Chapter 4 （B） – Andrea
FOUR (B)
ANDREA
An hour later
Ipaced the break room at Hudson Nursing School with a hand over my chest.
My heart wouldn’t slow down, no matter how hard I tried to breathe through it.
No promotion for another month meant another low paycheck barely covering the basics. No bonus to help. And a new freakin’ boss without warning?
“You need to sit down and take some deep breaths.” Everly pressed a stethoscope against my chest. “Or else I’ll call someone to mark you for a hostile transport to the emergency room.”
The worried look in her eyes convinced me that she wasn’t kidding.
I plopped down on a bench and tried to breathe slowly as she cuffed a blood pressure monitor around my arm.
“While we wait,” she said, buckling it, “allow me to take a few guesses for why you called me out of class in a panic.”
“Go ahead.” I winced as the cuff suffocated my arm.
“Mr. Lewis offered you such a huge raise and job title that you’re worried you’ll let him down.”
“I wish…”
“Okay, okay. New direction.” She tapped her lip. “He’s dying and wants you to run the place in his shoes, but he’ll pay you really well for it?”
“No, Everly.” I shook my head, hating that her guesses stung more than reality. “It wasn’t a promotion or anything positive.”
“Well, on the plus side, your blood pressure is fine.” She uncuffed me. “You still need to rest, though. No matter what happened today, it’s no reason for you to—”
“He sold the company,” I interrupted her. “He sold it without telling a soul, and without offering exit packages or bonuses for anyone who was loyal. We get nothing.”
“Oh…” Her face paled. “Who did he sell it to? A firm or something?”
“Some guy named Hudson Cross,” I said. “No, wait—Harrison Cross.”
“Well, this isn’t the end of the world. Maybe the new guy will be a good boss.”
“Not if he treats his employees like he treats customer lines.”
“Huh?”
“Harrison Cross, Harrison Cross.” I tapped my lip, mentally replaying the way he’d said it to me. “I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere. Have you?”
“No.” She shrugged and signaled to Lisa. “Thanks for coming to take her home. Can you make her lie down the moment y’all make it?”
“Harrison Cross,” I muttered again, looking up at her. “Have you ever heard that name?”
“Seems familiar, but…” She shook her head.
“See?” Everly clapped. “Nothing to worry about, Drea. The guy who bought your company is probably a coffee fanatic who might finally make you an executive. You never know.”
“Wait a minute.” Lisa looked between us. “Harrison Cross like—billionaire Harrison Cross?”
“I’m assuming he’s wealthy if he could afford to buy it outright,” I said. “Why?”
“You need to quit.” Her voice was flat. “Now.”
“I can’t just quit, Lisa. I have bills.”
“Write IOU letters and be late paying them,” she said. “Quit.”
“You worked for him before or something?”
“No.” She scoffed, pulling out her phone. “But anyone who’s ever worked for him has never had anything good to say.”
“Mr. Lewis had his fair share of detractors, too,” I said. “People thought he was senile.”
“Did Mr. Lewis ever have an entry in the dictionary dedicated just to him?”
She thrust her phone to me before I could answer.
On her screen, an image of him in a tailored suit and that same smug smile stared at me above the words “The Harrison Cross Effect.”
(Noun.)
A pattern of events that includes the ruthless acquiring of businesses, massive staff reorganization (including high percentage layoffs), and establishing a new work culture. Typically associated with billionaire business mogul Harrison A. Cross.
See: 1,097 articles on lists of business dealings that span over a decade.
“Oh my god…” My heart slammed against my ribs again.
“He’s like the Satan of the business world,” Lisa said. “This guy insulted him once, so he bought the building where the guy did business and ended his lease. Then he boarded it up and turned it into a hot dog stand.”
“You’re exaggerating.” I shook my head. “No one would ever…” I bit my tongue as she clicked on the article.
“The school is looking for office managers,” Everly offered. “Oh, or maybe I can write to the scholarship committee and see if they have jobs in admissions, too?”
“Yeah.” Lisa nodded. “Do that. You could probably float for a few weeks until you get on somewhere else.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I faked a smile.
I couldn’t float for a day without a job; couldn’t miss a single hour of work. I still didn’t have the heart to tell Everly that her scholarship offer letter was fake. I was the one paying for her nursing school tuition, and although it nearly broke me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
She deserved to chase her dreams debt-free; mine could wait.
As the two of them listed out other places I could try, I swiped on Lisa’s phone, scrolling through a never-ending photo album of houses, yachts, and condos that Harrison Cross owned.
Must be nice.
“I could at least try to reason with him and give him a chance,” I said, looking up. “Maybe tell him I was supposed to be an executive before he bought everything, and maybe he’ll honor that?”
“Yeah, okay.” Lisa stood up. “Just keep clicking through everything that pops up about this man, and let me know if you still feel that way when we get home.”
Everly’s pager beeped, and she pulled me into a hug.
“Gotta go,” she said. “Call our desk, please. And then try another coffee house.”
I nodded as she rushed away.
Lisa looped her hand in mine, leading me to the parking garage.
I kept my head buried in the screen as she drove, my stomach sinking with every word I read.
The more I uncovered, the more it seemed unfair to compare him to Satan. At least Satan tried to offer you something in exchange for your soul.
Harrison Cross set the price—whether you liked it or not—and walked away with it.