Chapter 25

Eddie had spent the weekend in front of the television on a Sopranos marathon. Both Scott and Tyler had attempted to lure him off the sofa with various offers of going for runs, walks, drinks or meals. To no avail. When Eddie got into his head like this, the best way was to zone out and wait for it to pass.

Sure enough, Monday morning rolled around and the weight of dread lifted. Even by a little. Whatever decision James had come to, they would all find out and he wouldn't have to worry about it. Come what may.

He'd given up trying to contact Billy. Ten unread messages told him all he needed to know.

With a knot inside him that could have been a boulder, Eddie walked through reception.

"Hey," Charlotte said.

He stopped. "Morning."

"Morning, hot stuff," she said, giving him the once-over.

Eddie had made the call that if he was going down, he would be doing it in style. Today he had on a tight black shirt and equally as form-fitting white trousers.

"Thanks. Don't know why I give a shit. I've properly fucked it."

"I'm sorry, babe. Brad will be a total prick after this."

Eddie held up his bag. "Resignation letter is already in here."

"No!"

"I can't do anything else. I'm gutted."

Charlotte made her way around the reception desk and threw her arms around him.

"Something might happen yet," she said into his neck. "I don't want you to go."

He extracted himself and smiled sadly. "Thanks. It means a lot."

"What about Scott and Tyler?"

"I would only be working somewhere else," he said with a laugh he didn't really mean. "I'm not going to throw myself off the pier."

The pier.

With a heavy heart, he walked through the doors into the office. In his line of business, the minute a person resigned, they were marched off site and put on gardening leave. The company's data always took priority over getting a month's work out of leaving sales staff.

At least I can finish The Sopranos.

He made a beeline for the do not disturb zone of the office. Eddie had no appetite for a relentless grilling from Kat or pitying stares from everyone else.

As he set his laptop up, he caught sight of the letter in his bag. How had it come to this?

Refusing to answer the many instant messages from the team, Eddie buried himself in emails for a couple of hours.

In a lull, he opened the folder that contained all his communication with Billy. They were mostly business but the flirtation was unmistakeable. Eddie's heart ached. The whole job nightmare may have been a distraction, yet the dull pain of missing Billy never really left him.

It was the fact that it had all been for nothing that hurt the most.

Just as he had psyched himself up to do a covert coffee run to the canteen, an email appeared in his inbox. It was from James.

Can you join us in meeting room three, please?

Eddie shut his laptop and grabbed his bag. If they walked him out, he wanted to be ready.

He strode across the office, exuding a false confidence. Despite his best efforts, he glanced over to where he knew the team would be sitting. Kat held her crossed fingers up.

Bless her. She was positive still.

His heart sank when he saw Brad already at the table. It wouldn't have hurt James to tell them individually.

Eddie refused to meet Brad's gaze as he took a seat across from him. James sat facing them.

"I know you'll be pissed off that you're both in here at once," James said. "Sorry. I wanted to say something before I told you who has the job."

Eddie fought a powerful urge to roll his eyes.

"I've been here since day one and I'm gutted to be going. But the time has come and I'll ease my pain on the beach somewhere."

"I felt sorry for you for a minute there," Brad chipped in before cackling at his own joke.

Eddie remained stoney-faced.

"I don't need a heckler, Brad," James said, firmly. "The hardest thing about leaving has been choosing who to replace me and it isn't something I take lightly. I set that competition because I wanted you to show me parts of you that I've not seen before."

Unfortunately for me, that's a loser.

"You did that in bucketloads," James continued. "I thought I knew the pair of you. Anyway, what I saw made it an easy decision."

Eddie swallowed and braced for impact.

"Congratulations, Eddie."

"What did you say?" Brad spluttered.

"I'm sorry, Brad. I know how disappointed you'll be."

Brad leapt to his feet. "That job is mine. I beat him."

James held his hands out. "And there you have it."

Eddie was still speechless. It was as though he were watching the events play out on television. Unfortunately, Brad had not suffered the same effect.

"What is that supposed to mean? He's a fucking loser."

Now James stood. "That's enough. I'll ignore your behaviour once."

"Don't worry," Brad replied. "I'll go and write my resignation letter now."

"That's a big decision to make in anger," James said.

For the first time, Brad glared at Eddie. His eyes were almost aflame with malice.

"I'm not working a day for him. He's pathetic."

"If that's how you feel then I think that's probably for the best," Eddie said, suddenly finding his voice. "Please accept it, James."

"Very well."

Brad took one last look at the pair of them and stormed out of the room. James slowly sat back down.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm flabbergasted," Eddie replied. "I've got a letter of my own in there."

"Did you really think I would give it to him?"

"James!"

"Ah, I'm leaving. I can say what I like," James said, waving him away. "It's always been yours to lose, Eddie."

"What about the Webster deal?"

James smiled. "That's what clinched it for you. There's more to managing a department than targets and the bottom line. You showed that your humanity took precedence. That's exactly what I would have done. You've been ready to fill my shoes for a year now. I needed you to realise that."

The enormity of the last few minutes dawned on him.

"Fuck," Eddie said. "I'm a professional now."

"Is anyone home?" Eddie called.

He dumped his bag down in the hallway. He frowned at it. Now he was the head of sales, maybe a furry Chewbacca rucksack wasn't the image he should be aspiring to.

Maybe he would go shopping with his first improved paycheque.

The flat lay silent. When he'd finally got away from his team, who had spent the whole day rejoicing, he'd looked for Tyler and Scott and found no trace.

He pushed open the lounge door and almost leapt out of his skin. Two party poppers were fired in his face.

"Congratulations," Scott and Tyler yelled in unison.

The room was festooned with banners. Scott held up a bottle of champagne.

"You two are amazing," Eddie said.

"Come in," Tyler said. "Sit down."

He'd managed to email them both with the outcome but hadn't had a chance for much more.

"I can't believe I didn't get to walk Brad out," Scott grumbled. "Cocky fucker."

"He walked himself out," Tyler replied.

To be exact, Brad had thrown a letter at James and run out of the office like a missile. Kat had watched him storm all the way out of the industrial estate. Once he'd disappeared from view, she'd turned from the window and let out a cheer.

He'd thought that to be unnecessary.

"I don't take any pleasure in it," Eddie said. "A man has lost his job."

"Oh, calm down. Of course you do," Scott replied. "He was a dick and deserves everything he gets. Now, Tyler and I have been planning. We're going to drink this and get our glad rags on. Tonight, we hit the town."

Eddie had fancied a long soak in the bath. Yet, he'd stayed in all weekend. A few drinks wouldn't hurt. Even if it was a Monday night.

He sank down on the sofa. "I'm getting changed," he said. "These trousers are way too tight if we're having dinner too."

Scott sat next to him and snuggled into his shoulder. "So proud of you, babe. I knew you'd do it. Didn't I?"

Tyler squeezed in on the other side of Eddie. "You did brilliantly," he said. "What's the thing you're going to splurge on now you've had a pay rise? You should treat yourself."

Eddie would be earning a lot more than he currently did.

"Firstly, I'm getting a new bag. Something fancy that says, I'm not to be messed with," Eddie said, his mind racing. "Plus, I did have my eye on a Tarantino box set."

Scott and Tyler groaned.

"What?" Eddie asked.

"We've no more room," Scott wailed. "You're going to have to thin the collection a bit."

Eddie gasped. "I will do no such thing."

"I'm only kidding," Scott replied. "Kind of. Let's talk about it another day."

The doorbell rang.

"Oh balls," Tyler said.

"I'll go," Scott said. "I'm going to get ready. I want good food in my belly as soon as possible."

He got up and went out of the room.

"You must be really chuffed," Tyler said.

"I am," Eddie replied. "I really am."

And he meant it. He'd drifted from job to job, with never a plan. This felt like a very mature move. It both thrilled and terrified him.

The lounge door opened and a worried-looking Scott appeared.

"What's up?" Eddie asked.

"You'd better come."