Chapter 3

The next day was payday. I dragged myself back to the office despite the lingering fever.

I even stopped downstairs for coffee, timing my arrival carefully.

The clock-in machine beeped.

Two minutes late.

Tristan was waiting at reception with a smug grin.

"Declan! You're late! Office hours start at nine. What, you faint yesterday and suddenly the rules don't apply to you?"

He raised his voice so everyone could hear.

"One minute late and you lose your attendance bonus. Two minutes and we deduct your entire commission for the month!"

"What?"

The office fell silent.

Eli shot to his feet.

"He could barely stand yesterday, and he still came in today! You're taking all his commission over two minutes? There's no way that's legal!"

"That's insane," someone else muttered.

Darlene emerged from her office with her hands clasped behind her back. She didn't even glance at Eli.

"Rules are rules. There are no exceptions."

Tristan rocked smugly on his heels.

"It's about team spirit. Wasn't Declan begging us to turn on the heat yesterday? Fine. We'll use the seven thousand dollars we're deducting from him to cover heating for the whole office. Everybody thank Declan for his generous contribution!"

Eli clenched his fists.

"It doesn't even cost eleven hundred dollars to heat this place for the winter! You're taking seven thousand. Where's the other fifty-nine hundred going? Into your pockets?"

Darlene slammed her hand down on a desk.

"Since when does an intern get to question management? If you don't like it, get out!"

Eli flinched. His eyes welled up with frustration.

The kid was brave enough to stand up for me, but I wasn't going to let him lose his job over my fight.

I patted his shoulder, then walked up to Darlene and Tristan.

"Ms. Kessler, Tristan, this was my mistake."

I lowered my head, keeping my tone respectful.

"I shouldn't have been late, and I shouldn't have raised the heating issue. I accept the deduction. If it means everybody gets to work in a warm office, I'm happy to cover it."

Tristan stared at me.

He'd clearly prepared an entire speech for when I argued. Instead, he had nothing to say.

Even Darlene looked suspicious.

"You're... accepting it?"

"Absolutely. Tristan's right. Team spirit matters. A little sacrifice is nothing if it makes everyone's workday better."

She hesitated, but she'd already gotten what she wanted.

"Fine. It's settled, then."

She shot Tristan a look, and they retreated into her office.

Eli grabbed my sleeve.

"Declan, that's seven thousand dollars! You worked yourself half to death for it. They're never going to pay for the heat. They'll blow the money in Santa Lucera! Why are you acting like this is okay?"

I'd been about to tell him I had somewhere better to go. Maybe I could bring him with me.

But Gary Clark from operations spoke up before I could.

"Give it a rest. Jobs are hard to find. Ms. Kessler keeps us employed, and you still complain? Declan broke the rules. He deserves the penalty. What do you get out of defending him?"

I'd heard that Gary owed his position to Tristan. I wasn't about to show my hand in front of him.

I swallowed the words I'd been ready to say.

Sure enough, Tristan reappeared a few minutes later and tossed a filthy set of keys at my feet.

"You've got time to stand around gossiping? Great. Take the garbage truck downstairs and drive the trash out to the disposal site."

The facility was twenty-five miles beyond town. The smell was enough to turn your stomach.

"What? Too good for it?" Tristan sneered. "Think of it as a homecoming. A dump is exactly where a broke loser from a second-rate college belongs."