’t look like they were having much fun. They all appeared to be staring at their shoes or watches or phones.
Bern came up on my right, and Wick stopped on my left and draped his arm over my shoulders. Xadrian paused when his gaze slid around the crowd and landed on us.
Bern cleared his throat. “How much of this is because you lost your project, which has happened to all of us at least once, by the way, and how much is because you know Fenwick and Maurice are together now?” He slurped his coffee and stared at Xadrian, and there was a rumble of positive sounds that circulated around the gathering.
Xadrian snorted. “You would stick up for them. I knew it!”
Tony stomped forward into the no-man’s land between everyone else and Xadrian. He was older, and the craggy scowl that took over his face even had me stepping closer to Wick. “Mr. Guidry is a good boss. You’re damned right we’ll speak up. You haven’t worked long enough to have bad experiences, but let me tell you, go out there and have them. I’m happy right here.” He jabbed a finger toward the ground. “When’s the last time you had a boss that gave out bonuses?”
Xadrian sputtered and looked at his flunkies for support, but it must’ve been in short supply because no one met his eye.
“Bern’s got a point,” Shelby said, and she had pep in her step as she jogged out to stand beside Tony. She rested a hand on his shoulder, and he nodded at her. “Are you a bigot or what, Xadrian?”
Part of me felt guilty. Maybe if I’d held firm about Wick not touching me at all in the office this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe if we’d just... not lived our lives or been ourselves. I sighed. Wick took my hand and smiled at me, and I could barely breathe.
“I trust you to fix this,” I said softly.
“You do?”
I nodded. “You trust me, I trustyou, and I trust the people who work for you. Mostly.” I glared at Xadrian again.
Wick dragged me forward with him, and I clung to his hand, feeling on display, while he turned to face everyone. Normally we didn’t meet in groups this large. “Anyone who wants to quit, today is the day. Xadrian, you’re fired for shit-talking about the company to clients. That’s cause for termination and violates your contract. I may be persuaded to give you severance anyway, if you admit this—” He lifted our hands for a moment. “—is part of the problem.”
Xadrian scowled when we turned to look at him.
Wick shrugged. “Go. I don’t owe you shit.”
Xadrian crossed his arms. “I’ll get a lawyer.”
“Please do. I have one. Anyone else?” Wick sounded stern, and instead of his anger making me worry, it was an unexpected turn-on that had me squeezing his hand tighter.
Hartlee and one of the flunkies left with Xadrian, and Wick shifted a step closer to me when two other people abandoned the crowd and went to their cars. We all stared at their vehicles as they pulled out of the parking lot, and it felt like we were watching a funeral procession, but the only things that were dead in the water were their careers. And for what?
Because they thought Xadrian’s whining was justified? Or homophobia?
Edgar laughed nervously, and Wick spun to face him. This morning his blond curls were a frizzy mess, and he had dark circles under his eyes. The poor guy raised his hand as if he was in school, and Wick nodded. “Um, I don’t want to be fired, since you’re already in a firing mood, but I accidentally deleted three client files.” He tugged on one of his curls. “I was here early to try to figure out if they’re saved anywhere else. That’s like... a hundred-and-twenty-hours’ worth of work down the drain if I can’t recover them.” He looked close to flinging himself face-first on the pavement at Wick’s feet, and as he started forward, Tony grabbed him by both shoulders to keep him from doing something stupid.
Shelby laughed and slapped her hand over her mouth.
Wick chuckled and everyone seemed to relax. “It’s fine, Celestine. Breathe. I’m buying lunch today and a round of drinks this evening. To a stronger workforce! We don’t need people here who don’t want to do good work and support their team.”
There was clapping and cheering, but since it was still early morning the excitement was mostly subdued, and I thought it was primarily for the promised free food and drinks. Wick went around to the front entrance and unlocked the glass door, and as people filed inside they shook our hands. It all felt strangely formal and serious, and Wick was red in the face by the time Edgar, who was last in line, stopped in front of him.
“Please, Maurice.” He cupped his hands under his chin. “This happened yesterday, but you weren’t here.” Edgar’s eyes were huge as he used them to beg for all he was worth.
I sighed. “Yes, I’ll help you. Yes, we can recover them. Yes, it’s fixable.”
“Oh, thank God.” He hugged me tight, knocking the wind out of me, and I patted his back.
“You could’ve come to me.” Wick huffed.
“You were not prepared to be helpful. You looked like you wanted to murder people,” Edgar whispered, and I ended up chuckling.
