“I know it’s short notice, so does anyone have anything that genuinely can’t be moved?”
“I’m on annual leave on Friday,” said Jason.
“I’ll send you a list of what I need from you. Get it to me by the end of the day so I can review it tomorrow in case I have questions. We’ll let you know what’s been decided next week,” said Simon, waving his hand dismissively.
Jason snapped!
“Let me get this right. You’re having a people strategy session and you don’t want my input into it?”
“That’s not what I said, but we can’t delay things because you decided to take a last-minute day off.”
“Firstly, this day off was booked before you even arrived, so it’s not last minute. What is last minute is you planning a strategy session with forty-eight hours’ notice.”
Everyone looked like they wanted to be anywhere else but in this room as Jason and Simon stared at each other, neither of them breaking eye contact. Jason’s heart was beating so fast he could hear it in his ears.
“We can’t delay things until you’re back. The business doesn’t revolve around one person, you know. I’m in the States for the rest of the month. It’s Friday or it won’t happen.”
“And what a coincidence it happens to be when I’m not here. Alex would not spring something this big on you last minute. You’ve been sitting on this and waiting so I can be excluded. Just like you’ve been doing since you arrived. What did I ever do to you?”
Simon prickled. His face was reddening. It looked like he was trying to maintain his composure, but Jason’s filter was already on annual leave. His brain wasn’t managing what he was saying anymore. If he thought it, it was coming out.
“I think we should pick up this conversation privately,” said Simon.
“I’d rather have witnesses. I have no idea what I’ve done to piss you off, but since the first week you’ve treated me differently to everyone else. You barely spend any time with me. You’ve been here ten weeks, and we’ve spent all of twohours together one-on-one, whereas the others have each had at least ten.”
Jason picked up some shocked faces, but Simon wasn’t giving anything away.
“I don’t know what it is. I know it isn’t a homophobic thing because everyone in this room likes dick in some form.”
Dexter couldn’t hide his snort.
“That’s a very inappropriate thing to say in the workplace, Jason,” said Simon.
“So is making someone feel like a worthless piece of shit all the time, and that’s how you make me feel?”
“You’re overreacting here. I know you were disappointed not to get the role, but this behaviour is really not acceptable.”
“Woah. Is that what this is about? You know I withdrew from the process, don’t you?”
Simon looked surprised for a second, but recovered quickly.
“It all makes sense now. That’s what this has all been about. Do you think I’m after your job? I only applied because Jane asked me to. I knew I wasn’t ready, so I withdrew. Then I have a new boss come in, and not just anyone, but another gay guy in a senior position. I was hoping I could learn from you, and you’d be a role model, so when another opportunity arises in five or ten years, then I’d be ready.”
“Jason, I –”
“It’s pretty clear what you think of me, so I’ll save us both a lot of stress. I’m done. You’ll have my resignation by the end of the day.”
Jason grabbed his laptop and got out of the room as quickly as he could. He thought he heard someone call out to him, but didn’t stop to see who it was. Passing by his desk, he swooped up his belongings. The letter could be sent from home. The quicker he could get out of here, the better.
The lift was on his side, as it arrived in seconds, but it didn’t look like anyone was coming after him anyway. Theywere probably pleased he was leaving and taking all his drama with him. Fuck them. He’d take his awesomeness elsewhere.
As he stepped out of his office building onto the street, he didn’t feel any regret about what had just happened. That was his typical reaction when he snapped. Reality would usually creep back in later and he’d cringe at what he’d done. But this time, he felt free.
The feeling of freedom didn’t last long. He’d submitted his resignation formally to Simon, and had said it was with immediate effect. Jason had heard nothing back, and still had access to the company network. Either way, he wasn’t going in tomorrow, Friday he had booked off, and then he was supposed to be going to Liverpool with Grant. That was someone he needed to speak to. He understood why Patrick wasn’t speaking to him, but what was his husband playing at?
He walked into the Blue Lagoon, and there was a woman dancing on a pole, hanging upside down. Her perky tits were on display, and a group of men were drooling at her and pushing notes into the skimpy thong she was wearing. Good for her, thought Jason. He made his way to the back, knowing that if Grant was here, he’d been in the back room or his office. There was usually a security guard posted, but there was nobody there, which wasn’t a good sign that Grant was around. Undeterred, he looked anyway. The back room was empty, so he went to the office. The door was closed, but he could hear that someone was inside. Jason didn’t want to walk in on some important mob meeting and witness a crime and have to go into hiding. Although he would rock a nun’s outfit, he couldn’t sing a note to save his life. He would definitely want to call his versionSister Sass, but he was getting distracted. Listening closely, he heard the distinct sound ofmoaning, and it wasn’t just anyone– it was Grant. He’d not heard that moan for years, but he knew it like it was yesterday. Oh, this was too good to be true.
Jason listened intently, feeling nothing about what he was overhearing. When he knew it was the perfect timing, he opened the door and saw a startled-looking Grant with his cock down some blonde woman’s throat. He’d passed the point of no return, so Jason couldn’t help but smirk as he came down blondie’s throat, who seemed oblivious to the fact she now had a spectator.
