I feel the old, familiarfix-itweight settling on my shoulders. The instinct to sacrifice myself is so ingrained, it’s practically a reflex. I start to step in front of Lucas, to take the punishment, to tell Doug it was all me and that Lucas was just a bystander in my disaster.
But Lucas doesn’t let me move.
He squeezes my shoulder—a firm, grounding weight—and steps a half pace in front of me, forcing Doug to look him in the eye. His boyish, “come what may” grin is nowhere to be found. He’s a statue made of lead.
“I’m done being the setup man, sir,” Lucas says.
“You’re a reliever, Fischer,” Doug snaps. “That is your job, if you have one at all.”
“No,” Lucas counters, his spine a steel rod. “You said you want a guy who refuses to give the ball back? That’s me. I’m done letting people walk all over me to get where they’re going, and I’m done pretending Scottie isn’t the most important thing in this organization to me, whether she feels the same or not. Trade me if you have to. Cut me. I don’t care. But I’m not letting her disappear because of a PR mess she didn’t start.”
The lobby goes deathly silent. Even the tourists by the fountain have stopped pretending they’re not watching. The feeling of finally being the one someone refuses to lose is hitting me so hard I can’t breathe. Lucas isn’t just standing up to a boss; he’s offering up his lifelong dream as a sacrifice.
For me.
And I’m too choked up to stop him.
Doug looks from Lucas to me, then to the massive cart of coffee. “What is this?”
“One of every flavor,” Lucas says, a flicker of his light returning. “She drinks vibes. I wasn’t going to miss the right one.”
Doug looks around the lobby, noticing my parents for the first time.
“Conference room C. Now.” Doug looks at the barista, who’s hovering nervously. “And bring the cart.”
We swap looks and follow. It feels like we’re marching to our execution, the wheels of the coffee cart squeaking against the carpet in a rhythm that matches my jackrabbit pulse. The fear that we’ve both just tanked our careers is a pit in my stomach, but with Lucas caring too much to let me take the fall, it’s not as heavy as it could be.
The moment the door to the conference room clicks shut, Doug folds his arms. The air in here is clinical and tight. We allstart to speak at once, falling over ourselves to explain, but Doug holds up a hand.
He isn’t looking at us. He’s looking at my parents.
“This is our fault,” my dad tells Doug. His voice is gravelly, stripped of its usual lightness.
Doug’s head cocks to the side. “How so?”
“We pushed them to keep dating. Scottie’s a Jake-whisperer, and we saw how much better he was doing thanks to her. She was ready for things to end a while ago, but I’m ashamed to admit that our whole family begged her to stay with him.” Dad stops, looking down at his shoes like he’s trying to gather the pieces of himself. “We didn’t know what it was costing her. We love Jake like a son, but she’s our daughter.” The crack in his voice pierces me. “We should’ve protected her, first.”
My mom steps forward then, her chin trembling but her eyes fixed on Doug with a raw, maternal heat.
“I called her ‘the glue’ for fifteen years,” Mom says, her voice gaining strength with every word. “I thought I was complimenting her strength. I didn’t realize I was telling my daughter that her only worth was in holding someone else together. We used her as a tool to keep Jake steady. We were so busy worrying about him that we let our daughter become invisible.”
She turns to me, her eyes wet and searching. “Scottie, I’m so sorry. Jake’s reputation isn’t worth a single one of your tears.” She grabs my hand, squeezing as she looks at Doug. “If being a ‘liability’ means she’s finally putting herself first, then she’s exactly where she needs to be.”
I look at my mom. “I didn’t make it easy for you to see it.”
“You shouldn’t have had to,” she says simply. Fiercely. “I’m your mother.”
I feel... I feel...
Loved.
Seen.
And, honestly, vindicated.
Happy.
Doug looks at the four of us. The silence stretches, agonizing and heavy. He looks at the cart the barista left, then he grabs the first drink he sees and takes a long drink. And he doesn’t stop.
