Greetings were exchanged. A seat was offered. I took it. Lloyd seated himself in the chair beside me in front of Travis’s desk, then Travis asked, “Would you like Penny to get you some coffee?”
I hadn’t been to the pot yet today and could use a shot of joe, but I still shook my head no.
Travis leaned back, laced his fingers, and put them to his flat midriff. His eyes did not move to Lloyd. They remained on me.
Then he started talking.
“Lloyd has told me you have something happening in your life and that means you wish to move back to Chicago.”
I nodded and confirmed, “Yes.”
He studied me a moment and his voice was quieter when he said, “Our choice to hire you was excellent and we’ve in no way regretted it, even after your delay in starting with us.”
I did not think a reminder of that boded well.
He went on.
“Your supervisor respects you. The staff likes you. Your reps perform for you. However, even if it’s our policy to allow employees to work at home and do this regularly, it’s not our policy to allow employees to work from remote offices.”
Bad news.
Shit.
“Of course,” I said softly.
“I’ve seen your numbers myself, Frankie, and Lloyd speaks highly of you,” Travis went on. “We would be sorry to lose you. Is there any way your significant other would move to Indy?”
“He runs a family pizzeria. He’s the second generation. It’s been in operation for forty years.” When I saw the boredom seeping into Berger’s features as I told him stuff he didn’t give a shit about, I got to the point, “What I’m sayin’ is, no. The family business is important and I wouldn’t ask him to make that move.”
Berger nodded once before he stated, “At this juncture, I feel the need to point out that there’s a great deal of opportunity at Wyler, Frankie. Especially for excellent performers. Thirty-five percent of our executive and management staff is female. It’s obviously none of my concern, but in my position, it’s part of my job to retain talent, to keep a team that’s excelling intact, and sometimes to do that, I must take a position as advisor. In this position, I’d hate to see you waste those opportunities because your significant other doesn’t understand the importance of your career.”
I stared at him, then I glanced down at his hand and saw his wedding band. It was not wide and shiny.
Seeing it, I wondered, with all the times I came in before eight and he was already there, looking like he’d been there awhile, and the other times I left after six and he was still there, looking like he wasn’t even close to leaving, what his wife thought of him prioritizing his career over his “significant other.”
Then again, no doubt he made six figures, so maybe she made herself feel better about her husband not being around by going out and buying scads of shoes.
“I intend to spend the rest of my life with him,” I replied, even though that was none of his business. I added for good measure, “And I just got news my sister is having a baby. She’s in Chicago. My family is growing and my plan is to build my own family with Benny. I can’t be there for my sister or do that with Benny in Indy. At least, not easily.”
He looked confused for a moment, as if being there for my sister or being close to my “significant other” in order to build a life together was a foreign concept to him, and I suddenly felt bad for his unknown wife.
Then he stated, “Life isn’t easy, Frankie.”
“With respect, Travis, I’ve recovered from a gunshot wound. I know that. Because of that, among other things, I also know what’s important.”
He studied me and he did it for a while.
Then he looked to Lloyd and asked, “Lloyd, can you give us a minute?”
I looked Lloyd’s way and saw he didn’t want to give us a minute. He was protective of his staff. But this was the executive vice president. He had no choice.
He nodded and said, “Of course.”
He got out of his chair, then gave me an understanding look and a small smile before he left, closing the door behind him.
I looked back to Berger and he started speaking immediately.
“I respect your decision, Frankie.” But he said this like he didn’t respect it at all and I was suddenly wondering if I respected him. Sure, he was great at work, but life wasn’t work. Not even close. “If you find that the times we can allow you to work from Chicago are not enough and you need to leave us, this will be a blow, but a woman must do what a woman must do.”
I wasn’t super fond of his saying “a woman must do what a woman must do,” as if women were the only ones who made decisions like this, but I let that slide and simply kept my gaze to his.
Suddenly, his demeanor changed, and I didn’t like it but only because I couldn’t read it. He wasn’t normally a readable guy. But now he seemed impenetrable.
“Now that that talk is done and we’re here alone, is there something you need to tell me?”
I blinked, not understanding what I’d need to tell him. I mean, there was a lot I could tell him: Heath was being blackmailed; the CEO and his director of research and development were killing people and arranging for them to have life-altering accidents. But it wasn’t me who was going to share those morsels.
“Uh…” I began.
He leaned toward me, unlacing his fingers and putting one hand to his desk, his eyes never leaving mine.
“If there’s something crucial I need to know, obviously, Frankie, it being crucial, I need to know it.”
I felt my heart start beating hard and this was a strange sensation because I felt it in my throat.
That had happened to me once before.
When Daniel Hart turned his gun on me.
My phone in my hand rang and I jumped when it did.
Gratefully, to get away from Berger’s intense gaze, I looked down at it and saw the three-oh-three area code.
This told me Stark not only had cameras, he had microphones.
Yeesh, these guys were good.
“Frankie,” Travis called, and I looked to him. “You can call them back later.”
I wondered what Stark would advise, but I needed my job until I got another one (or until October when my lease ran out and I quit) so I didn’t take the call.
I had to wing it.
“Outside of the fact that I, as a businesswoman with career opportunities, will have to think long and hard of what my future will be with Wyler, I don’t have anything you need to know, Travis.”
My phone quit ringing.
He again studied me. This time it went on longer, like he was giving me the opportunity to make a different choice.
When I didn’t, he nodded. “All right, Frankie. Thank you for your time.”
“Thank you for yours, Travis,” I replied, standing.
He followed me with his eyes. “I hope you make the right decision.”
I knew what he thought the right decision was.
The problem was, he was wrong.
I just hoped his wife really liked shoes.
I smiled at him and got the hell out of there.
I saw Heath was in Lloyd’s office as I walked back to mine. After I saw this, I saw Tandy watching me as I was walking.
She didn’t wait her usual judicious amount of time. She walked in right behind me and closed the door.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
I looked to her as I sat down at my desk. “I requested a remote office in Chicago so I could move in with Benny. Travis denied my request.”