Chapter 3

Monday morning, I walked into the office with my suitcase.

Samuel was in the middle of the weekly meeting.

The summary page for the urban-development project was up on the screen, and in the bottom right corner there was only one name: Elaine's.

She sat at Samuel's right hand, the pink diamond still on her finger.

I went straight to HR.

Eugene slid the renewal contract across to me.

"Thirty percent raise, plus stock options. You're really not signing?"

"No."

"Mr. Weiss thinks you're waiting to talk it over with him one-on-one."

Five years ago, I was Prosper's seventh employee.

I sat in on client meetings with Samuel, reworked proposals, chased funding. And for the sake of what he called management stability, I let him put off going public with us, again and again, and gave up the titles and the credit that should have been mine, again and again.

He said he'd make it up to me later.

I'd waited long enough.

"There's nothing to talk over."

I signed the non-renewal confirmation.

"I'll start using my remaining leave tomorrow, straight through to the end of the contract."

By the time I left HR, the meeting had just broken up.

Elaine came over to my desk with her laptop.

"Mr. Weiss wants me to take over the urban-development project. When can you walk me through the core model?"

"Two o'clock."

"The brand people are shooting the case study this afternoon. Could you do it now?"

"The shoot conflicts with the handover. You'll need to move your own schedule."

She pressed her lips together.

"It's a rare opportunity. I can't keep a room full of people waiting on me."

"Then weigh it yourself."

She looked at me, then dropped her voice.

"I read the engraving that day."

"I knew the ring might be yours. I kept it anyway."

"Everyone was watching me. I didn't want to back out in front of them."

"That's your choice."

I turned back to the screen.

"You don't owe me an explanation."

Samuel walked out of the conference room right then.

Elaine said, "Ms. Fox wants me to do the handover this afternoon, but the brand people are already booked."

"Cover the key points first."

Samuel looked at me.

"It's ten, fifteen minutes. Don't make this complicated."

"So my time is something you can shift around whenever you like too?"

He frowned.

I pointed at the big screen, still lit.

"This filing. Why is she listed as the only lead?"

The people around us went still.

"The proposal, the model, and the first three rounds of negotiation were all mine."

"You can give her the outside interview. But the internal records have to reflect what actually happened."

Samuel lowered his voice.

"Let's talk in the office."

"Right here is fine."

It was the first time I hadn't helped him keep up appearances.

After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke.

"Change the filing to reflect the actual contributions."

"Elaine stays as the public execution lead, and Lola's name goes back on the proposal, the model, and the negotiations."

In five years, it was the first time he'd stood in front of everyone and admitted my name belonged where it had always been.

Then his phone rang.

The investors had already reported the urban-development project upward as a solo case study led by a new hire, and they wanted the promotional materials to match the internal records.

He hung up and looked at me.

"We'll leave the lead as is for now."

"Your contributions go into the performance notes first. Once this round of due diligence wraps, I'll make it right."

"And what you just said?"

He didn't answer.

I looked at the two characters on the screen. Elaine.

"You always say later."

I pulled off my badge and set it beside the keyboard.

At two o'clock, Elaine didn't show.

She didn't get back from the shoot until two-forty.

"Can we start now?"

"I have something at three."

"But we haven't finished the handover."

"You were late. I wasn't the one who didn't show."

I handed her the handover checklist.

"The file paths, the versions, and the access workflow are all in here. Send any questions to the company email and I'll answer them before the contract ends."

Samuel saw the box by my desk.

"You really won't renew?"

"No."

"A few days out on the East Coast will do you good. When you're back, the office and the title are both on the table."

"The work files are all still here."

I lifted the box.

"The rest, I'm taking with me."

Anything worth archiving went to admin. The old things that belonged to me were carted off by the recycling collector downstairs.

He gave me twelve dollars.

I dropped the money into the charity box by the curb.

The Prosper building stood bathed in sunlight.

It had once held all of my youth and all of my dreams.

From this moment on, I wasn't leaving any part of myself inside it.