Page 22 of The Faceless Omega

Almost simultaneously, the lawyers went into motion. The younger of the two hefted his briefcase, swiftly unlatching it with a single hand and balancing it on his other arm. The older one reached inside and extracted a slim folder that couldn’t possibly contain more than a few sheets of paper. Nor could he have actually seen what he was grabbing, yet he turned and with efficient movement passed the folder to Lennox.

Brinley watched as Lennox thumbed open the folder and her brows nearly leapt off her forehead. Inside was a single piece of paper, beneath a crisp, green bill. She couldn’t quite see it well enough to identify the number, but she was thoroughly intrigued.

“Jerry, was it?” Lennox asked without inflection.

Brinley bit back a laugh.

Jerrod, of course, bristled at the barb. “Jerrod.”

Lennox ignored him, further proving his perfection, and handed over the half-open folder. “Your severance package.”

A few of the other employees murmured as soon as the words left Lennox’s mouth.

Jerrod’s gaze dropped to the folder. His nostrils flared and his face immediately turned red. He yanked the cash from within and raised it up for emphasis as he began to shout. “Twentydollars? What the hell is this?”

Brinley sank her teeth into her lips in an effort to keep a straight face.

Lennox’s response was cool and even. “It’s what you’re worth.”

Someone in the back snorted.

Jerrod got redder. “You son of a bitch! You can’t treat me like this! I’ve been with this company for—”

“That company no longer exists,” Lennox said, projecting his voice. “This is your last day. All of you. You have until noon to accept your individual severances, sign the papers, and remove your personal affects. My teams take over the building promptly at noon, anyone lingering will be charged as trespassers.”

Multiple voices spoke at once.

Jerrod took a step closer and chucked the manila folder at Lennox. “Fuck you and your stupid severance! You can’t treat me like this!”

Anger sparked in Brinley’s chest as she watched the harmless folder and the lone sheet inside tumble to the floor. The items had rebounded off Lennox this time instead of her, but the visual was a reminder of her last experience under this roof all the same.

Lennox didn’t flinch, or otherwise react to the weak assault. “Technically,” he said, his low voice carrying effortlessly, “your employment ended two days ago.” He motioned to his patiently waiting lawyers and the briefcase that remained propped open. “These offers are unnecessary reflections of mygenerosity, to which you are not entitled.”

It was almost laughable the way more than one of her former colleagues managed to look confused at his words, and even offended.

Lennox added one final note. “If you choose to decline these offers, then leave. Immediately.”

Brinley watched Jerrod fold the twenty-dollar bill over his fingers and slide it into a pocket. She watched him turn, stomp back to his desk, reach across and grab his weathered fanny pack from underneath. She watched as he shoved his phone and several smaller things—a stack of half-used sticky notes, a handful of pens, a handheld hole-puncher, his preferred form of white-out strips—inside. She watched him toss the pack over his shoulder, making no bones about the items he’d just stolen in plain sight, and turn back around to walk past them. All with the twenty still in his pocket.

She balled her hands into fists, snatched up the paper he’d rejected previously, and stepped in his path. Though it made her skin crawl, she smacked the paper against his chest. “If you’re going to take the money, and all those things that never belonged to you in the first place, then the least you can do is sign the damn paper, Jerry.”

For as often as he’d belittled her, she realized in that moment he’d never looked at her with true hatred before. Because he definitely was now. “You calling me a thief, Young?” He raised his voice before she could answer. “This is obviously your fault! You stupid, useless slut!”

A larger hand closed around Jerrod’s throat, silencing him even as it hauled him out of swinging range. With a rush of movement Jerrod’s fanny pack was split open and spilling its not-so-secret insides across the floor while Jerrod himself slammed into the nearest wall. But nobody moved, because they could all hear the warning growl in Lennox’s voice. “Stealing from me in front of me was one thing. But undernocircumstances will I be passive while my woman is being disrespected.”

Jerrod sputtered.

Brinley flushed, immediately self-conscious and yet at the same time, shamefully flattered.

Lennox cut a glance to his lawyers. “Retrieve the twenty. His offer is officially rescinded. This fucker isn’t worth our time.”

Jerrod tried to squirm as the older lawyer stepped closer, actually attempting to twist away and block the other man’s reach. “Y-you can’t touch me,” he managed to gasp, his voice strained. “This is assault!”

“Yes, please,” the lawyer said, his voice dripping with something like sarcasm blended with eagerness, as he extracted the twenty. “Do go on.”

The room went almost uncomfortably silent save for Jerrod’s labored breathing.

Finally, Lennox stepped back and released Brinley’s ex-coworker. “Get off my property.”

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