Page 26 of Crossing the Red Line
I roundedthe corner in time to see Ella disappear into her father’s office.I’d have figured I’d be able to beat her to the office and stop her from making a huge mistake.
I continued down the hall and stopped just outside of Larson’s door.The door was open a crack, and I could hear him talking—well, yelling, like he always did.
“Daddy, I didn’t come here to talk about my next assignment.I came here to tell you I am resigning from my current position,” I heard Ella say.
I stood there, waiting to hear what Larson was going to say.The office was quiet; I imagined them standing there, staring at one another in some sort of father-daughter showdown.
“Ella, what are you talking about?”he questioned in that stern voice I hated.
“This isn’t the job for me, Daddy.”
“Ella, what exactly is for you?You never follow through with anything.You begged me for this position, and I gave you exactly what you wanted.I should have known better because you never stick with anything.”
“I gave it a chance.I can’t help it if it’s not for me.”
“Ella, you should know that if you walk away from this, there is no more coming back to me.”
“I know, and I don’t plan to come back to you.”
“Until the next plan doesn’t work out so well.It’s a pattern with you.You don’t think I already know that you’ll be back here, begging me for another chance.”
Ella really did not know what it was she was giving up.A solid job with a solid team.She couldn’t be that irresponsible.
“It’s because of Clark, isn’t it?”I heard Larson question.“You’re leaving because of him.When are you going to get that through your head, Ella?”
“This has nothing to do with Lucas, Daddy.”
“I’ll be the decider of that.”
I stood there for a moment and was about to knock on the door to stop this craziness when the door was abruptly pulled open, and I stood face-to-face with Guy Larson.
“Well, well, look who it is…Clark, get your ass in here.”
“Sir?”I muttered.
“Don’t sir me.Get in here,” he said, stepping to the side.
The moment he stepped to the side, my eyes met Ella’s.She stood there with her mouth agape.
“Don’t drag Lucas into this, Daddy.This is my decision,” Ella said.
Only Larson didn’t stop.Instead, he shut the door and then moved to his chair behind his desk.
“Until Lucas got injured, everything was fine.You’d been working side by side with both Dylan and Knox on the hospital fundraiser.Things were good, you were succeeding in your position.Then your entire demeanor changed when I pulled them off the promotion and put Lucas in their place.Within a day, your work slipped, your attitude toward everything went downhill to the point you requested a weekend off because you could no longer handle the stress of the workload.I won’t say I didn’t worry about the fact that your ex-boyfriend was a player on the team, especially after the time it took you to get over him, and now you want to quit.You can’t tell me it isn’t because of him,” Larson said, glancing in my direction.
“Daddy, really, just stop.I didn’t have any issues getting over him.”
“Ella, honestly.You can’t even be honest with yourself.You think I don’t hear you talking with your friends?You don’t think I see the sideways glances you give him, or the longing look in your eyes each time he’s mentioned.There is nothing to be ashamed of Ella, you love the man.”
“Seriously, Daddy, stop.”
“Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
I glanced over at Ella.I could tell she was on the verge of tears.
“Can I speak with you outside for a moment?”I said, leaning toward her.
She didn’t tear her eyes from her father; she just stood there staring back at him.I had to do something before she fucked up her entire life by telling him off and quitting her job.
