Chapter 19 - Day 1 Retention
I didn't see Adrian again for the rest of Tuesday.
Not once.
After I walked out of his office, he apparently decided that the best possible course of action was to pretend I no longer existed.
He didn't call me.
Didn't come near my desk.
Didn't send me an email.
Didn't appear beside me with another reason I needed to be in his office immediately.
Nothing.
I worked.
That was basically all I did.
By five-thirty, my brain felt like it had been professionally beaten with AutoCAD.
I shut down my computer, grabbed my bag, said goodnight to Maya, and headed toward the elevators.
I had almost reached them when-
"Angelica."
I stopped.
Of course.
I turned.
Adrian stood several feet behind me.
"Yes, Mr. Vale?"
Something shifted in his expression at the name.
"We need to talk."
I stared at him.
"Is that an order?"
He went still.
Then-
"No."
A beat.
"A request."
Well.
That was new.
"Okay."
I turned fully toward him.
"What do you want to talk about?"
For a second, Adrian just looked at me.
Then he said, "You don't have to talk to me anymore."
I frowned.
"What?"
"You don't have to deal with me."
I stared at him.
"You don't have to see me unless it's absolutely necessary. I won't call you to my office."
Oh.
He continued before I could say anything.
"We can keep it that way."
His jaw tightened slightly.
"If that's what you want."
I said nothing.
"You don't have to leave."
There it was.
I looked at him for a moment.
"Mr. Vale."
His eyes stayed on mine.
"If we can't even maintain a professional relationship, then what's the point of me being here?"
Silence.
"What exactly am I supposed to do for this company if I can't talk to the person running it?"
He said nothing.
"And why would the company keep paying me to be here if I'm not useful?"
Still nothing.
I waited.
Adrian Vale had an answer for everything.
Usually several.
Most of them irritating.
Apparently not this.
He just stood there looking at me.
"Anything else, Mr. Vale?"
His jaw moved once.
"No."
I nodded.
"Then I have to go."
The elevator doors opened behind me.
"Goodnight, Mr. Vale."
I stepped inside.
Turned.
Adrian was still standing exactly where I'd left him.
The doors closed between us.
And that was how Tuesday ended.
Wednesday morning began with coffee.
Of course it did.
I stopped beside my desk.
Stared.
Then looked around the office.
No Adrian.
I looked back at the cup.
Same size.
Same order.
Exactly the way I drank it.
Sitting quietly beside my keyboard.
No note.
No explanation.
Nothing.
I put my bag down.
Maya appeared over the partition approximately three seconds later.
"Is that coffee?"
"No."
She looked at the cup.
Then at me.
"Interesting."
"It's a hallucination."
"Looks expensive for a hallucination."
I pulled out my chair.
"Maya."
"I'm just observing."
"Observe something else."
She disappeared.
For two seconds.
Then her head reappeared.
"Did he bring it?"
"I don't know."
"Angel."
"I wasn't here."
"Who else knows your exact coffee order?"
I looked at her.
She smiled.
I pointed toward her desk.
"Go."
"Okay."
She disappeared again.
I reached for the coffee.
Stopped.
Tuesday evening, Adrian had stood outside the elevators and offered me a solution.
I wouldn't have to talk to him.
I wouldn't have to deal with him.
I wouldn't have to see him.
Apparently-
I would still have to drink his coffee.
I picked it up.
It was still warm.
Of course it was.
Asshole.
I took a sip.
And opened my computer.
For the first two hours of the morning, Adrian kept his word.
Completely.
I didn't see him.
Didn't hear from him.
Didn't receive a single message from him.
Which was impressive considering that before I resigned, the man seemed capable of finding seventeen reasons before lunch to appear beside my desk and criticize something.
At ten-forty, an email arrived from HR.
Oh.
I stared at the subject line.
That felt-
real.
More real than the letter somehow.
There were forms.
A preliminary transition checklist.
Information about benefits.
Equipment return.
Project handover.
Final payroll.
All the boring administrative things that happened when someone left a company.
I had barely started reading when another email arrived.
This one from Claire.
I opened it.
Claire wanted an updated list of my active responsibilities and current deliverables so they could begin deciding what needed to be reassigned over the next two weeks.
There it was again.
Not if I left.
When.
I opened a new document.
Started making the list.
Solara.
Marina House.
Biscayne renovation.
Two smaller projects.
I was halfway through noting the outstanding revisions on Solara when my phone rang.
I looked at the screen.
I stared at it.
No.
Absolutely not.
I picked up.
"Yes?"
"Come to my office."
I leaned back in my chair.
Silence.
Then-
Adrian sighed.
"Can you come to my office?"
I almost smiled.
"Is that an order or a request?"
Another silence.
"A request."
Oh, this was going to be fun.
"I thought you weren't going to call me."
"This is work."
"Ah."
I looked at the clock.
"Your arrangement lasted approximately seventeen hours."
"Angelica."
"I'm coming."
I hung up.
Maya looked over.
"Where are you going?"
I stood.
"Apparently His Majesty has discovered an exception."
She blinked.
"What?"
"Nothing."
I walked away before she could ask.
Adrian was behind his desk when I entered.
Laptop open.
Tie perfectly straight.
Expression perfectly controlled.
Basically looking like a man who had absolutely not stood outside an elevator yesterday offering to remove himself from my entire working life if I would just stay in the building.
I stopped in front of his desk.
"You called."
"Yes."
He gestured toward the chair.
"Sit."
I raised an eyebrow.
His eyes narrowed.
Then-
"Would you sit down?"
Oh God.
I sat.
"This is disturbing."
"What is?"
"You asking."
He ignored that.
There was a folder on his desk.
He pushed it toward me.
I looked at it.
Then at him.
"What is this?"
"A revised compensation proposal."
I stared at him.
"A what?"
"Compensation."
"I know what compensation means."
"Then why did you ask?"
"Because I don't know why you're revising mine."
"You're underpaid."
I blinked.
"I was underpaid yesterday too."
"Yes."
"And Monday."
"Yes."
"And for the last year."
His jaw tightened.
"Do you want the raise or not?"
I stared at him.
Then opened the folder.
My eyebrows went up.
That was-
not a small raise.
I looked at him.
"Adrian."
His eyes lifted immediately.
I hadn't meant to use his first name.
Whatever.
"What is this?"
"I just told you."
"No. What is this?"
"A salary adjustment."
"Why?"
"Because you're good at your job."
I stared at him.
"So are a lot of people here."
"I'm aware."
"Are they all getting this?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because they haven't resigned."
I actually laughed.
He didn't.
Oh God.
He was serious.
I closed the folder.
"You're trying to buy me."
His expression hardened.
"I'm not trying to buy you."
"You're offering me a large amount of money twenty-four hours after I resigned."
"I'm offering you a competitive retention package."
"That's corporate language for buying me."
"No, it isn't."
"It really is."
He leaned back slightly.
"You're valuable to the company."
"To the company."
"Yes."
There it was.
I nodded slowly.
"Right."
Something shifted in his face.
Barely.
He continued.
"You've been here almost a year. You know the projects. You know the teams. Claire trusts your work. Your performance has been consistently strong."
I stared at him.
"Did you prepare a speech?"
"No."
"It sounds prepared."
"It isn't."
"Did you practice it?"
His eyes narrowed.
"Angelica."
I almost smiled.
Almost.
He tapped the folder.
"The offer is reasonable."
"The offer is ridiculous."
"It is not ridiculous."
"It is significantly more money."
"You've earned it."
That stopped me for half a second.
He seemed to realize what he'd said.
His expression closed slightly.
I looked down at the folder.
Then back at him.
"I'm still leaving."
His face went completely blank.
"What?"
"Thank you for the offer."
"No."
I blinked.
"There it is."
"What?"
"The no."
He stared at me.
"You haven't considered it."
"I considered it."
"For approximately nine seconds."
"Ten."
"That's not consideration."
"Fine."
I looked at the folder.
Pretended to think.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
I looked up.
"No."
His jaw tightened.
"Angelica."
"Adrian."
Silence.
I stood.
"You said this was work."
"It is."
"Then we've finished."
"We haven't."
"What else?"
He stared at me.
I waited.
His eyes dropped briefly to the folder.
Then returned to mine.
"You're good at your job."
"You mentioned that."
"Replacing you would be inconvenient."
I stared at him.
"Wow."
His eyebrows pulled together.
"What?"
"That was beautiful."
"What was?"
"Replacing me would be inconvenient."
"That isn't what I-"
"I might put it on a pillow."
"Angelica."
"Maybe a mug."
His mouth twitched.
It fucking twitched.
I saw it.
And he knew I saw it because it disappeared immediately.
I folded my arms.
"You'll find another architect."
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
Silence.
There it was again.
That fucking silence.
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
For one stupid second, Tuesday evening stood between us again.
You don't have to leave.
And everything he hadn't been able to say afterward.
I picked up the folder.
Held it out.
"Keep it."
He didn't take it.
"Take it with you."
"Why?"
"Think about it."
"I already did."
"Think longer."
I stared at him.
"You're very bad at accepting no."
"I've noticed."
That almost got me.
I put the folder back on his desk.
"I'm still leaving."
His eyes stayed on mine.
I turned toward the door.
"Angelica."
I stopped.
Looked back.
He glanced at the folder.
Then at me.
"You don't have to decide today."
"I decided yesterday."
His jaw flexed.
I left.
By lunch, everybody knew about the raise.
Not because I told them.
Because Maya apparently possessed some kind of supernatural ability to detect information through walls.
"You turned down how much?"
I looked at her.
"Lower your voice."
"I don't know the amount."
"Then why did you say how much?"
"Because your face says it was a lot."
Ben leaned over from the other side of the table.
"You got a counteroffer?"
"No."
Maya looked at him.
"She got a counteroffer."
"I hate both of you."
Nicole sat down.
"What counteroffer?"
"Nothing."
Ben pointed at me.
"Vale is trying to keep her."
Daniel looked up from his lunch.
"Obviously."
I frowned.
"Why obviously?"
Four people looked at me.
I looked around.
"What?"
Ben slowly put down his fork.
"Angel."
"No."
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face did."
"My face is innocent."
"Your face has never been innocent."
Maya grinned.
"So?"
"So what?"
"Are you taking it?"
"No."
That quieted them.
Nicole frowned.
"Even with more money?"
"Yes."
Ben looked genuinely troubled.
"Are you independently wealthy and you've just been hiding it from us?"
"Yes, Ben."
"I knew it."
"I own three islands."
"Can I have one?"
"No."
"See? Money changes people."
I laughed despite myself.
And for a little while, lunch became normal.
Which I needed.
Desperately.
The afternoon passed quietly.
Adrian didn't call again.
Apparently one broken promise per day was his limit.
At three-twenty, Claire stopped beside my desk.
"Do you have a minute?"
"Sure."
She pulled over a chair.
"I saw your transition list."
Of course she had.
"Already?"
"You're efficient."
"Occupational hazard."
She gave me a small smile.
"We'll probably move Marina House to Daniel."
I nodded.
"That makes sense."
"And Nicole can take the Biscayne revisions."
"Okay."
"Solara is more complicated."
I looked toward the drawings on my screen.
"I can organize everything before I go."
"I know."
"I'll leave notes for whoever takes over."
Claire studied me for a second.
Then nodded.
"We'll figure it out."
"Okay."
She stood.
Daniel happened to be passing behind us.
Claire stopped him.
"Daniel."
He turned.
"Yeah?"
"I'll send you Angelica's Marina House files. You'll probably take it over after she leaves."
Something moved at the edge of my vision.
I looked up.
Adrian.
He had just stepped out of the conference room across the office.
He stopped.
Only for a second.
Barely enough to notice.
Then his eyes moved toward us.
Toward Daniel.
Toward me.
Claire was still talking.
"She's already put together the current status and outstanding items."
Daniel nodded.
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Good."
Claire walked away.
Daniel looked at me.
"Guess I'm inheriting your mess."
"My mess is beautifully organized."
"That's what worries me."
I smiled.
"Don't ruin it."
"I'll do my best."
He walked off.
I looked back toward the conference room.
Adrian was gone.
At five-forty-two, I shut down my computer.
Day over.
I packed my bag.
The coffee cup was still sitting beside my monitor.
Empty.
I looked at it for a second.
Then threw it away.
Maya was gathering her things.
"Day one."
I looked at her.
"What?"
She shrugged.
"First day after the resignation."
Oh.
I hadn't thought about it like that.
One day.
Gone.
Thirteen left.
I looked across the office.
Adrian's door was closed.
Light on.
Of course.
I put my bag over my shoulder.
"Goodnight, Maya."
"Night, Angel."
I walked toward the elevators.
This time-
nobody called my name.
And somehow,
that felt worse.