Empire of Lies - Whitney G. Page 0,8
to sign up for separate loans as well!”
Mr. Monroe smiled amidst another round of applause, and Mr. Albright encouraged the staff to cheer as loudly as they could.
“I hope he’ll serve as an example for the rest of you this month and you’ll pursue the impossible, because it’s possible.” He clapped his hands. “Congratulations, Mr. Monroe. Now, back to work, everyone.”
The employees started to leave the room, and I debated whether I wanted to give this man my parting words now or in his office.
“Mr. Dawson?” He beat me to it. “Mr. Dawson?”
“Yes?” I approached the glass table.
“Can you stay behind a few seconds, so I can talk to you in private?”
I nodded and waited until the last person left the room.
“I was hoping that I would be able to announce that you were my employee of the month today,” he said. “Even though you’ve only been working here for a month and a half, you’ve made quite the impact. I was really impressed with how well-researched you are. In fact, that’s a huge part of why I hired you, but—”
“But what?”
“Well, lately you haven’t been yourself. You’re lacking the team spirit, and you’re lacking the drive. You’re also—for lack of a better word—sucking ass.”
I raised my eyebrow.
“Especially these last couple of days,” he said. “You went from being nice and approachable to brooding and cold. You were once the first associate to volunteer to work late hours, but now you’re leaving super early. Also, I don’t know why the hell you went and got tattoos all over your hands and on your goddamn neck, like you’re some type of wannabe crime boss, but you need to cover those things up the next time you step into my building.”
I smiled, saying nothing.
“Now,” he said. “I can only afford to keep the employees who give their all every day, so I’m willing to give you a chance to stay on board at the best hedge fund in the city. What do you think about that?”
“I think…” I paused, wondered whether I should be a nice person about this or be myself.
“Um, hello, Mr. Dawson?” He crossed his arms. “I can’t wait all day for you to respond. Time is money, and we do have more sales to make.”
Myself it is... “I think your company is a festering shit hole that preys upon the poor, and I think your father is rolling around in his grave right now at the fact that you call this a hedge-fund company. I can guarantee that he’s more than disappointed with you and how disgustingly greedy you’ve become. I also think you have no idea how to be a real CEO.” I paused. “Then again, you are cheating on your wife with the college girl who brings you coffee, cheating your employees by more than seventy percent, and lying to all of your other rich friends about running a hedge fund instead of a pathetic payday loan company. Since being a CEO requires knowing how to be full of shit, maybe you do know how to be a real one.”
His face paled and he looked as if he’d lost his soul.
“Are you still impressed with my research, or do I need to tell you a little bit more about yourself?”
He said nothing, he just stared at me.
I shrugged and headed to the door. Pushing it open, I looked over my shoulder. “If it’s any consolation, I was already planning to make today my last day.”
I walked through the offices, taking the elevator down to the garage.
The moment I slid behind the wheel of my Jaguar, I sent my identical twin brother a text message.
Me: Congratulations. You’re fired now.
His name immediately crossed my screen via phone call.
“Yes?” I answered.
“Did he try to beg me to stay? Was he surprised?” His words rushed out like a river. “Never mind, don’t answer that. Thank you for taking another one for the team.”
“Why don’t you ever submit a two weeks’ notice or simply stop showing up to these shitty jobs like a normal person?”
“Because I have deep and severe closure issues.” There was a smile in his voice. “Don’t you remember our dear therapist saying that?”
“I only remember you continuing to use it as an excuse.” I rolled my eyes as I pulled out of the parking garage. I heard one of my burner phones buzzing in the glove compartment and stopped the car. “Hold on a second.”
Opening it, I rummaged through all seven of them until I found the