CHAPTER ONE
April stared out the window on the cool September day, praying for a way to touch the leaves on the trees. The top floor of the New York City skyscraper looked right over a park by the East River. She pondered how fresh the air would feel in her lungs, how loud the crunch would be as she walked through the early fallen leaves and branches.
“April?” One of the partners came into view, his suit perfectly tailored and horribly plain. As her reality snapped back into place, she felt the shame rise along her cheeks. She nodded at her boss, who continued talking. “Anyway, we’re under crisis control, people. I’m going to need everyone to start brainstorming now.”
She looked around the room at the intelligent people surrounding her. They would probably find a way for the company to get out of this one. Their client, Reed Industries, had put out another robot vacuum which hadn’t gone through all the proper safety tests. So far, it’d started four home fires because of the lack of proper function in the fan to cool down the electronics.
It was a complicated way to say that Reed Industries put out a bad product and now needed legal help getting them off the hook.
At the long rectangular table sat the CEO of Reed Industries, a large man with extremely muscular arms. His brows were almost constantly turned downwards in a kind of anger.
Everyone had their heads down, looking at the files in front of them. April had already looked them over before the meeting. In fact, she’d been looking them over all night to distract herself from the new emptiness her house held.
The house had been quiet since her daughter left for college just a few days before. It was nice at first, but then yesterday the meaning of the silence hit her harder than she ever thought it would.
A breath caught in her throat as she’d almost started to make a second breakfast to feed Georgia. Her heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces. April hadn’t had much time with her daughter during the day, so she tried to make every minute count. Which meant that now those minutes felt lonely.
Her daughter wasn’t there to laugh with her at the crazy people on reality tv, or gossip about the neighbors who always had their fights with the windows open for the whole neighborhood to see.
She thought about calling Georgia, but realized that she was probably out trying to make new friends. College was a whole new experience for her. April’s loneliness wasn’t a reason to interrupt this precious time in Georgia’s life.
But then April got to thinking about it - was it really loneliness? It felt like more than that. It felt like dread. Like she was stuck inside of a fishbowl, everyone else looking in on her and waiting for her to do a trick; then they’d just ignore her until she died from being in such a tiny bowl.
She was drowning in the misery she felt with her everyday life. It took a genuine effort
to feel like things were worthwhile.
She was guilty, lonely, and most of all, dissatisfied with the life she chose. The life where she couldn’t even help her daughter move into her college dorm because she needed to work on a case to save billionaires a penny.
It was depressing, and she knew it. Look at her, pretending to read a file she’d already gone through. And she knew the solution. They should recall the bad products and issue full refunds and apologies. But the company and the firm would never go for that. They wanted their clients to maintain the most amount of money possible, so that they could make the most money in return.
“Look, what I think we have here is a defense. In the handbook, it states various fire codes to ensure the products don’t catch the house on fire. That should be enough for us to explain that users have been using the product incorrectly.”
Using the product incorrectly? thought April. If consumers are using the product as the instructions in the manual suggest, then it doesn’t matter if they put a fire warning in. A fire warning only tells consumers the possible consequences for incorrect use. This is ridiculous. They won’t listen to anything I say.
It made her want to throw up. There was no reason to punish consumers for things the company did wrong. But it was just like them to suggest something like that.
Morals and ethics were thrown out on a daily basis. In fact, it was April’s job to find ways to throw them out so that the ‘good guys’ could win. But those good guys were usually the true villains.
“Very well,” Maxwell, the senior partner in charge of the meeting, said. “I don’t think that’s a terrible idea. Eliminating liability can help your company by keeping consumers calm and continuing to buy.”
George at the other end of the table nodded. “As long as we can get them to blame consumers, we run from the liability. Which is what we really want here, right?”
The CEO and other men at the table laughed. April tried to smile, but she knew it wouldn’t look real. Because it didn’t feel real. It felt like she had a stomachache
Maxwell was the director who took this type of business theater seriously, always in charge, but never knowing what was right and wrong for the production. George was the senior who got all the lead parts, even though everyone knew he wasn’t right for the role. Lilian was in the chorus, but always acted like it was a Broadway show and gave even the simplest of things full drama.
And April, well April was working backstage. She dealt with all the crappy parts of the job, the paperwork, the cases that no one else could figure out. Even though she dreamed of being anywhere other than this theater, here she was, trying to look like she belonged.
“ April, do you think you could come up with a plan of action by tomorrow morning?” Maxwell asked. The entire cast looked over at her, judging her every move.
April gulped, then cleared her throat. “You want me to take charge on this account?”
Maxwell nodded his head. April tried her best not to look like a deer in headlights, but this was the exact opposite of what she wanted. With the holidays coming up, she was sure she would be able to get more time off and spend it outside of this office. If she took this account, she’d be stuck in here for sure. This was the last thing she needed right now.
“Yes, and they’ll need it by tomorrow morning,” he said to her.
With everyone staring, April thought of ways to turn down the job. But the CEO was glaring at her from the other end of the table. If she didn’t take this, what would they say? Her boss would probably be angry with her. Could she lose her job over something like this? Over saying no to corrupt business owners?
She began to sweat as they all waited for an answer. Did it get hotter in this room? Was the bird chirping outside mocking her? “April?”
“Uh, sure,” she said. “I can do that.”
Immediately after she said it, she regretted it. All those walks in the park, the time spent outside of the office with Georgia, the hours she would spend decorating the house this holiday season, they all drifted away.
“ April, can I see you in my office?” Maxwell asked as the others began to filter out of the conference room.
She hated those words the most. Not only did he ruin her weekend, but he had to give her a talk for daydreaming during work hours. The office didn’t have room for things like joy and dreams.
Max’s office was just like the others. Bland, beige, and boring. She took the seat opposite his tall office chair.
“So, April,” he began. He stared at her with a smile that she didn’t return. “This needs to be perfect. I know you’re the person for the job, but I’m just reminding you that Reed Industries is one of our most important clients. I trust you to put in what it takes to get this done.”
April didn’t expect any thanks for picking up the extra work, but she wanted some kind of understanding that she would be making sacrifices for the job. “Of course.”
Maxwell smiled. “Great. I think in ten years’ time you’ll be sitting in this chair, talking to your own team about clients.”
Ten years? After everything she did for the firm, she would still need to wait ten years to become a partner?
Her life began to flash before her eyes. Her daughter’s graduation, vacations, anniversaries, birthday parties. It was all replaced with time at her desk or at home on her laptop.
All those sacrifices for another ten years. Maxwell was less than ten years older than April
and he’d been partner for the past five years.
“April?”
Her eyes snapped back up to her boss. Another ten years of this.
“Happy to be here,” she lied through her teeth.
CHAPTER TWO
As April walked into her house that same evening, it felt like every other day. She’d stopped for groceries on her way home, even though it was late. She couldn’t eat fast food every night like when she was twenty. No, at twice that age, she thought she should at least try to maintain a somewhat healthy lifestyle.
The lifestyle where you would work hard, come home, and cook a nice meal, maybe workout and then grab wine with some friends on the weekends. April thought about that perfect life as she grabbed her own bottle of wine from the wine cooler built into her kitchen island.
Carl had always said they didn’t need one, but April argued that she did. And now she was glad she became a lawyer. Apparently, fighting for corrupt companies wasn’t all she fought for, considering this chilled glass of Reisling that quenched her thirst.
She drank a glass as she cut up vegetables for the stir-fry. The veggies slipped into the containers she put out, then she took the time to sip her wine. At least she could enjoy a normal meal, instead of the typical frozen dinners she threw together when it was her night to cook.
April looked at the bottle of wine and smiled as she read the description on the back. When the food was prepared, she put away everything, including the bottle.
And she sat in her chair, wondering if she would even finish cooking the meal before her husband got home. It’d been a long time since she’d done that. She finished her glass of delicious wine. She took in its smell as the last of it fell into her mouth.
It was something she didn’t do much of when Georgia was home. She was too preoccupied with spending time with her daughter than having a little bit of liquid joy after a tedious day of work. Still, April would have taken time with Georgia over a few glasses of wine any day.
The door at the other end of the house slammed shut as Carl entered. “Welcome home,” April yelled from the kitchen. “It’s been a long day, so I have quite a bit to tell you.”
Carl said nothing as he threw off his shoes and began to make his way to the kitchen. “There is something in the air today. Because,” April mumbled through a full mouth of recently chopped bell pepper. “Everyone at work was just crazy. They’re giving another company the outs by blaming it on consumers. I don’t even think their plan is going to work. Honestly, I think it might backfire on us this time.”
“It never backfires,” Carl said as he came into her view. There stood her tall husband. The man was dressed in a nice suit, but his posture made it look as if it was about to fall off his shoulders. His eyes were glazed over like he hadn’t slept in days, though April wouldn’t notice because she was focused on the meal ahead of her and the work day behind her.
“But this time I think it will! I seriously don’t understand how these big businesses can keep doing this. I mean, someone is bound to get caught eventually.”
April frantically cut up prepped chicken breasts that had been sitting, cooked, in the fridge for a few days. A smile on her face, she didn’t even hear the chair squeak as Carl sat down at the table. “Anyway, it was all so frustrating. And then, to put the cherry on top, they asked me to head the whole thing!”
“April?” Carl said with his head in his hand.
But April didn’t hear him; she continued her rant, adding some more chopped veggies into her mouth. Pans clanged together as she prepped their meal. “Man, I’m starting to really wonder if I belong there. I never agree with their decisions. All day, I just sit and think about-”
“ April!” Carl said louder, so loud that it startled April. She jumped, snapping her head to look over at him. She knew that her husband was acting strange by not talking this entire time, but now she could tell that something was truly wrong.
“What? What’s gotten into you today? You’re not talking,” she said as she came to the table and took a chair of her own.
“ April, I think we should talk.”
She looked taken aback, questioning what her husband could possibly need to discuss just as he arrived home. Usually they just chatted about their days. Nothing serious enough happened in their lives that they needed to talk like this with each other.
Her heart pounded in her chest. Did something happen at work? Was he fired? Or maybe he’d gotten into a car accident and now they’d need to scrape together the money to buy another car.
Carl cleared his throat and looked into April’s eyes. “I think we should get a divorce.”
The only thing that floated through April’s mind was their wedding day. She thought about her dress, walking down the aisle to the love of her life. Or who she thought was the love of her life. Now, she wasn’t so sure. “What do you mean?”
It felt like time stood still. She questioned whether she heard him wrong.
“I think we should get a divorce,” he repeated.
It echoed in April’s mind. The words that would change her life from this point on. It felt like she’d run into a wall of bricks. The wind was knocked out of her; she knew she wouldn’t be able to stand even if she wanted to. “Carl, what are you talking about?”
His brows furrowed together. “Haven’t you felt it? This distance between us? It feels like we’ve been drifting apart for ages. And now that Georgia has left for college, I feel like it’s time.”
Couldn’t even wait a week, ...
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