Page 43 of The Betrayer
Chapter 18
Will
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THE DAY HAD DONNEDgray, cold, and windy, the first hint of late autumn chill on the air. I was more of a warm-weather guy—give me high temperatures and humidity, and I was happy. Throw in a sunny beach, and I had all I wanted out of life. But as I shrugged into my coat, brushing off a piece of lint from the black wool, I was looking forward to going out.
I began to hum during the elevator ride down, earning me a strange look from the old woman who lived down the hallway from me. I simply flashed her a smile and patted her small, black dog on the head as the doors slid open with a tunefulding. The woman gave me another strange look as I gestured grandly for her to precede me out the doors before she limped out, her little dog tottering after her.
“Good morning, Mr. Finlay.”
The doorman greeted me with a nod, halfway between holding the door open for the woman and me.
“Good morning, Franklin.”
The older man’s graying eyes followed me curiously, and I flashed him the same smile I had given to my neighbor.
“You seem chipper this morning, Mr. Finlay.”
“You know, I feel chipper. Have a good morning, Franklin.”
“You, too, Mr. Finlay.” He nodded to me again as I passed, and then his face creased into confusion. “Aren’t you going to call your car to come to get you?”
Turning to walk backward for a few steps, I waved away his question. “No. I feel like walking this morning.”
I could still feel the doorman’s gaze on me as I joined the busy morning foot traffic on the sidewalk that swallowed me up like a swiftly flowing river.
The amount of traffic during rush hour, whether it was by car or foot, was something I hadn’t dealt with in a long time—this week marked the first time in years I was getting to the office by eight. But I didn’t mind the push and pull and buffeting this morning. I hadn’t, in fact, minded it in days.
It had been a full seven days since Paul had left, and I was surprised at how well things were going. Not only did I have my son’s systems down, but I’d been able to do my job simultaneously, taking my meetings knowing that everything would still be settled when I returned to the office.
The truth was, I hadn’t worked like this in a long time. I let others take over, knowing Paul and the other executives took over a lot of the work and picked up the slack. I saw that the only reason I could let things slide as I did was that Paul had taken the reins so firmly and competently.
This switching of roles had shown me that, far from making it clear I could do both jobs, thus making my son redundant, what he had said was true—I wouldn’t have a company to run without him.
It was a good feeling, which was part of why I was in such a good mood.
