The Memory Child (19 page)

“Please? Please just take
me home.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Brian

October 2013

M
arie, you’re a bit behind schedule. What can I do
to help?”

Brian leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. He watched Marie on his computer screen. She looked tired and worn out. He knew the eight-hour time difference didn’t help, and while he was only starting his day, she was ready to
end hers.

“Get William off my back?” She smiled but he heard the annoyance in her voice. He winced. He knew exactly how she felt but there was little he could do
about it.

“He likes to be hands-on; you kn
ow that.”

“I think taking this job was a mistake. I think you know that as well. He doesn’t trust me, and instead of helping me all he’s doing is hindering every step I take. How does he expect me to be on schedule when he’s the one holding
me back?”

Nicole, Brian’s assistant, stood at his door with a notebook in hand. Brian glanced down at the time on his computer screen, then held up his hand, requesting five more
minutes.

“Recommending you was not a mistake. You just need to look outside the box. I know you think William’s requests for continual updates and approvals are slowing you down, but trust me, his only goal is to ensure your
success.”

From the look on Marie’s face, Brian knew she could see right through him. She was smart, and he still trusted his gut that she could
do this.

“Have you updated the task list lately? I noticed there were still items missing that I’m sure you’ve taken care of. Take a look, and tomorrow morning I’ll go through it and see what I can help with on my end here. It’ll also give me an idea of how I can help you when I come out there n
ext week.”

He waited for the bomb
to drop.

“Are you firing me?” she asked after a few seconds of
silence.

Brian fiddled wit
h his pen.

“Why would you ask?” He hated to do this to her. He understood how she must be feeling. He’d been in her same shoes y
ears ago.

“Why else would you be coming out to rep
lace me?”

Brian read the acceptance in her eyes and he hated seeing it. He honestly thought she’d be perfect for this setup. He knew it would have its challenges, but it was a smaller office with fewer complications. He hadn’t expected William to get so
involved.

“No one said anything about replacement. I’m only coming out for a few days, a week at the most, to help smooth things out and ease William
’s mind.”

“Ease…” Marie stumbled over
the word.

Brian smiled in reassurance. Nicole stood outside his d
oor again.

“Listen, go through the tasks and update everything for tomorrow, okay? Nicole will e-mail you my itinerary once it’s booked. Stop worrying. Things will be fine. I’ve got yo
ur back.”

He caught the quick blinking Marie tried to disguise. He said good-bye, disconnected their Skype session, and searched for the file he needed to bring with him to his next
meeting.

“I’ve got it right here.” Nicole held up the file. “I’ve also got a fresh cup of coffee waiting for you at your seat. I was able to book three more interviews today. Don’t worry, I’ll order yo
u lunch.”

Brian groaned. He’d been dreading this day for a while. He hated doing interviews. For years he’d argued that the HR department could handle this for him, but it was Tim who changed his mind-set, albeit begrudgingly on Brian’s part. They had gone through too many newbies fresh from college who didn’t know their way around a hard drive, before he realized that if he wanted to build a team that would work alongside him he needed more of a hands-on approach. So far it had worked. His revolving door of employees had lessened and he liked the team he wor
ked with.

But Tim wanted him to expand, to broaden their portfolio. Thankfully, they had a friend who was a headhunter and Brian didn’t have to go through hundreds of applications of home-taught tech professionals. After assessing the twenty applicants who seemed most promising, Brian had narrowed it down to five, with three positions a
vailable.

Instead of playing around with a new system they’d just installed for a department, he had to sit in a drab boardroom meeting potential coworkers who were dressed to cover up any inadequacies they thought they co
uld hide.

What they didn’t know was that Brian was a man who could see past facades. It was the one skill that didn’t involve computers that he exc
elled at.

Brian walked into the bar two doors down from the office and squinted. Tim had sent him an e-mail telling him to come meet him for a drink, but Brian didn’t se
e the guy.

He walked over to the bar and ordered a draft, then turned and surveyed the crowd. It was standing room only; men with loosened ties and women with unbuttoned suit jackets relaxed among their peers before heading home and facing another set of p
ressures.

Brian used to love this time of the day, but in all honesty, all he wanted to do these days was rush home to Diane. They’d been working on spending more quality time together, even to the point of setting aside two nights a week to take personal cooking lessons from Marcello. Those nights had become the highlight of h
is weeks.

“Brian!”

He heard his name being yelled from the back corner. He grabbed his beer and made his way through the crowd, keeping his mug high as he wove through the groups standin
g around.

Tim had managed to snag a table, and he wasn
’t alone.

William sat to one side, and across from him, beside an empty chair, sat Esther Price, the other partner in
the firm.

Brian’s hands began to sweat. This couldn’t be good. The only time Esther ever got involved in anything was when something major was
at stake.

Like his j
ob, maybe?

“Sit, sit.” William waved him to the empty seat. Brian smiled at Esther as he sat down but didn’t say anything. He’d never really had a good relationship with t
he woman.

“How did the interviews go?” Tim broke the awkward silence while Brian took a sip of
his beer.

“Not too bad. They’re all great candidates. One might be a better fit in Marcia’s department. She’s worked as admin for departments in the past, and her skills would be better suited there. Perhaps as a backup for Nicole.” He’d been trying to get Nicole help for a few years now. If his department’s growth was to continue, they’d need more administrators or else Nicole would walk. She’d warned him moments before he left this
evening.

Losing her was not an option. It was hard to train someone to meet your admin needs as perfectly as Nicole did. She’d be hard to
replace.

“Great to hear. We were just talking about how well your department is doing.” Tim leaned back in his chair. There was a look on his face that Brian couldn’t read. His fingers tightened around his mug as he tried to understand whatever message Tim was sending, but he
couldn’t.

Everything inside of him screamed to
run away.

“Have you given thought to finding someone to fill your role here at our home office, while you’re at our other offices overseas?” Es
ther said.

“Do I need to?” He caught the emphasis on
offices
. He didn’t like where this w
as headed.

Esther’s lips tightened for a brie
f moment.

“I don’t ask questions to waste time. I’d appreciate you considering that before giving me another flippant
remark.”

He was about to get fired. He knew it. He didn’t know why, but all the signals were there. It was probably his own fault too. Diane warned him about this at the beginning, when he requested that he travel less. She had an inkling something like this would happen. She told him he needed to make a decision before he went to Tim about staying at home. That it was up to him if he wanted to keep his job or find something else. He hadn’t thought it would come to that. He’d worked for Harper and Wainright LLC for far too long for them to sack him over something like asking for less travel time while his wife was
pregnant.

Apparently, though, Diane had be
en right.

The right thing to do would be to kiss ass, even if it was the last thing he wanted. He liked this job and he wanted to keep it. Sure, he could find another job if he needed to. All it would take were a few feelers and he’d have an offer within a few hours. But there was a reason he continued to turn down the job offers that came across his desk on a regular basis. All those phone calls from friends at other companies, the e-mails from headhunters and lunch invitations from CEOs at other firm—none of them mattered to him. He was happy where he was. Content
. Secure.

At least, he had been. He’d give anything to hit the rewind button and erase the last fifteen
minutes.

“There’s nothing flippant about my question, Esther. Do I need to find someone to fill my role? Up until now it was never a
n issue.”

From the startled expression on Esther’s face to the soft murmur from William, it was safe to assume they’d expected Brian to roll over and play dead
for them.

“You’re not gettin
g fired.”

Brian stared at Tim. “Are you sure? The last time someone in our office was asked to find a replacement, they were escorted out by security a few hour
s later.”

He wasn’t sure what type of game Tim was playing. Was he friend
or boss?

“No one is getting fired, least of all you.” William leaned close, forcing Esther to lean back, and smacked his hand down on the table. “You’re too damn important to this company and you know it. That’s the
problem.”

The problem? That didn’t make sense to him at all. He took a deep drink of his beer, wiped his lips, and stared at
his boss.

“This test of yours, planting Marie in the London office, just isn’t going to work. She’s good, I’ll admit that, but I would feel a whole hell of a lot more comfortable if you were the one leading the team ove
r there.”

“I’m going ne
xt week.”

“One week isn’t going to be long enough. We’re expanding and we need someone who knows what he’s doing leading the pack. You can’t do that from here.” William leaned back, folded his arms over his massive chest, an
d grinned.

Brian wanted to wipe the grin off
his face.

“What do you mean, I can’t do it from here? I’ve set up all the other offices just fine.” None of this was making
any sense.

“
Exactly.”

Tim cleared hi
s throat.

“Listen. What we’re trying to say, albeit the wrong way, is that we want you to continue in your role in setting up our offices worldwide, but in a larger capacity. We need you to be in charge of it, to actually be there, in the offices, taking care of all the minute details, rather than overseeing it from your office here in the
States.”

Brian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Tim knew how he felt about this. He knew Brian didn’t want to travel anymore, that he
couldn’t.

“What about my request to lessen the amount of travel I do now? I have a baby on the way. I’d like to be home to see him or her grow. I can’t do that with the amount of travel I do. You know that.” He glare
d at Tim.

Brian’s body tensed. He should have listened to his instincts earlier and left. Why hadn’t he? Nothing good was going to come out of this. How could he explain to Diane that he had to break his promise? That he wouldn’t be the one to support her with their baby; that he was going to be an absentee father? It wasn’t what he wanted. It wasn’t what either of th
em wanted.

“Take her with you. We’d like you to make the London office your home. It’ll be far less travel time to our other branches across Europe from there,” Est
her said.

His hands fisted in his lap. He envisioned himself slamming his fists down on the table and Esther’s drink spilling all over her lap. He imagined the look of horror as her red wine stained her pressed linen skirt and the feeling of satisfaction that would
fill him.

At the same time, this sudden explosion of rage inside of him was contradictory to who he was. He was the peacemaker, the
one who saw both sides of the story. Where did all this emotion
come from?