Page 22 of Collin: Episodes 13-15
“No word yet.”
The phones in the outer office started to ring. Collin dropped down at his old desk and picked up the phone. “Reevesworth Industries. How may I help you?”
“Tell your bastard of a boss he can?—”
“Ah, Mr. Barker,” Collin cut in, “our office has a zero-tolerance policy for disrespectful language. We can either continue this call civilly or you may call back at your convenience.”
Inarticulate growling filled the phone. “Go to?—”
Collin hung up. Janice raised both eyebrows.
Collin shrugged. “I think he was suffering from a very bad cold. Couldn’t understand him.”
She chuckled.
The phone rang again. This time, it was a stock broker. Collin stuck to his script. No, they weren’t taking questions. No, Mr. Reevesworth didn’t have a statement. Yes, Mr. Reevesworth had felt it necessary to no longer keep investments in companies that were backward thinking and didn’t show long-term sustainability as business ventures. Had the stockbroker read the latest X, Y, and Z reports?
By noon, two of Bernstein’s companies’ stocks were in free fall. A member of his board was being dragged on the front page of three major newspapers for immoral activity, and Barker’s wife had quietly filed for divorce due to infidelity on his part.
Olsen rang Mr. Reevesworth just as lunch was arriving. Collin paused at the door.
“Of course, you’re welcome to come over,” Mr. Reevesworth said. “Be prepared for the security, of course.”
Collin waited until Mr. Reevesworth ended the call and held up a tray with his master’s lunch. “Are you eating in here or out there?” Collin bobbed his head back toward the larger office.
“I’ll eat out there.” Mr. Reevesworth stood and stretched. “So far, so good. How are the phone calls?”
“We’ve had a lot of angry ones, but word seems to be going out that we won’t listen to profanity.”
Mr. Reevesworth smiled like a wolf. “Excellent. I don’t see a reason to pay people to be abused when no solid communication is happening anyway.”
Collin laughed. “You’re rare, sir.”
Mr. Reevesworth hugged Collin with one arm as he passed. “I take care of what is mine.”
Collin escaped back to his team after lunch. Veronica and Katharine were giggling over Veronica’s desk as he came in. They broke apart and sat up straight, pretending they were working as soon as they saw him, but that lasted all of half a second before Veronica’s composure crumbled back into mirth.
“What?” Collin eyed both of them. Katharine’s cheeks were pink.
Veronica tapped the ends of her pointer fingers together. “Revenge is delicious.”
Collin raised both eyebrows. “What did you do? No, wait, do I need Mr. Sathers in here, and would he advise me not to ask?”
Eyes twinkling, Katharine covered her mouth with her hands and looked toward Veronica.
Veronica sat up straight and put her nose in the air. “Why, sir, whatever could you mean? We would never get up to anything untoward.”
Collin shook his head. “Yes—yes, you would.”
Veronica’s composure shattered again. “Maybe, but this is totally legal, I swear! So, the guy I hooked up with and who filmed me, remember him? All we did was anonymously email links to his mom about the court case. Public records. Screenshots that he posted.”
Collin raised both eyebrows. “And…”
“His sister went public on social media disowning him. His mom reached out and verified it was true and then also disowned him. And he works for his dad, who fired him.”
Collin slowly walked across the room and sank into his seat. “Wow. Okay then. Consequences.”
Veronica tittered through her fingers. “And to think I was going to resign and hide.”
