Like a Boss - Annabelle Costa Page 0,66
Back when I was in high school, I learned the subtle art of unlocking a door using a credit card. It’s not that hard, but you have to pick the right card. The card has to have enough give to slide into the gap, but be solid enough to break the lock.
I finally decide on my Macy’s card, figuring at the very least, if I ruin it, it won’t be a big loss. I carefully slide the card into the gap between the door and the frame. I hear a click and the door pops open.
And it’s everything I feared.
Chapter 26
I end up spending the rest of the day at the ER waiting room at Beth Israel. Jenna overdosed on her sleeping pills. I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t come to her apartment, but the doctors said she’s going to pull through. I wasn’t able to see her because she was still very out of it, but I refused to leave until they assured me she was going to be okay.
It’s hard not to blame myself for the whole thing. I knew Jenna was fragile. When I found out about the layoffs, I should have gone to her first. Made sure she was okay. I could have told her I was going to save her job, and none of this would’ve happened. Instead, I called Luke. And she went home and took a bunch of pills.
Most of the time I’m in the waiting room, I’m thinking about Luke. How many other episodes like this is he responsible for? What kind of human being lays off half the company through a conference call? And he doesn’t even care. He still hasn’t called me back.
It’s well into the evening by the time I take an Uber back home. I’m exhausted. Even my bones feel tired. All I want is to collapse into bed, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep because my brain won’t stop whirring.
And then one other thing. When I get back to my apartment building, Luke is waiting for me outside.
I almost tell the Uber driver to go around back. But it’s too late—he already spotted me. And anyway, we need to have this conversation. We may as well do it now, when I’m feeling mad. If I wait, I might lose my resolve and forgive him. And he does not deserve to be forgiven.
“Ellie.” Luke looks exhausted and unusually disheveled. He’s wearing a suit, as always, but it looks rumpled. His blond hair sticking up. “I need to talk to you.”
“Really?” I say. “You could’ve fooled me, considering you haven’t answered any of my messages or texts.”
Luke shifts in his wheelchair. “I’m sorry. I thought it was better face-to-face.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be in San Francisco?”
“Yeah, I...” He clears his throat. “I flew back today when I found out what happened.”
“Found out!” I burst out. “Do you expect me to believe you didn’t know about all of that? It was your recording telling everyone they were fired! Your voice!”
“Right, but…” He rubs his chin. “It wasn’t supposed to happen… yet. I meant to postpone it so I could talk to you about it first. I didn’t want to blindside you.”
“Oh, gee, that’s really nice of you.” I snort. “So the mistake was that you didn’t talk to me about it first. The mistake wasn’t firing everyone by conference call.”
Luke is quiet for a moment. “The conference call wasn’t the most considerate thing. I’m sorry about that.”
“But you did mean to fire everyone?”
He lets out a long sigh. “Yes. I did.”
I stand there, not sure what to say. I imagined shouting at him when I finally got in touch with him, but somehow I don’t have it in me anymore.
“Look,” he says. “I never fire anyone who doesn’t deserve to be fired. I have my people look at each individual and determine if they’re doing their job properly. If not, I let them go.”
“So you think half the people in my company aren’t doing their job properly?” I shoot back. “They all deserve to be fired? Does that really make sense?”
“Ellie,” he says quietly, “are you aware of how much your company was struggling? In another year, it would have been belly-up. Your project, which I agree is groundbreaking, would have never come to fruition. That’s how I bought it so cheap. Your bosses were thrilled to sell to me.”
“That’s not true,” I say, although I’m not entirely certain of that. Everyone heard