Page 96 of Boss Me

“No. Today was the board meeting. I’m sure he was sequestered up on the sixth floor.” She crossed to the far counter where we kept the mail and plucked a large, stiff envelope from the bottom of the pile. “This came for you while you were gone.”

She handed it to me, and I looked at the return address. Synergy. I supposed it could be paperwork about my termination. Better to deal with it while I felt like crap. What was one more stab in my empty chest? I slid my finger under the flap and pulled out a couple of sheets of paper with a cardboard backing. A cover letter. And a stock certificate. For an eyepopping number of shares.

“Shit.” He’d told me about the stock transfer, but seeing those engraved certificates made it real. I shoved the papers back in the envelope. I hated the thought of accepting them. I should shred them and mail them back to Cooper in ribbons. But I’d need the money if I didn’t find a job soon.

“What is it?” Mimi asked.

“A gift.”

My sister raised her eyebrows.

“We were together when he did it. It doesn’t mean anything now.”

She beckoned for the envelope and slipped out the certificate. She whistled, low. “I’d take a meaningless gift like this anytime. This is, like, condo money. And European sportscar money.” Ever the practical-minded accountant, she narrowed her eyes at me. “I mean, retirement money. And now Cooper needs you.”

“He doesn’t need me.” I was just a toy to him, something to play with when it pleased him and toss aside when it didn’t.

“Synergy needs you. I need you. If it comes down to a shareholder vote, you have to vote against the sale.”

“My vote won’t matter. The executives hold so many shares, it’ll come down to them.”

“Benny, this is going to be highly contested. Every single vote counts. Do it for the company. Do it for me.”

She was right. She, Marlee, and all my other friends needed me. “For you. But not for him.”

“Okay. We’ll open an account for you to put those in. And then you won’t be tempted to deface them.”

“You mean, oops, they happened to fall into the shredder?”

“Exactly. That’s a nice chunk of cash right there. You’ll need it if…”

“Yeah.” Without a recommendation from my former employer, with another weird gap in my work experience, finding a new job was going to be a challenge. “Now that I’ve taken my final exam, I’m going to start looking tomorrow.”

She smiled at me, grim. “I might start, too. Just in case.”

My chest tightened. “Mimi, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. At least I have advance notice. I’ve been wanting to do something different for a while.”

“Something different? Why haven’t we talked about this?”

She shrugged. “You’ve had your hands full. And I didn’t want Mom to worry.”

That made me smile a little. “Mom always worries.”

“Yeah.”

“Something different?” I poked her arm.

“A nonprofit, I think. Your volunteer work has always inspired me.”

“A nonprofit? Mom will be worried.”

“It’ll be fine,” she said. “You know how cautious I am.”

“Yeah.” If only I had a whisper of her caution, I’d never have fallen for my boss. Then I could’ve convinced Cooper to return to the office sooner so Weston wouldn’t have had so much time to put together his scheme. If I were like Mimi, I’d have done my job and not lost my heart.

“Let’s celebrate,” she said. “Pizza?”

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