My phone pinged again.
James:Did you seeit?
Me:Yes. What’s goingon?
James:The type of change that doesn’t happen unless someone takes the hit personally, hon.
Me:Do you meanLiam?
James:I think you’d better callme.
Chapter 53
Liam
My phonevibrated.
Wilhelm:I assume this decision isyours.
Redeploying staff instead of letting the numbers resolve themselves is not leadership. It isindulgence.
You have taken a clean decision and made itsentimental.
I did not raise you to run charities disguised ascompanies.
I went to type something and stopped. Three little dots flashed.
Wilhelm:I expected more fromyou.
I didn’t reply. I simply could not give a fuck what Wilhelm von Roth Sr. thought. I watched the phone until the screen went dark.
But I did care what Andrea Jonesthought.
I’d have gone ahead with this anyway—itdidn’t have to be either or, that had never been true. It might take longer now… but it was the right thing to do.
I could see it clearly now, because of her.
I just wished I could reach out to her, hear what she thought… and thank her.
Even though she’d resigned from Novexia anyway.
Chapter 54
Andrea
Eliza was onthe floor with her suitcase open. The Clash was playing on my new JBL speaker, loud enough to drown out the kettle.
“Shoes don’t go in the middle,” James said. “Did you learn nothing at law school?”
“I reject your reality,” she said.
My phone buzzed on the counter and I reached for it instantly, hoping it was Liam. But it wasn’t.
Mum:Help, Andy! The printer’s making everythingpink!
Me:Just change the cartridge, Mum. You got this :)
I flipped the phone face down and wiped the suds off a plate. She’d work it out eventually if I left her to it.
