Like a Boss - Annabelle Costa Page 0,63

He grins. “Besides, you know how it is… If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

It’s just a business trip. Totally innocent. But somehow, I can’t help but think about what Rita told us at the bar last night. He’s always out of town when the layoffs happen.

Is that what he’s planning?

No. It couldn’t be. I don’t believe it.

“Listen,” he says, “there’s something I need to talk to you about when I get back from my trip.”

“Is there?” I say faintly.

He nods. “Yeah, I don’t want to get into it now, but we’ll talk later. It’s about…” He smiles crookedly. “You know, the future.”

The future. I’ve only been dating Luke for a short time, but it’s hard to imagine a future without him. But I’m scared I don’t know what I’m getting into.

Chapter 25

I didn’t even realize how much I would miss Luke when he went away. We talk on the phone when he gets into San Francisco, but he’s exhausted from the flight and even though he says he wants to talk, he keeps yawning and I finally let him get off the phone. I can’t wait to see him when he gets back.

I try not to think about Luke as I do my best to focus on a glitch in our software. George coded it, and it’s a mess. I can’t figure out what he was even trying to do. I bring a chair into his cubicle and the two of us are looking at his computer screen, trying to do the debugging together.

“How come you didn’t put any comments in your code?” I say. I’m trying not to let my irritation show, but it’s hard.

“I never put in comments,” George says.

That’s true. He never comments his code. And it always irritates me. But you can only yell at somebody for doing something so many times. Maybe I’m too easy on him. Luke would probably be able to handle this much better than I could.

George looks down at his watch. “Hey, Ellie, I’ve got to take a break. I’ve got a conference call in two minutes.”

I frown. “A conference call? What are you talking about?”

“There was an email. Didn’t you get it?”

“No. I didn’t get an email about a conference call. Who is the email from?”

George shrugs. “It seemed to be from Thayer Industries. I thought everybody got the email.”

I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach. If there’s some big conference call, I should know about it. Maybe George is mistaken.

“Can I listen in?” I ask.

“Sure.” George smiles. “You’re the boss.”

I’m not the boss. Luke is the boss. And I want to know what he’s up to.

George brings the email up on the screen, and sure enough, it’s from some admin email address @thayerindustries.com. It looks legit, not like some phishing scam. There’s a number to dial in, and George punches in the digits.

Elevator music plays in the background as we wait for the conference call to start. My palms have become sweaty. What is this all about? Why wasn’t I informed about this conference call? Not only did nobody tell me about it, but it seems like it was purposely kept from me.

And then, at ten o’clock on the dot, a recorded message plays:

“Hello, everyone,” Luke’s recorded voice says on speakerphone. “This is Lucas Thayer, CEO of Thayer Industries. I wanted to let you know Mediapp is being restructured in connection with its acquisition by Thayer Industries. Thayer Industries has decided which Mediapp employees will receive an offer of employment to move forward in accordance with our vision for Mediapp and which will not. Unfortunately, your role has been eliminated and you will no longer have a role at Mediapp, and today will be your last day of employment with the company. Thank you again and best of luck.”

I gape at George’s phone. My jaw is hanging open so far that it feels like it might dislocate. I cannot believe my ears. How could Luke do that? Moreover, how could he do it without telling me? Over the phone?

“Ellie?” George’s face is white. “I’m fired? Is this true?”

“I…” I feel like I’m choking. “There must be some mistake. Check your email.”

George tries to check his email, but the computer has been locked down. This is no mistake. This whole chain of events was strategically planned.

I stand up from my chair so abruptly, it almost falls over. All around me, people are shouting and crying. At the entrance to the office, a security