Chapter 1
On the way to the design proposal review, I got a call. My boss, Frank Dawson, said I'd been laid off.
I went home, and the TV said Frank's company had landed a 1.6 billion waterfront project using my proposal. Everyone went to the celebration dinner, but nobody invited me, and they kicked me out of the group chat.
I thought that was the end of it. But then the client called and said the core patent license in my proposal had expired yesterday.
At work, they wouldn't remember what one had done for the company. They only care about bargaining chips.
*****
My phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen. It was Frank. I picked up.
"Ryan, where are you?" he asked.
"On my way to the review. About fifteen minutes out from the City Planning Department," I said, steering with one hand as I cruised along the overpass.
"Don't go. Turn around and come back to the office," he said.
"I'm not going to the review?" I asked.
"You're not needed there. The group sent out a notice. They're restructuring, and Design Division Three is being dissolved," he said, pausing for a moment. "You've been fired. Come back for the handover."
I stayed silent. The traffic light ahead changed to red, and the car behind was tailing me closely.
"Did you hear me, Ryan Lewis?" Frank asked.
"I heard you," I replied.
The light was still red. I turned on my signal.
As soon as the light turned green, I spun the wheel and made a U-turn. The car behind me slammed on the brakes, its horn blaring for three seconds straight.
I didn't bother with it. I slipped onto the side road and drove toward the office.
It was 9:40 when I pulled into the company parking lot. I took the elevator up to the seventeenth floor.
Emily Parker, the receptionist, was munching on a sandwich. She glanced up at me and then quickly looked back down.
I walked through the office. Screens were glowing, keyboards were clacking, but nobody glanced my way.
My desk was all the way in the back, by the window. It was cleaned. Everything I owned was packed into a cardboard box, sitting on the desk.
Aubrey Woods from HR was standing outside the cubicle. "Ryan, come sign this," she said.
She slid the papers over to me. It was three pages of the termination agreement. The severance section read: standard payout, one month's salary for every year worked, plus one extra month's.
I flipped to the last page, picked up a pen, and signed my name.
"Check your personal belongings in the box," Aubrey said. I opened it up and took a look.
There was a water bottle, a calculator, a stack of blueprint copies, a team photo, and an old charger. I closed the box.
"Hand over your employee badge," Aubrey said, holding out her hand.
I took the lanyard off my neck and placed it in her palm. "All set," I said. She gathered up the papers. "Good luck," Aubrey replied.
I picked up the box and walked past every desk. No one looked up.
The whole floor was filled with the sound of keyboards clacking and the hum of the air vents.
The elevator doors opened. Howard Quinn from Design Division Two was inside.
He froze for a second when he saw me, dropped his gaze, and started swiping on his phone.
I stepped in. The elevator went down. Neither of us said anything.
When we hit the basement, I got out first. He didn't move.
The parking lot was bathed in a yellowish glow. I walked over to my car, opened the trunk, put the box inside, and closed it.
My phone rang. It was my mom.
"Ryan, is the review over?" she asked.
"It's finished," I replied.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"It went okay. I'm waiting for the results," I said.
"Come home for dinner tonight. Your dad made some soup," she said.
"Okay," I replied and hung up.
I got in the car and buckled up. I glanced at the company building in the rearview mirror, in which the gray glass on the seventeenth floor was shining.
After eight years, all I had left was this little box.
I started the car and drove away.
My place was in an old neighborhood in the north of the city, on the seventh floor, with no elevator.
I left the box in the car and went upstairs empty-handed.
The door was unlocked. My dad was in the living room watching TV, leaving the remote on the coffee table.
My mom was in the kitchen. The soup was bubbling away.
"Why are you back so early?" my dad asked, turning to look at me.
"Nothing to do, so I got off early," I replied.
I changed into my slippers. My mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands.
"Is the review over?" she asked.
"Yeah," I replied.
"What about the results?" she asked.
"Still waiting to hear back," I replied.
She looked at my face. "You look a little pale. Go get some rest. The soup still needs a while."
I went into my room, closed the door, and sat down on the edge of my bed.
Outside the window, the branches of the old tree stretched up to the window bars. The leaves were still green.
I lay down and stared at the ceiling.
My phone started buzzing, and it wouldn't stop. I pulled it out and checked. The company group chat was exploding with messages.
[Big news! We landed the 1.6-billion-dollar deal.]
[Frank is awesome.]
[The Seris River complex is the biggest in the city.]
[Heard the client picked Division Three's design and said it fit their needs perfectly.]
[Didn't Division Three get axed?]
[As long as the design is still here. That's all that matters. LOL.]
[Celebration party tonight! Everyone's going. Pacheco Restaurant at six. Don't be late.]
I scrolled up. The admin had posted an official announcement.
[Congratulations to our company for winning the Rivergate Group's Seris River urban complex project. The total project value is 1.6 billion dollars. This plan uses our proprietary core structural technology. Thanks to everyone for your hard work.]
[Special thanks to Ryan Lewis from Design Division Three for his contributions in the initial stage. Tonight, we'll have a celebration party at Pacheco Restaurant at six. Everyone must attend."
I read it three times and exited the group chat.
Next to the group name, it said: [You have been removed from the group chat.]
I set my phone down.
There was a crack in the ceiling, starting in the middle and winding all the way to the corner, like the Seris River.
The TV in the living room was loud. The news said, "This morning, the bidding results for the Rivergate Group's Seris River urban complex project were announced.
"The city's renowned design firm, Innovatech Design Group, won the bid, with a total project value of 1.6 billion dollars.
"This project features a brand-new structural design system and is expected to become the iconic complex of the Seris District."
My dad called out from the living room, "Ryan, your company's on the news. That's a big project."
I didn't answer.
The smell of soup drifted in from the kitchen. My mom was softly humming to herself.