Page 99 of That Conflicted Feeling

YourendlessPowerPointbore-fest is no match for the images ofPolly, clothed and unclothed, filling my head.Oreven the thought of those damn llamas whenIwas about to lose myself in her for the first time.

AndI’msorry,Rick, but “no chain, no gain” is not funny, no matter how many times you say it and laugh at it yourself.Theonly reasonI’msmiling is becauseI’mremembering the look onPolly’sface asIheld the little goat.

Shit.

WhatI’dgive to see her face one more time.

Polly’s,Imean.Notthe goat’s.

Though, the goat was pretty damn cute.

Onething being in business has taught me is that if you make a mistake, you have to learn from it.LosingPollyis the biggest life mistakeI’veever made.AndI’mdetermined not to ignore everythingIlearned from her.

SohereIam, carrying that forward into a better future not only for the business but for neighborhoods across the country with the “GrowTogether” community garden initiative.

Meanwhile, back in the terminally dull present,Itry to conjure up a response toRick.

“Ithink that—”

Ihave no clue what wordsIhope will miraculously fall from my mouth to complete that sentence, but beforeIcan find out,TarquintheTerriblebutts in from across the table.

“Areyou okay,Max?”

Everymuscle around the table tenses.Andthere’s a sudden and widespread need to fiddle with pens.

Charlottelooks up from her spot in the corner where she’s been hunched over her laptop taking notes the whole time.

Tarquincontinues. “Everyone’sa bit concerned about you.”

Histone is more impatient than “concerned.”

Charlottelooks at me, bug eyed.

Asharp intake of breath runs around the room.Almostevery face at the table turns down, presumably in the hopeTarquindoesn’t call on them to back up his “everyone” claim.

Theonly one brave enough to take him on isDiana, my chief marketing officer. “Idon’t think this is the time or place,Tarquin.”

“Whatbetter time than when the department heads are all together?”

“Idon’t think we need to stage an intervention right this second,” saysDiana.

Whatthe fuck?

“Anintervention?”Ilook fromDianatoTarquin, then at each of the faces around the boardroom table, most of which now findRick’ssupply chain management handouts utterly fascinating.

Theatmosphere is hot with everyone’s desire to leave.

EveryoneexceptTarquin, that is. “Well, you haven’t exactly been at the top of your game lately, have you?”

BestCFOin the country or not,I’mdone worrying about pandering to his shitty attitude purely so he doesn’t go to work for the competition.There’ssomething to be said about being happy in the workplace.Maybethe dollar doesn’t always have to come first.

Nowthere’s somethingInever would have thought pre-Polly.She’staken the blinders from my eyes.

“Okay,Tarquin.Here’sthe thing.”Iroll my chair back from the table, stand up, and button my jacket.

Everyonelooks up from their pretend document reading.They’veall been on the sharp end ofTarquin’stongue at some time, andIsense a general hope this might be the moment he gets his comeuppance.

Andit might have been.