I shook my head fast.
“No. Don’t say that.”
“Why not? The doctors did.”
I didn’t know what to do with that.
So I asked the first dumb thing that came to mind.
“How are you feeling?”
She smiled.
“Like someone who got a second chance yesterday morning.”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding since the day before.
“That’s good. That’s really good.”
She glanced around the lobby.
“So you do work here.”
I hesitated.
Then I held up the empty box.
“Actually, I used to.”
Her brow furrowed.
“What do you mean?”
I could have lied.
Could have shrugged it off.
Could have said something vague and polite.
But there was something about her face that made honesty feel easier than pride.
“I got fired yesterday,” I said. “For showing up late.”
The smile faded from her mouth.
“Late because of me.”
I gave a helpless little half-shrug.
“Because of everything, I guess.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“No,” she said quietly. “Because of me.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
So there in the lobby of the place that had just thrown me away, I told her.
Not every detail.
Just enough.
The presentation.
The missed calls.
The client leaving.
Nick firing me.
Her expression changed as I spoke.
The softness in it hardened into disbelief, then anger.
By the time I finished, she looked like she was holding herself back from marching deeper into the office and setting the building on fire with her eyes.
“That man fired you for helping me live long enough to see my grandchildren again?”
I gave a tired smile.
“When you put it like that, it sounds bad.”
“It is bad.”
I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Well, what’s done is done.”
She studied me for a moment.
Then her face gentled.
“What is your name in full?”
“Sebastian Carter.”
“Sebastian Carter,” she repeated, like she was committing it to memory. “My name is Evelyn Parker.”
“Nice to meet you properly.”
She squeezed my arm.
“No, it isn’t. It’s awful to meet you under these circumstances.”
I laughed again, weakly.
She nodded toward my box.
“Before you go upstairs and pack your things, would you have a few minutes to talk?”
I looked toward the stairs.
Looked back at her.
“I guess I’ve got plenty of time now.”
