Page 73 of Calculated Chaos

“One day, we went to lunch to vent,” Tim adds. “And we all decided we’d collectively walk out. The only person who didn’t was Angie because she’s on maternity leave, but we called her and she said she’ll quit as soon as her leave is up.”

Hollister appears stunned. “You all quit? Together?”

Tim nods. “This morning. The staff meeting was epically bad, with yelling and finger pointing, and then Tanner gave us the perfect out.”

A guy across from Tim chuckles. “He told us if he went down, he was taking all of us with him.”

“That was my cue,” Tim says. “I said ‘wrong. You’re going down, but we’re getting on the lifeboats.’ I handed him my badge and one by one we all made a pile of badges. I told him we were quitting.”

“Oh my god,” Sara says. “What did he do?”

“He just sat there stunned. We left the conference room and grabbed our stuff. We had already been taking things home a little at a time and gathering any stuff we wanted to take with us, knowing your dad would shut off our access as soon as he knew.”

“He didn’t try to stop you?” Hollister asks.

“I don’t think he knew what to do,” Tim answers. “Pretty sure he didn’t leave the conference room until we were gone.”

“Guess they thought bullying you would work, but it backfired,” Sara notes.

“I can’t believe you guys quit,” Hollister says. “What about jobs and stuff?”

“Don’t worry about us,” Tim says. “We all knew what we were doing. Besides, there are several competing firms in the city that will pick us up just to stick it to your dad.”

Hollister’s face turns red with emotion as he sips his glass of water. Sara rubs his back with a sweet smile on her face.

“I told you,” she says. “You had an impact on the team.”

“Thanks, guys,” Hollister says, once he regains his composure. “All of you deserve way better than what you were getting there.”

“So do you, Hollister,” a woman says. “You started the wave. Yes, there were positives there. A smaller firm and good benefits, but without you there, those things couldn’t outweigh the negatives. We’ll all land on our feet.”

“Thanks, Megan. I know you will. I’m happy to be a reference for any of you too.” Then he finally chuckles. “My dad must be shitting his pants. The entire department is gone.”

“Is it bad that I low-key feel bad about the wrath Tanner is going to face?” Sara asks.

“No, it’s valid,” Hollister says. “He’s just a young, ambitious guy caught up in my dad’s bullshit.”

“Has he reached out to you at all since you left?” Sara asks and Hollister only laughs in response. “I see,” she says. “Well, I propose we get day-wasted.”

“I’m in,” Hollister says. “But first…” He turns his gaze to me. “I have exciting news. Axel and I are engaged.”

Sara gasps while others cheer for us. Not a single person looks surprised though.

“Engaged?” Sars gushes. “This is wonderful.”

Hollister nods, squeezing my hand. “It’s been a wild few weeks, but it was everything I needed to get to the person I was always meant to be. There’s nothing wrong with accounting work, but it’s not my passion. I’m gonna find out what that is, and I’m going to do it next to the man who’s always been by my side. Thank you all for the dedication and support you provided. I know you’ll go on to do great things because you’re great people.”

Sara kisses Hollister’s cheek as the waiter appears and drinks are ordered. Leaning across him, she pokes my arm.

“You better take care of his heart. He’s one of the good ones.”

“Don’t worry about a thing, Sara. Hollister is safe with me.”

“I know. I just wanted to play tough sister for a minute. I’m super excited to see what you guys do in the future.”

I press a kiss to Hollister’s cheek. “So am I.”

Epilogue

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