Page 26

26

N ew York City

The best part of a business trip was when it was over, and Bennett Reilly stepped through his front door. He’d been gone three days in Toronto, and he was happy to be sleeping in his own bed tonight.

All he wanted to do was order in a pizza, take a long hot shower, and get some rest. He’d been functioning on about four hours a night, and he was looking forward to some solid sack time.

The lights were on in his apartment, so he assumed that his girlfriend, Sophie, was there to greet him. She didn’t live with him, but since she had three roommates, she spent several days a week at his place. He didn’t mind it at all. She didn’t make a lot of noise when he was working, and she was good company.

Frowning, he looked down at the floor in his entryway. There was a box sitting there filled with what looked like some of Sophie’s things.

“You’re home a little early.”

“We had a good tailwind, I guess,” Ben replied, motioning to the box. “What’s this?”

Sophie wasn’t smiling, which was strange. She was usually happy when he returned from a business trip. Sometimes, she’d even have a surprise dinner made for him. In fact, she wasn’t dressed in her usual pajama pants and t-shirt for lounging around the apartment. She was in blue jeans, a gold sweater, and brown boots.

“Are you going somewhere?” he asked before she could answer his first question. “Shit, did I forget that we had plans tonight?”

“No, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if you did,” Sophie said, reaching for her coat from the rack by the door. “As for what the box is, those are all of my things. At least, I think it is. If you find anything else, can you please set it aside, and I’ll send Julie over for it?”

“Why are you taking all of your things? What’s going on here?”

Ben didn’t quite understand. It had been a long three days, and he was exhausted. He didn’t have time for one of Sophie’s games tonight.

“I’m breaking up with you,” Sophie said. “I would have thought it would be fairly obvious, but you’re probably thinking about business, right?”

“That business pays for a luxury apartment on the Upper East Side. Something that you seem to like.”

Ben couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his tone. He’d stepped back into his home, and now Sophie was kicking him in the gut.

“Ben,” Sophie said with a shake of her head. “It was never the apartment, or the fancy car, or the expensive trips. It was you. I wanted to be with you. But now I’m just tired, and I can’t do this anymore.”

“I am with you,” he replied, his tone laced with frustration. “We’re together. Why would we break up? Everything has been great. We rarely argue or even disagree. We have fun.”

His arguments sounded lame to his own ears. He wasn’t the type to beg a woman to be with him, but this was a surprise. He hadn’t seen this coming at all.

“Are we together? Really?” Sophie asked, her brows raised. “Everything has been great…for you. Not for me. The reason we never argue, Ben, is because you never listen to me. You don’t think about what I want or need. It’s all you, and you just steamroll over everyone else so that you get what you want. Which is usually just to work. I can compete with other sexy women, but I can’t compete with a sexy job. And frankly, I don’t want to. I want to be with someone who cares enough about me to listen now and then.”

“I care about you. I listen.”

Her words had hit him hard, though. He was a workaholic. He was aware of that, but he’d thought he was doing a good job of balancing it with life.

“You listen? Okay, let’s test that,” Sophie said, her lips pressed together in a thin line.

“What state was I born in, Ben? We’ve been together for over a year. You should know that. If you can answer that question correctly, I’ll unpack my things. So go ahead. Where was I born? I know I’ve mentioned it more than once.”

For sure, it was the Midwest. He remembered they talked about how he’d gone to school there, and she’d been brought up not far away. He just couldn’t remember exactly which one. Illinois, Indiana, maybe Ohio, or Iowa. He’d once seen her wear a college t-shirt, but shit, he couldn’t remember which it was.

“Ohio. You were born in Ohio.”

She took a deep breath and shook her head.

“Michigan, Ben. I went to Michigan State, too. My college roommate came and visited last month, remember? She told stories about our time there. But you weren’t listening.”

“I’ll listen— Shit, you aren’t perfect either. There were plenty of times I could have been mad, but I let it slide.”

“Just stop,” Sophie laughed. “I know I’m not perfect. And you and I both know that you’re not in love with me, and you’re not going to do any changing for a woman you don’t love. Maybe you will someday, for someone, but not for me. I’ve faced the reality, and you need to, also. This isn’t some great romantic love affair. It wasn’t even that great of a relationship. And now it’s over. Goodbye, Bennett Reilly. I hope you have a great life. I truly do. You deserve it, and so do I.”

Sophie did deserve better. Whether he did was up for debate. He hadn’t meant to be an asshole, but clearly, she thought he was. It didn’t matter that he thought he’d done his best.

“You deserve it,” he agreed. “I’m sorry that this didn’t work out.”

Arguing back and forth about who was at fault here wasn’t productive. He wasn’t going to change her mind at this point. She’d already checked out of the relationship. She’d packed her things and had been ready to walk out. Wait…?

“Were you just going to leave? Leave me a note or something like that?”

“You really don’t have a high opinion of me, do you? No, I was going to tell you face to face. You just arrived earlier than I thought you would.” Sophie reached down and picked up the box. “Like I said, if there’s anything I forgot, just text me. Julie will come get it. I meant what I said, Ben. I hope you have a great life.”

“You, too. And I am sorry.”

“Ben, you don’t even know what you’re apologizing for.”

He didn’t bother to reply. There was nothing left to say. He opened the door for her and was shocked to see his business partner Martin standing on the other side.

“I was about to knock,” Martin said, glancing to where Sophie was standing with her moving box. “Is this a bad time? I can come back.”

Martin only lived a few blocks away and often stopped by for a beer and to talk business and sports. The doorman knew him well and wouldn’t have thought anything about letting him upstairs.

“Actually, it’s the perfect time,” Sophie said, exiting the apartment. “It’s nice to see you, Martin.”

“It’s nice to see you, too.”

“I think I interrupted something,” Martin said.

“Yes, you did, and thank you. It was becoming awkward.” Ben stepped back to let his friend in. “Come on in. How about a drink? I could use one.”

Martin glanced down to where Ben had left his suitcase.

“I wasn’t sure you would be home yet, but I saw your lights on.”

“The flight was on time.”

Ben poured two whiskeys and handed one to Martin.

“How about we drink to new beginnings?” Ben joked. “Even if we didn’t see them coming.”

“I take it you and Sophie have hit a bump in the road,” Martin remarked. “But I’m glad that you want to embrace new beginnings tonight. The fact is, I wanted to talk to you before you went into the office tomorrow. A few things have happened while you’ve been gone.”

Martin Thorogood was one of the three partners at Bennett’s firm. There was Ben himself, who handled the business side of things, Martin, who was the money man and had invested a great deal into the firm, and then Scott, who was the technological brains.

Scott was a software genius, but half the time, he walked around barefoot because he didn’t know where he’d left his shoes. He was the stereotypical absent-minded professor. They had all three met in that roundabout way that happened when a person was young. Someone was a friend of someone else who was a friend with another mutual, and they all ended up at the same gathering over and over until they became friends, too.

Scott had known that he’d never get anywhere in business without some help. That’s where Ben came in. They’d also needed capital to start the company, and Martin was looking to invest in a startup with the millions he’d inherited. It had all worked out - after some blood, sweat, and tears - and now they were sitting pretty on the twentieth floor of a fancy high-rise office building in Manhattan.

It was a far cry from Harper, Montana.

While Ben loved his family and the town, he’d always wanted to spread his wings. He’d wanted to take on the world and accomplish great things. And he hadn’t wanted to do it in the shadow of his famous father.

Ben didn’t bother to sip at the whiskey, instead shooting it down in one go and then feeling the heat all the way to his belly.

“Should I pour another one?” he asked, but Martin shook his head.

“I need you to stay at least sober while I talk to you. What you do after I leave is your business. Listen, Scott came back from vacation the day you left. He’s made some changes in his life, and it’s going to affect us all.”

Scott was always making changes. First, there was the vegan era, then the mysticism era, or was it astrology? Ben couldn’t keep up as Scott was always searching for the answers to the big questions of life and the meaning behind it.

Maybe I should do that more often? But that really isn’t me.

“He’s joined some sort of group, and he’s decided he doesn’t believe in capitalism.”

Ben had to play Martin’s words over and over in his head to be able to decipher them. He wasn’t making any sense.

“He doesn’t believe in capitalism? How does that even work? It exists. He can’t say he doesn’t believe in something that exists. I could understand ghosts or something like that. There are questions there, but not with capitalism.”

“Okay,” Martin sighed. “Let me rephrase it. Scott has renounced capitalism. He doesn’t believe in making money from other people. He doesn’t want us to sell the software anymore. He wants to give it away for free.”

“For free?” Ben echoed, not quite believing what he was hearing. “Are you kidding? Is this some kind of a prank?”

“I wish it was, my friend. Scott isn’t kidding. He’s already sold all of his property, and he’s moving out of state. He didn’t tell me where, but he’s not kidding, and he is serious. He didn’t tell me until he’d made all the moves. He said he didn’t want me to try and talk him out of it.”

“Did you try? Because this is crazy and probably just a phase. In a few weeks?—”

“It won’t matter because he’s already given or sold his possessions and donated the money. It’s a done deal, Ben. I told Scott that I couldn’t give away our product, and although I couldn’t speak for you, I didn’t think you’d want to do that either. He said he understood, and he signed the company over to the two of us. Free and clear. Scott holds no interest in the company anymore. He even handed me his key to the office.”

Ben fell back into the cushions of his couch, reeling from the news. First, Sophie, and now Scott. Was the world going insane?

“I get it,” Ben said. “First thing tomorrow, we need to start looking for someone to replace Scott. We’ll put the feelers out. It may take some time but?—”

“Ben,” Martin interrupted. “You and I both know that there is no replacement for Scott. He, and only he, knows the technology. He invented it.”

“That doesn’t mean that someone couldn’t figure it out,” Ben argued. “We have to try.”

“Scott Harrington is a genius,” Martin replied softly. “A certified genius who was able to invent data analysis technology that others can only dream about. It would take a team of dozens of people years to reverse engineer what Scott created. Frankly, I don’t think we have the time. If we can’t support our product, how can we, in good conscience, keep selling it? No, we need to close down. It’s the only option.”

Close down?

“I can’t believe or accept that it’s our only option.”

Ben was in a daze that this was really happening. Maybe he’d wake up in the morning, and it would all be a weird dream because he’d eaten too much spicy food.

Martin sat down next to Ben, his expression grim.

“Let me put it another way. I’m ready to move on, Ben. I don’t want to struggle for years or longer trying to replace someone that I’m not sure can even be replaced. I invested in this company because it sounded profitable and fun. That’s changed. I want to take the profits and invest in something else. Something I enjoy. Frankly, I don’t want to do any hard work. With the money we have on hand, we can give the employees generous severance and still have some money left to tide us over for a long while. If invested smartly, maybe a lifetime.”

“You mean me, right? You’re not worried about money.”

Martin bowed his head and nodded.

“You’re right. I was talking about you. You’re a known entity in this town, and you’ll bounce back with no problems. You have a great reputation. I predict companies will be falling all over themselves to recruit you once the word gets out that we’re closing down.”

Ben didn’t want to work for someone else. That’s why he’d jumped on this startup idea with Scott and Martin.

“What about our lease, our office equipment, our contracts with vendors?”

“I’ve been working on that while you were gone,” Martin said, levering up from the couch. “I actually had to do some real work, and I must say it only strengthened my decision never to do that again. I’m a trust fund baby, Ben, and I like it that way.”

“I can’t believe this is happening.”

“I’ve negotiated a reasonable buyout with the landlord, and they’re taking over our office furniture and equipment as part of the deal. I also negotiated with our vendors. Once we notify our customers, we should be completely shut down within thirty days.”

Thirty days? Then everything they’d worked for would just be gone. Poof. Like it had never happened. But it had.

“I’m not ready for this.”

He hadn’t realized that he’d spoken out loud until Martin gave him a sad smile.

“I know, and that’s why I had to come by tonight to tell you. I didn’t want you to have to pretend in the office in front of the staff. This gives you tonight to mull this over. I think when you do, you’ll come to the same conclusion that I did. Without Scott, we’d struggle to do anything. He was the lynchpin to all of this. His leaving would set us back years.”

It was hilarious that Martin thought that one night was going to make Ben okay with all of this.

“Ben, no one could have worked harder or been more dedicated than you were. This isn’t your failure. It’s just life. Scott has the right to go do and be something else. We can’t stop him, and we need to face the reality of our situation. Sooner rather than later when we’ve run through millions of dollars and months and months of time with nothing to show for it.”

But…it felt like a failure. Martin could say all he wanted, but it didn’t stop it from feeling like this was a gigantic failure.

I should have foreseen something like this. Scott was always squirrelly. I should have seen this coming and had talent recruited to take over someday. Pushed Scott to share his knowledge. Then this wouldn’t have happened. It’s my fault. I was the one running the business.

“Jesus, don’t ever take up poker,” Martin sighed. “I can see the wheels turning in your head. You’re finding a way to fucking blame yourself.”

“I should have?—”

“Fuck it,” Martin yelled, his face turning red. “Dammit, Ben. Stop making everything fucking about you. This isn’t about you. Scott was always a one-man show, and frankly, this day was inevitable. At some point, we were going to get big enough that we’d need to bring in more staff. Scott would have had to let other people in on what he’d invented and built. He was never going to do that. And now, shit, he wants to just give it away because he knows no one on this fucking planet understands it. He might not care about making money anymore, but he still cares about his goddamn ego. No matter what cult or group or shit he’s joined, Scott Harrington is a fucking egomaniac. He knows he’s fucked us, and he doesn’t care. Hear me, Ben. Scott doesn’t care about you, me, or any one of those employees. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He hasn’t changed. He’s the same fucking prick he always was, but now he’s a broke prick. People aren’t going to put up with his bullshit so willingly now.”

The truth hurt. Martin wasn’t pulling any punches tonight, and Ben felt every one of them like a blow to the body taking his breath away.

Ben thought about offering to talk to Scott, but Martin was right. The man was a prick and an asshole. He didn’t care about anyone but himself, and he wasn’t going to listen. Once Scott made up his mind, only he could change it at some undetermined time in the future.

“Take the day off tomorrow,” Martin suggested. “Have a long weekend. We can tell the staff on Monday that we’re shutting down.”

“No, I’ll be there in the morning.”

He didn’t want to draw this out. Better to pull off the band-aid quick. Less pain that way, right?

Martin left the apartment, softly closing the door behind him. Ben still hadn’t moved from his spot on the sofa, his emotions swirling around him to the point that he was almost physically ill. He thought about pouring another whiskey, but he didn’t think he could hold it down.

Glancing at the clock, he realized that he hadn’t even been home an hour yet.

One simple, single, fucking hour had changed his life completely.

He’d been happy, in a relationship, and a partner in a growing business. He didn’t have any of that now.

Less than sixty minutes later.

Does that make me a loser?

Now what? What was next?

Bennett Reilly didn’t have a clue, but he was sure that sitting in his expensive apartment feeling sorry for himself wasn’t going to give him the answer. He’d give himself tonight to feel like shit, and tomorrow he’d come out ready to go to war.

He just didn’t have a clue who he was fighting. Maybe himself?

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Lulu’s adventures in Wild Justice. Join Bennett Reilly for his story in Cherished Justice . Coming soon.

Thank you again for reading.