The Thorne at My Side

CHAPTER 27

My BroFF Eeyore is done.

AUSTIN

I wake up on New Year’s Day hoping TalkShopGirl, a.k.a Maggie, has responded. And, again, like every morning for the last week, the message from me is the last thing on the screen.

With a frustrated exhale I get out of bed and get ready for the day. Felix is playing in an outdoor game today at the D.C. Monumentals stadium and I get to watch from behind the glass. I think I’ve got better access than most of the player’s families today. They’re all up in 200 level suites.

They’ll be warm and fed, but I’ll be where the action is.

And I need the distraction.

◆◆◆

The Renegades won in a shutout. The frenzy at ice level, and throughout the stadium did exactly what I needed it to do. It’s only now, that I’m waiting for Felix outside of the dugout that Maggie returns to mind. I remember how exciting it was to see her after the season opener. How the pupils in the center of her ocean blue eyes grew wide as we spoke. The flush that I watched climb her cheeks.

I feel the heat drain from my face as I remind myself she might never speak to me again.

“Thorney!” Felix hollers as he claps his hands down on my shoulders.

“Hey bud, great game.”

“Tell me how you really fuckin’ feel man. That is not the level of enthusiasm I was expecting from my BroFF after that game.”

“BroFF?”

“Bro Friend Forever.” Felix says like it’s obvious.

I laugh at him. “Is that another entry from your ‘word of the day’ calendar?”

“Nah man, that’s just common slang. Keep up.”

“I don’t think you’ve got that exactly right, but I’ll go with it for your sake.” I tell him as we walk through the stadium concourse to the parking lot.

“What are you doing tonight?” He asks as we reach the cars.

“Probably just heading home and preparing for the earnings call in a few days.”

“I liked you better when you didn’t care about work so much,” he jokes. It hits harder than he intends though. I used to enjoy my work. I loved developing the AIM product and getting it off the ground.

“I did too.”

In the last few weeks, since the board meeting especially, I have dreaded even opening my work email. Elle has complained about my mood but when I remind her she’s living with me for free she shuts up.

Not that I’ve seen her much though. If I’m not at work I’ve been working out. Or walking. I’ve dragged my feet around the city to the places I saw Maggie. It’s sad, I realize, but I’m hoping I can catch a glimpse of her sunshine hair and that it will cheer me up.

“So, you wanna grab dinner before you go back to being sad?”

“Yeah, sure.” We get into his car and twenty minutes later he pulls up outside of Lapis.

“You know, I still haven’t eaten here,” he says like it just dawned on him.

“Funny, no, I’m not going in there.”

“Ah HA! I knew it. This Eeyore act is because of that girl. The blonde I saw at the game and then waiting for you here on your SMS Connect date.”

“Maggie.” I say quietly as I look at the table where she sat that night.

“So she has a name.” Felix says quietly. “Well, I’m fucking starving so let’s eat and if you want to tell me all about it I’ll listen. But you’re buying.”

I laugh, “deal.”

◆◆◆

FELIX : Good luck at the meeting today buddy.

AUSTIN : Thanks man.

When we went to dinner last week I couldn’t get myself to tell him about Maggie. It hurt too much. Instead I explained everything going on at work.

How I expected Dad to start transitioning the company to me.

How well AI Media is doing.

How much I hated the fact he filed a lawsuit against people who took action on bad information.

How going into the office every day is physically and emotionally exhausting.

And in the days leading up to this meeting it hasn’t gotten any better.

Elizabeth walks in with the ginger ale I asked her for because my stomach is sour.

“Thanks, Elizabeth.”

“Of course. Mr. Thorne, are you taking the call here or are you joining the senior team in your father’s office upstairs?”

If the last meeting had gone the way I’d expected it to, I’d already be up in the room. But, there is a significant chance I get burned again during this meeting. I don’t think my poker face is good enough to pull off that bluff.

“I’ll be taking it from here.” There, decision made.

“Excellent, do you want me in the office or dialing in from my desk to take notes?”

“From your desk please, I’d like to be alone.”

“Of course, Austin,” she says and I look up at her. She called me Austin without me asking her to. She smiles at me with her eyes. If Felix noticed my sour mood and I only see him once a week then Elizabeth must have a swollen tongue from biting it. I’m grateful she never brought it up, it allowed me to retreat into work and use it to numb the pain.

When she has stepped out of the office and closed the door behind her, I dial into the call. I lean back in my desk chair and feel for the SMS Connect phone in my pocket.

Still nothing from Maggie. It’s been two full weeks since Christmas Eve.

Two more weeks of carrying this little phone around.

Two more weeks of starting my day with disappointment.

I zone out for most of the call, the view from my office window of the winter skyline proving to be more fascinating than earnings reports.

“Most of this revenue is from AI Media. The strong fourth-quarter finish because we cleared our costs in the first month.” I perk up because I’m expecting the credit here. It wouldn’t take me long to get upstairs and accept the accolades in person. I stand and button my suit coat.

“The liability of the product is correlated to the share price drop right before New Year’s.” I pause.

“Things are progressing with the lawsuit and I’m expecting us to win. But the lawyers suggested, and I agree with them, that in an act of good will we’re going to close the product down.” Dad says and I feel faint.

I grab the side of my desk and the room spins as Elizabeth comes in. She reaches me and helps me sit in my chair. She leaves the office quickly before returning with a brown paper bag for me to breathe into.

The crinkle in and out is so loud I can’t hear the call but it doesn’t matter. Dad just canceled my product. He basically just fired my entire team. My inbox alerts fire off at an alarming rate as messages flood in. Elizabeth reaches forward and closes my laptop.

Now the only sound in the room is my fractured breathing. I look up at her and find a steely look on her face.

“I try to stay out of it Austin, I really do, but your father simply doesn’t respect you. And my advice, unsolicited as it might be, is to get out.” Elizabeth says steadily. I pull the bag down from my chin and stand.

Acting on instinct I reach out and wrap her in a hug. She’s rigid at first but when I squeeze a little tighter she wraps her arms around me in return.

“Thank you, Elizabeth,” I tell her softly.

“Of course, Mr. Thorne, allow me to call Greg for you.” She steps out of the office and picks up her phone. I look around my office and decide this is the last time I’ll be in this building. In this room.

I’m done.

Done trying to impress a man who refuses to be impressed by anything.

Done making decisions based on the bottom line alone.

Done toiling away day-in and day-out to get nowhere.