Chapter 3

　　Theo’s pov

　　Nobody paid me any attention as I walked through the hallways of the company, not that I expected them to. If it was any other company, people would stare if you were walking through the hallway whistling like I was but over here, we were a sophisticated bunch.

　　I was on my way to the CEO's office for my latest promotion on a job well done. You see, I just completed a project for the company that brought in a lot of profit and more clients for us. I worked so hard in the last six months to make sure I got the chance to be in charge of the project and when I did, I worked even harder to make sure my team and I gave it our best.

　　Looks like it paid off seeing as I was a few steps away from getting my dream position, I pushed the door to a lounge set up outside for our ceo. It felt like I was waiting inside the principal’s office which I was called in a lot during my time in high school.

　　The secretary looked up from behind her desk, her face paling slightly when she saw me. That wasn’t good, she never gave me that face when I came for my last promotion letter. The hair at the back of my neck stood because of the bad feeling I just got.

　　It was so bad that I got goosebumps figuring out why she played when she saw me. I greeted her and made her sit down till I was called.

　　“You can go in” she said immediately, rising from her desk in an attempt to arrange her files on the desk.

　　I turned to her with one eyebrow raised and my face in a blank mask, my eyes daring her to tell me the truth but she sat down and said nothing more.

　　Okay, that was that.

　　I knocked on the door, hearing a faint come in before I entered.

　　The office has not changed much since I came here the last time. Well except the environment. It was all fun and happy the last time I was here but now it was serene and full of bad energy. I was almost scared of what was going to happen right here in the office.

　　“Please have a seat, Mr. Jenner.” He said pointing to the empty seat beside me. I gently lowered myself to the chair making myself comfortable.

　　“Thank you” I told him after I made myself comfortable.

　　An awkward silence issued, the only sound you could hear was the loud beating of my heart against my chest, and it was so loud that I think he heard it from behind his desk, I was really getting antsy from all the suspense.

　　Why couldn’t they just tell us what was going on? I thought to myself.

　　“What the hell is going on, sir?” I asked him bluntly when I couldn’t take the silence anymore.

　　“Always a pleasure to deal with you as always” he said sarcastically, his gaze never leaving the computer screen for once.

　　I was beginning to get angry, he called me to his office and he is keeping me waiting like I have nothing else to do.

　　I ignored him in favor of getting answers from him but he kept typing away on his computer.

　　“Why am I here?” I asked him again hoping to get something other than a sarcastic response this time.

　　He stopped typing immediately and gave me his full attention. I could see something akin to regret flash across his eyes but it went away as quickly as it came.

　　He passed me a letter and my heart skipped a bit. I was no longer up in the clouds like I was earlier, especially after seeing the look on his secretary’s face, it crushed my mood entirely.

　　“What is this?” I asked him, I was past the point of putting in sir in my questions.

　　“It is your termination letter and severance check” he said in his low bad news voice.

　　“WHAT?!” I raised my voice a little, “I am getting fired? Why?” I asked all at once

　　“I am not supposed to tell you but the company is going bankrupt and we are laying a lot of people off and I am sorry you are one of them.” He said with regret.

　　“Bankruptcy? That can’t be right sir. My team and I made a lot of money for the company during this period” I clarified.

　　Maybe there was some sort of mistake that he didn’t know about, we made enough money to take a vacation each and still have something left over. He looked at me with sadness in his expression. This was serious.

　　“Yes you did, you and your team worked so hard for us but the head account manager saw it fit to make away with our money plunging the company into a lot of debts” he explained.

　　“But sir, you can’t fire me. With a little time we could make more money than we did this time around” I tried to tell him but he shook his head at me telling me that it was his final decision.

　　I wanted to argue the more but I knew it wouldn’t help my case, after months of toiling and sleepless nights, I was getting fired? Life wasn’t fair.

　　I walked back to my office but not before I saw the secretary giving me a look of sympathy. I wanted to snap at her but it wasn’t her fault we were in this mess so I let it go.

　　I cleared my table, getting looks from my coworkers. Nobody from my team was fired and just made me sadder than I was before. They came to my office to give me one last hug.

　　“I am so sorry this happened, boss” Hera said

　　“It’s going to be okay” silver seconded

　　Daniel and Parker were silent but the pat on my back meant they were sympathizing with me too. I needed to get out of there, it wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate their sympathy but I hated the fact that they still had their jobs and I didn’t have mine. It sucks!

　　I got down to the ground floor after submitting my employee’s card to them, I got into my car and drove home.

　　On getting home, I entered my house and suddenly I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to go out and drown my sorrows with alcohol, so I called my best friend gage.

　　We have been friends since I could remember, he has been with me through all the hard times of my life and I have been with him through his.

　　I picked up the phone and dialed his cell, it rang two times before he picked,

　　“Theo my man, how are you? He bellowed over the phone making me wince and hold the phone far away from my ear, putting it on speaker I relaxed.

　　“Why the hell are you shouting?” I asked him

　　“Sorry man, everything okay?” he asked me

　　That was the good thing about gage, he always picks on my mood even when I am snapping at him. I didn’t want to tell him that I got fired over the phone, he would laugh at me. The idiot.

　　But I needed us to hang out and have a couple of drinks before I could spill my guts.

　　“Yeah just peachy” I answered casually, I didn’t even know why I bothered to hide the anguish in my voice when it was obvious he could detect them.

　　“Hey listen, I know you are going to get a couple of drinks in before I get you to talk but Henry and I are going to hang out in the club a while later. You good if we pick you up?” he asked.

　　It was like he could read my mind but who the hell was henry?

　　“Sure, that would be nice. Who the hell is henry?” I asked him

　　He laughed a little at my haughty tone.

　　“Henry Knight, the guy we went to high school with, was on the football team with me. You guys always argued over the littlest things each time.” he explained

　　Now I remember him, he was pretty annoying back then but he was a very good friend and he always had our back. I wonder how they reconnected after all those years. Like he was reading my mind, Gage replied.

　　“I met him in New York after that conference I went to, so we hung out ever since,” he said.

　　“Alright, I guess I will see you both later. I want to take a nap” I told him.

　　I heard him sigh before muttering something which sounded suspiciously like “blockhead”

　　“Did you say something?” I prompted

　　“No, I said I will see you later” he muttered before hanging up the phone.