I can’t. Two simple little words that echoed in my heart. Logan wanted me, of that I was sure with 100% certainty. So why this hesitation?“Is something wrong?” I asked. He’d been acting strangely since our dance, when I had first suggested intimacy tonight. Since then, he’d been moving like a zombi
Immediately, I busied myself with writing thank you notes and sending fruit baskets.With the day halfway done, a message appeared on my screen in the work chat. It was from Logan.It read, If you have time to set fruit baskets, you have time to add another account to your list. Attached to the mes
Logan would work day and night to keep any of his employees from being laid off, but the numbers didn’t add up. Even if he worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, he wouldn’t be able meet the new efficiency standard for everyone else on his own.The new standard was demanding, damn near impossible may
“No. Absolutely not.”“Hazel…”“There is no way that Maria is on this list of layoffs.”I recognized many of the other workers too. They were hard workers all, but I guessed didn’t have a high enough productivity to merit their continued employment with the company they’d given their all to for the
His words were final. I knew enough about him to know that was true.“I’ll speak to Maria and the others. Privately,” I said.“Thank you,” Logan replied and sat back down. He placed the list face down on the corner of the desk.My own anger flickered under the surface of my skin, but I knew I could
For the next few days, I buried myself in my work. With the amount of work piled onto all of us, it wasn’t difficult. In the mornings, I came in early, around 6am. At night, I wouldn’t leave until 9 or 10pm.The schedule was exhausting, and even after only a few days, burnout was clawing at my insid
Shit.“Susan,” I told the client, softening my voice. If the company line wouldn’t work, what choice did I have but honesty? Maybe I could still soften the blow though. “Upper management has shifted some things around and there are some learning pains. But I assure you it’s not as dire as you think.
I must have misheard, because there was no way that Logan just told me I should quit my job. Maybe I did hit my head after all. Maybe this was all some kind of coma dream.“Come again?” I asked.“Quit your job,” he said. “I make enough that I can take care of you. It’s time you give up this pretense
“I’ve been in this game for too long,” Senior said. “When I first got the news, I could only think about my legacy. I became obsessed with it. I’m not like you, Walter. I didn’t think about my family, or anyone else. Only myself.” “It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks,” Mr. Hudgens said. He la
“Janice,” Senior said. All smug arrogance disappeared from his voice. “What are you doing here?” “At first I didn’t think I would come,” Janice replied. “After all these years… I didn’t want to see your face ever again for as long as I lived. Better to leave well enough alone. But… after hearing e
I glanced down at my pink blouse and gray slacks. What was so wrong with my outfits? I dressed professionally… mostly. He really thought I needed supervision to pick out an outfit.Looking at Logan, I saw my own disbelief mirrored back at me. This was absolutely ridiculous.“Is that it?” Walter aske
In front of the partition screen, a large table had been assembled, with rows of chairs on either side, facing each other. We took our side, and Senior and his team of lawyers took theirs. There were so many lawyers that many of them had to stand.Senior sat across from Logan, though his glare of di
“He might surprise us,” Dylan said, a shred of hope in his voice, under a healthy level of cynicism.“Don’t hold your breath,” Frank replied.“The problem is we don’t know fully what to expect,” Mabel said. “Well – other than Senior being a crotchety asshole who will try to cheat us at every turn. W
“It’s time to talk to Logan and Hazel and stop this whole thing,” Dylan said. “You are outnumbered and outmatched, with so many people ready to stand against you.”Opening the top of the folder, Senior glared down at the stack of papers in the stack. “Disgruntled former employees. Fake friends. Fami
“We were just hoping to talk to her,” I said.The man’s brow lifted slightly. “Are you selling something? Wait -- why do you look familiar?” Narrowing his eyes, he gazed at us with suspicion. Then, suddenly, recognition must have struck him because his eyes widened. “You’re those people from the new
Despite the general unpleasantness of the conversation with the mayor and the governor, they eventually agreed to let us go. They had no real reason to hold us, and Logan saw through their veiled threats easily enough.In fact, he even seemed to make them feel to make them feel like unsupportive fri
That day, we changed our minds and decided to release six interviews to the website, with Michael Hatfield’s being the final. Overnight, the story gained so much national traction that the sheriff and two security men show up at our door.“Logan Hatfield? Hazel Whitaker? The mayor wants to speak wit