whose application seems to have significant overlap with yours. The partners are concerned about how quickly they’re gaining market share, especially since you seem to be lagging—”
“We’re not ‘lagging’—” Ryan corrected.
“The partners want to you adjust the schedule. They want to capture the back-to-school market—students headed off to college in August—before the UMD guys do.”
Ryan said nothing and Todd mistook his silence for interest.
“The new schedule may be challenging, but the partners are willing to allow additional funding which you can use for partner bonuses. An incentive. Sean’s already on board with it.” Todd dropped his voice into a conspiratorial tone that made Ryan’s skin crawl. “Between you and me, I think that’s the part Sean was most interested in—the toys. In fact, he and I are planning to visit a couple of car dealerships in Bellevue, maybe have something custom made and delivered by Thanksgiving.”
When Ryan was a boy, his mother had taught him that it was never a good idea to respond in anger, and it was all he could do to follow her advice now. They’d pledged—Ryan, Jeff, and Sean; all three of them had pledged—to never let the money change their friendship. At their core, they were three nerdy friends who wrote a computer program because it seemed like fun, and they’d vowed that moving forward, they would make decisions together. Now, it seemed that Sean had gone back on his word.
“So what d’ya say?” Todd brayed. “The partner bonus if we make this happen could fund a nice summer vacation. Paris, maybe. I bet Sharon would love to see the Eiffel Tower.”
“Stacy.”
“What?”
“Stacy,” Ryan repeated. “My wife’s name is Stacy and she spent a year studying in Paris, so she’s seen the tower.”
Todd continued as if it didn’t matter. “Yes, well, I’ll share the spreadsheet with the new dates so you can see what we’re talking about. You can adjust your team’s workload accordingly.”
“Nope. I don’t think so, Todd.”
“Excuse me?”
“You already changed our schedule back in March, adding nearly impossible deadlines. But we met all of them and I promised my team some much-needed time off. Now you want me to go back and tell them they can’t have it?”
“We can talk about specifics later. Right now, what I need is a basic agreement about an accelerated schedule.”
“Talk to Sean. He can do it,” Ryan said. “I promised my team time off. They have families, and summer plans, and they deserve a rest. What you’re asking of them is too much.”
“If that’s your decision, fine.” Todd sighed. “I’ll take another look at the UMD company and see where we stand. Maybe there’s a compromise somewhere. If I can find one, will you at least look at whatever new schedule we come up with?”
He wanted to refuse. It was on the tip of his tongue to remind Todd of the deal he offered back in March, that if they met the new schedule, he wouldn’t change anything else. Todd should honor his word.
But then he remembered the twenty-nine people in his department who were counting on him to protect their paychecks, their jobs, their careers. Shutting this down would be personally satisfying, but it would be detrimental to his team.
“Sure. I’ll look at it.” The words were bitter in his mouth.
As he hung up the phone, he felt the weight of his responsibilities press against his shoulders. Before he and Stacy were married, they’d agreed to having a big family. Stacy had done her part. She’d quit a job she loved to take care of the kids. The least he could do was make sure there was money to feed them all.
He pushed himself up from the couch and headed for his office, remembering the days when he worked on projects just because they were fun.
The stoplight changed from red to green and the line of cars rolled forward, a snarl of red brake lights in a ribbon of traffic. The automatic windshield wipers in Stacy’s car flicked on. She leaned against the headrest, watching the blades clear a path across the glass. Sophie was napping in the back seat and the soccer game had been called off because of rain, so Melissa had treated the boys to a movie after all.
As Stacy slowed to a halt again to wait through another cycle of the stoplight, her cell phone rang. Without giving it much thought, she poked the console screen with one finger and returned her hand to the wheel.
“Hello?”
“Stacy, it’s your mother.” Her mother’s voice was