Page 30 of Over Us, Over You

COREY: TODAY

(Present Day)

San Francisco, California

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I BETTER BE DREAMINGright now.

Just when I was finally getting the image of Hayley’s lips off my mind and drifting to sleep, my cell phone was sounding for the fifth time in a row. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I noticed the time: Three o’clock.

Leaning over my nightstand, I grabbed my phone and held it up to my ear. “Yes?”

“Is this um...Mr. Walters?”

“For your sake, it’s better if it isn’t.” I groaned. “Who is this?”

“Mr. Walters, it’s me. Sean from your developmental A-team.” He paused, not saying anything else for several seconds.

“Okay, Sean.” I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice. “Is my office at Statham Industries on fire?”

“No, sir.”

“Is my office at the private company’s site on fire?”

“No, sir.”

“Is this a fucking emergency?”

“It is to me, sir.” He cleared his throat. “You see, you’ve been holding interviews all month with outsiders, people who don’t hold a candle to any of the current team members at Statham, and I’m getting concerned that you won’t consider any of us when you make the final transition next year. I’m worried sick thinking about this, and I couldn’t sleep without getting this off my mind.”

I sat up in bed, looking around my room. Surely, someone was pulling a dumb-ass prank on me, and a late-night comedian was going to jump out of my closet at any moment now.

“I mean, if you want to leave a few of the guys behind, that’s understandable,” he said. “But I’m on your A-team, sir. Your A-Team.”

“Please tell me this isn’t the only reason you called my personal line at three in the morning.”

“You’ve always told us that we should fight for what’s fair.”

“I’ve also told you not to call me with bullshit.”

“I need to know, Mr. Walters.” He sounded as if he was near tears. “I need to know right now if I’ll be given a chance to follow you to your new company.”

I hesitated a few seconds before answering, preventing myself from saying the words I really wanted to say. “Sean, I’m going to ask everyone on my A-team to come with me to the new company. However, per the contracts you all signed with Statham, you’re required to train your replacements before you can leave, so I was simply getting a head start and making sure all bases were covered by trying to find new team members and replacements.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. Oh. Is there anything else?”

“Well, now that I have you here,” he said. “Employee reviews are coming up, and I think I deserve a raise, so—”

I ended the call and sent him a “Save that shit for when I see you in person” text. I shut my eyes once more, attempting to succumb to sleep, but my phone rang again.

“Yes, Sean?” I answered. “Is the building on fire this time?”

“Um, I’m looking for a Mr. Corey Walters,” a familiar male voice said. “Do I have the wrong number?”

“Unfortunately, not.”

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