27. Wallace
Wallace
Wallace slid into his office a few minutes later, but he couldn’t concentrate on any of his work. He sent his pre-written resignation letter off to HR, then he just stared at his computer, seeing nothing.
Eventually, he went to his four-thirty meeting and… there was no reason to hold back, was there? He told the whole team that he’d be quitting, and gave his managers permission to spread the word.
He could see from a few stony looks that not everyone would miss him, but there were a surprisingly large number who seemed genuinely disappointed to see him go.
Ms. Yin volunteered to organize after-hours drinks for the whole department on Friday night, and he almost said yes.
But he really hated bars, especially with large crowds.
Even though he’d been getting to know a lot of his colleagues better, he wasn’t sure how it would go.
But he caved when she suggested ordering lunch for everyone to eat together outside, like a picnic, in the crisp autumn air. It would still be awkward, with too many people, but he liked that she’d noticed that he walked outside every day. It turned out, a few people had.
Maybe he hadn’t always been as much of an outsider as he’d feared.
It made him almost want to stay at Orbit. He might not be as shitty a director as he thought he was, as long as he could do things his way.
The pansy way.
He smirked a little, but covered it up quickly.
Getting out of his father’s company was the right thing, no matter what. He was done.
By the time the meeting was over, he truly couldn’t think of a single other thing that he needed to do. Everyone already had the files they needed. They knew the next paths for everything.
Honestly, by either his father’s machinations or his own fears, he truly wasn’t doing anything that someone else on his team couldn’t do as well or better. He’d thought he was important, and it was kind of freeing to realize that he wasn’t.
And now he felt like he had the potential to be more.
At loose ends, he started tidying up his desk, throwing away crap he didn’t care about and carefully packing his magnet collection to take home.
He would lose his work account in three days, and he tried to think through anything that he needed.
Everything that he’d worked on was company property, and he’d surely have signed a non-compete agreement at some point.
Taking any of the project files with him would be illegal, and honestly, he didn’t need them.
He wasn’t looking for more money or patents.
He wanted to relax. To spend time with his boyfriend. To figure out what was next.
Although… There was one thing that he wanted.
He poked around in his desk drawer until he found a nickel drive.
It was a smooth white one branded with the Orbit logo and probably had some apps on it, but he could just delete them.
He hardly used hardware like this, since everything was on the cloud, but the marketing team handed out nickels with demos on them, and it was perfect for this instance.
He popped the nickel in the slot, making sure it was lined up correctly, then searched through his email.
Maxx A. Zillion’s email was still there.
He downloaded the clothing app, FashionMax, onto the nickel, wiping whatever had been on it before.
Now that he knew Maxamillion was alright, reading over the email almost made him smile. Pick something cute to wear for your Daddy and send me a picture!
He’d felt too guilty to even look at the message before, but maybe he could still take a picture and dedicate it to Max…
or Oliver, now? The private investigators had been told not to get close enough to really eavesdrop on Ben’s conversations, so Oliver could be a friend that was staying with Max through his recovery.
They’d never seen Ben with a bot, just talking on his phone with a body camera recording while he wandered around the city, though he’d apparently bought a new house and was spending more time there.
Ben had also registered a new patent with someone named Oliver, and that was good enough for Wallace. He didn’t need to intrude further.
With the transfer complete, he popped the nickel drive out of the slot and put it in his pocket.
Maybe he could look over some choices and order some things with Volt tonight. That would be a real celebration. He’d been hesitantly picking out a few things on his own, bolstered by Daddy’s gifts, but he was ready for a whole new wardrobe now.
Hell, he never had to wear a suit again. Though he might want to? If it wasn’t his only choice?
He ran his fingers over the little disc, imagining the possibilities.
Yeah, he was really getting jack shit done at the office. A few folks waved or called him over to wish him well as he headed out early. Word had apparently spread fast. The phrase he heard most often was “you look really happy,” and hell if that wasn’t true.
As his car navigated the rush-hour traffic on the way home, he daydreamed about the next few months with Volt. He still had plenty of time to figure things out.
Right now, he would focus on nothing more important than which panty set he wanted to wear.
He grinned, thinking about how Daddy had liked the lacy hint of a bra strap peeking out from his off-the-shoulder sweaters.
Did he have the courage to wear one outside of his apartment? Maybe tonight he did.
He showered leisurely, shaving his cheeks smooth but leaving a trim little goatee.
Magnolia had pointed him toward make-up tutorials made by other men, and several of his favorites kept their beards just like this.
It gave just a little touch of masculinity as a contrast. He didn’t want to be a woman, or at least not completely.
He wanted to be somewhere in between. Both and neither.
He’d been noticing more and more little things that felt right.
Today he was going all in. He rounded his lips to paint them a deep, glossy maroon to match his sweater.
He was still totally shit at blending eyeshadow, but he exchanged his chunky glasses for a pair of contacts, drew one pale blue line on each eyelid that wouldn’t look too bad if he messed up, and applied mascara.
It was like a whole new person looking back at him.
He pulled his sweater down one shoulder to reveal a black bra strap, knowing that it was the first thing that Daddy would do and…
He liked it. He really, really liked it.
It felt right. It felt like him.
Not too over-the-top. Feminine and flirty, but cozy and comfortable.
He didn’t think he was ready to wear it outside, but here? Or in the kitchen at Prism? It just felt so good!
Honestly, if he hadn’t quit his job today, he wasn’t sure how many more days he would have been able to keep stuffing himself into suits.
And he’d done it! He’d really quit his job. And he’d rubbed everything in his father’s apoplectic face.
Just a few more days, and he’d never go into the office again.
He was going to order a thousand outfits.
He could lounge around in them all day. Maybe he’d just live at Prism all the time.
He hated his cold, boring apartment anyway, and with Volt’s schedule, they’d barely used the new dance studio that he’d had built.
All the art he’d purchased in the past few months would look much better on Daddy’s walls.
Yes, that was definitely his plan.
He practically danced as he wandered around, tidying up the apartment and waiting for Volt to arrive.