Run: A Novel Read Online Free Page B

I sacrificed it, for you. It was too late for me, by the time you were back on your feet. Don’t blame me for making the most of what I was left with.”
    “It was me getting back on my feet that got us this house. Your car. All your fancy clothes. Your—”
    “So your work is more important than mine?”
    Not this again …
    “Not more important, no. Just different.”
    “Don’t patronize me!”
    “I’m not.”
    “You are. You’ve never valued what I do. I thought, if we worked together for a while? If you saw firsthand what I did? But no. Minuteone, what did you do? Found a corner to hide in. Locked yourself away with your computers. Started poking into people’s private lives. And let me tell you, when the computers are the only ones doing the networking, not the people, something’s very wrong.”
    “I networked, plenty. And I wasn’t hiding in that damn office. I was
working
. Doing the job they hired me to do.”
    “Maybe. But not anymore. And now they’re keeping me and letting you go. And you just can’t handle that.”
    “That’s nonsense. I’ve—”
    “You know what?” She erupted from her seat. “Forget it. Just stop talking. I’m sick of the sound of your voice.”
    “Suits me.” Her footsteps thundered across the room and up the stairs. “I’m bored with listening to you, anyway.”

Monday. Early afternoon.
     
    W HEN IN DOUBT, MAKE COFFEE. THAT PRINCIPLE’S ALWAYS PAID
dividends for me. I’ve broken through more conceptual logjams standing in front of my old Cuisinart and watching the murky liquid drip hypnotically into the jug than through doing anything else. It’s a charmed activity for me, magically summoning the solution to my current problem out of thin air, and that day things seemed no different. The pot was no more than half full when I heard soft footsteps creeping up behind me.
    “Let’s not fight about this, Marc.” Carolyn’s voice was quiet. Her face was very pale, and her eyes glistened with dampness. “Please. I’m sorry you lost the contract. I honestly am. I guess I was feeling a little embarrassed, still working there, and thinking about how it was me who pushed you into taking the job in the first place.”
    “It’s no biggie, sweetheart. I’m over it already.”
    “I honestly thought it would be good for us, to work together. In the same place, anyway.”
    “It was. It was great.”
    “Did you like it? Really?”
    “Of course I did. And thanks for coming home early today. I know you were worried about me, sweetheart. I appreciate it. I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you got back.”
    “You’re really OK about it? Losing the job?”
    “I was pissed at the time, I’m not going to lie. It was mainly the way LeBrock told me. He can be a pompous prick at times. Sending the security guard to summon me. Then trying to bury me in a bunch ofmanagement-school double-speak. You know the kind of thing? I’m so good and so valuable he’s got no choice but to go ahead and terminate me. The asshole.”
    “Roger’s not an asshole.” The angry pink swept back into her cheeks. “It’s not his fault. The company—it’s a house of cards, waiting to fall. The whole industry is.”
    “You’re on LeBrock’s side now? What happened to being sorry I got thrown under the bus?”
    “I’m not on his side.” She clenched her fists, then slowly released them. “There are no sides, Marc. I’m just saying, things are complicated. There’s a lot going on.”
    “I know exactly what’s going on. I’m probably the only one who does, after all the analysis I’ve done. And let’s be clear, the whole industry isn’t in trouble. AmeriTel is. And AmeriTel’s problems are LeBrock’s fault. His, and the spineless imbeciles he surrounds himself with. Like the new CFO he brought in. Michael Millan. Have you met him? He’s a complete cretin. If you ask me, you’re crazy, too, if you keep working there.”
    “Now you’re telling me where I should