She Looked Down On Her Disabled Husband Every Day… Until She Learned He Was Her CEO

PART 2:

They’re taking him to imaging now. This way.  ” The leg will heal. The spine is the part that worries me.  It was close. Very close. He’ll be on crutches for months, and I want him off work until I say so. ” Months. Haven’t I wasted enough time with you in the hospital? Three weeks, Grant. 3 weeks of parking fees and cafeteria coffee. I have a career. I need money.

 I can’t sit here watching you sleep. ” Go to work. I’ll be fine. ” I’ll send the nurses station to check for the parking. That’s something at least. ” Thanks. ” Follow up in 2 weeks.  No lifting, no driving. Physical therapy twice a week. Do not skip it, honey. I will know. ” I believe you. ” Good. Take care of them.

” Is there anything to eat? You sit here from morning till night. Are you too old to feed yourself? The fridge is full, Grant. Crutches still have hands. ” It takes me 10 minutes to stand. And the doctor said, ” “Then sit down. Sit down and stop making everything harder.” ” Maybe I should stop coming back.

” Noted. What are you doing here? It’s 11:00.  You have work. ” I called in sick. Don’t argue. You sound like a dying frog. ” You’ll get fired. ” Then they’ll miss me. How do you make soup? from a can. Sloan, ” I’m not feeding you canned soup when you’re dying. I’m making it from scratch. ” You can’t cook.

” Watch me. ” It’s wrong. [laughter] ” Let me hold you. ” Sloan, go to bed. ” No. You might need something. ” I need you to not ruin your neck. ” Shut up and sleep, Grant. ” Where did that girl go? I married that girl. Where did she go? Good luck today, baby. 8:45 sharp. Who calls a meeting at 8:45 sharp? Somebody with a stopwatch.

 They say the new MD lands today.  They say she fired two managers her first week at the last place. ” 22 years I’ve been here. This will be the fourth MD I’ve trained. ” Good morning. My name is Vivian Cross. As of today, I’m your new managing director. I’ll  keep this short. This branch has been managed from a distance for too long. That ends now.

We’re promoting a branch manager from within. Someone with energy, numbers, and hunger.  Sloin Holloway. One year with us. Last year’s staff of the year. The best sales numbers in the branch. Yes. Better than people who’ve been here 10 times as long. The job comes with an $85 million annual target. Make it and there’s no ceiling.

 Miss it and we’ll both remember this meeting. Do you accept? ” Yes. Yes, ma’am. I accept. I won’t let you down. I’ll double it if I have to. I promise you, you’ll never regret this. ” We’ll see. Congratulations,  Manager Holloway. ” Congratulations, manager. ” The seat’s all yours.  It comes with my phone number if you ever want advice from a man who’s seen four of these.

” Thank you, Mr. Alvarez. ” Branch manager. Me, Grant. Where are you, Grant? ” Living room. ” $85 million target.  My own office, my own floor. One year, Grant. One year. Some people spend their whole lives waiting for a tap on the shoulder. The MD said my name in front of everybody. Everybody clapped.

” That’s wonderful. Congratulations, baby. You earned the numbers. ” Thank you. That means a lot. ” You deserve it. Can I ask you something? What about Mr. Alvarez? 22 years. They say he trained half the branch. ” Mr. Alvarez. What about him? ” He wanted that seat. Just be kind to him. That’s all. ” Kind Grant, listen to me because you’re clearly not built for the new world.

 I don’t operate on the same level of grace as Mr. Alvarez or whatever. The company kept the best and let the rest feel their feelings. That’s called business. ” She’s not wrong about her numbers. She’s wrong about everything else. I’m clearing you for desk work. Desk, Grant. That means sitting. That means elevators.

 That means if I hear you carry a box of printer paper, I’m putting you back in the cast myself. Desk is all I have left. Doc, how’s it going at home? The leg’s not the only thing that heals slow. You have a good day too, Doc. ” Morning, sir. That office has been reassigned. Someone more capable is taking your position. ” Reassigned.

” Since when?  Since last week. Sir, HR says you’re expected upstairs. MD’s office. I’ll walk you. ” Sit down, Grant. Your department has been restructured. The branch manager has submitted an assessment of your role. I’ll let her deliver it. He’s incapable. He’s been out for months. His numbers were already soft before that.

And honestly, the department needs new brains and active line workers, not passengers.  ” Passengers. Sloane, just last week before the crash, I brought in $1 million  alone. One deal, one week, a million. Ask anyone. ” That was last week’s company. This week’s company has targets. Grant, the branch manager’s assessment carries weight with me.

 Tertamination effective today. You’ll receive your severance and your 401 payout at the end of the month. Security has been instructed not to let you back on the premises. I’m sorry it ends this way. ” You’re sorry. Both of you. You okay, sir? ” No. ” Grant, get in here before I cry. ” Buzz. ” Fresh out Thursday. 3 years, man.

 But I told you, I told everybody our light will never go dim. Never. Look at me. Sun’s still shining. Whoa. What happened to you? Car accident. Did my job. Rough month. Get in. I’ll drive you home. Thanks, Buzz. I’ll walk. I need the air. Walk, man. You’re on sticks. Air first, pride later. Go on. Get out of here.

 And Buzz, stay out of trouble. ” Our light will never go dim. ” You want to know the funny part? I sacrificed my own promotion to get you into that company. I pulled strings. I called favors. I stepped aside. And you’re the reason I’m on these crutches in the first place. ” Stop the emotional blackmail. It’s unattractive.

” Blackmail. Sloan. I ” did I marry you to be jobless? ” Answer the question. Did I marry a man so I could feed him? Because that’s the marriage you’re offering now. Me working. You on the couch. Be honest about what you’re selling. Grant, did you hear the husband yesterday? She sat right there in the MD’s office and watched them fire him. Watched.

” I heard. All I see is a selfish, arrogant woman. How did Grant end up with her? Love, perhaps. Love. If she can fire her own husband, what will she do to a stranger? ” Branch manager benefits. Ma’am, car, personal driver, expense account. Sign where it’s flagged. ” Enjoy it. ” Spend it well.

 Everything in this company is earned one way or another. Do you see it? Company car Grant personal driver. That’s what targets get you. ” I see it. ” Maybe if you’d ever had a target of your own, you’d have one, too. ” Otis, it’s time. Start watching the house. And Otis, don’t let anyone see you. ” Miss Cross. Viven, please.

 I was in the neighborhood. Your husband’s old application letter had this address. I hope dropping by isn’t strange. Strange? It’s an honor. Come in. Come in. The place is a mess. Just ignore it. Nice place. Company housing, company everything. It came with the promotion. Before this, we had a sad little rental with a sad little kitchen.

 I don’t miss it. 12 years together, I hear. 12 long years. Why are you writing a book? I like to know my managers. A manager’s home tells you how she’ll run a branch. Order or chaos. Care or neglect, you can always tell. And what’s mine telling you? That is what I’m here to find out. How is your husband? Oh, he’s in there resting. That’s all he does now.

Recovery takes time. Can I be honest with you? His doctor confided in me. He’ll never walk without crutches again. Never. Look at me, Vivian. Am I too young for this? I’m a branch manager. I’m going places and I’m supposed to drag a broken man behind me for the rest of my life. I’m considering a divorce. Can I tell you something? A true story.

The majority shareholder of this company, the man whose money built it, was in a coma once, 13 months. Machines, tubes, the whole thing. Everybody wrote him off. His lover never left his side. Not one day. 13 months of sitting in a chair by a bed, holding a hand that couldn’t hold back.  He was probably rich. She did it for the money.

Then it was never true love. ” 13 months. She didn’t even ask who it was. ” Sloan. Sain. I need to get to the hospital. It’s the spine thing. The doctor said if it flared, ” there’s ibuprofen in the cabinet.  Some of us work tomorrow. ” Hospital boss, county general. Sorry to drag you out at midnight.

” Don’t worry about it. You want the radio or quiet? Quiet. Quiet it is. ” Buy yourself some soup, boss. Nobody should do a hospital night alone. ” Spine flare after a ditch collision. You’re staying. Observation overnight. Pain protocol. Family ” working. Sloan. Sloan. It’s me. The lock. ” New lock. New rules.

” I was in the hospital. I have papers. ” Tell me where you slept and who you slept with. Or you don’t sleep in this house. ” Slept with? I slept in ward C on painkillers alone. Call the hospital. The number is on the papers. ” Men always have papers. Enjoy the hallway. Grant. ” Mr.

 Holloway, are you locked out? I have a couch. Marital disagreement. Go back to bed. ” That’s not a disagreement. That’s a punishment. ” 41, 42, 43. 12 years and I get the corridor. 44 45. ” The lawyers will need you to have an address. That’s the only reason that door opened. ” Noted. You locked the kitchen. ” I can’t feed a man who has a woman outside.

” What woman? There is no woman. There has never been. ” Everybody knows about your girlfriend in Houston. My what? Sloine, I’ve never been to Houston in my life. Who is everybody? Name one person. ” The court will handle this. You’ll find out when the time is right. ” Sloane, I haven’t eaten since yesterday.

Just bread. That’s all I’m asking. Bread, Sloan, ” there are men in this world who eat because their wives cook for them. You know what those men have in common? They’re faithful. You want me to carry it to your car, sir? ” I don’t have a car. to your sir. Where are you going with this? ” Home sort of. ” As the new branch manager, I need to concentrate.

 I can’t carry a marriage and a target of 85 million at the same time. It’s done. Sign them. ” Sloan, please. ” And  this is the company’s house. It goes with the job. So, vacate it. If you have nowhere to go, go back to your hometown in Ohio. I’m sure your mother keeps your room nice. ” Louder.

 Maybe loud enough that you don’t have to hear yourself. Sloan, look at me. Just look at me. I carried you into every good thing you have. The job, the house, the name. If there’s a bill for that, tell me the number. I’ll pay it. But don’t do this. Not like this. ” This is an office, not a love garden. Security, please.  Slowing a word.

 I’ve seen a lot of marriages in this building. Give him a second chance. Men who bring in a million dollars in a week don’t grow on trees. No, I can conquer the world without him. Take it as a man and leave me alone. ” For what it’s worth, sir. The whole floor thinks you’re in the right. Thanks. That’s worth exactly nothing, but thanks. ” I’m sorry, sir. Orders.

” Rufus. Why is the stuff still in my house? Take his things and throw them outside. All of it. I never want to see him here again or I’ll have him locked up for trespassing. I’m the branch manager. This is my house now. Sloine, my mother’s photo is in the bedroom. At least  let me. Roffus, no hard feelings. A man follows orders.

” Sir, sir, I ” follow your orders. And Roffus, remember this day. Somebody will ask you about it. Home, sir. Home. And Otis, tomorrow morning, we start the machine. I want to know everything about that company’s money. The real numbers. ” Yes, sir. ” Yes, I understand. Everything is ready. The papers, the accounts, the timing, it is all ready.

 No, no one suspects anything. She suspects least of all. Do not worry about me. Do not tell anyone about us. That is the rule. I know the rule. You are a good man. God forgive me. This one, Daddy. Morning fog. It says competent but approachable. Very nice. Ma’am. Ma’am. Branch manager. Doy 85 million. This time last year, I was making juice runs.

What’s with the suits on Thursdays? ” Nobody tells me anything. Congratulations on the house, by the way. ” Thank you. 7 a.m. tomorrow. Manager Holloway, Miss Cross’s office. Do not be late. What’s it about? The investment group that financed this company, Bare Rootbased. They put up the original capital 10 years ago.

 The interest was never serviced. Not one payment. Mr. Yates signed the facility and buried it in the books. And now he’s gone and they’re not. They’ve sued. They win. There’s nothing to fight with. interest. How much? $1 million due in three days. Three? That’s insane. That’s not possible. Companies don’t just What happens if everything goes the building, the accounts, the branch manager’s house, it’s company property.

The branch manager’s car, company property. Everything the company holds converts to cash and the cash goes to Beirut. The house is mine. The car is mine. The house is the company’s. Read your contract. Sloan, face reality. We don’t have three days. Give me four weeks. Four weeks. I’ll raise it. I’ll find investors. I’ll We don’t have 3 days.

And you’re asking me for 4 weeks. Face reality. Ma’am, please. What? Excuse me. Ma’am, it’s ma’am. This will change a lot of things. Please just come and that can wait. You ” sloane. I heard about the company. I need to see the MD. It’s about the debt. I can help. ” Help? You can help? A jobless man on crutches can help with a million dollars.

 Do you hear yourself, ” Sloan? Just call Viven. Tell her I’m here. 5 minutes. ” I can never go back to my vomit. Get out. Get out before I call security. Whatever you’re selling, beggar, I’m not buying. Not today. ” Ma’am, you should have listened. ” Building sold. Contents are inventoried. Anyone with personal items has until 2:00. That’s 2 hours.

” Personal items like what? ” Photos, plants, anything that isn’t nailed down. ” What happens to the people? ” People aren’t on my list. Ma’am, ” I’m sorry, Miss Holloway. Nobody lends into a lawsuit. Nobody. ” That’s my house. You can’t. I am the branch manager of ” House is sold, ma’am. Settles the company’s debt. Company car, too. Keys.

You’re not touching my ” I need Please. My husband’s things are in the storage room. His mother’s photo. Let me at least take his things. I can keep them for him. I ” storage room was inventoried at 9 this morning. Ma’am, contents went with the sale. ” Too late. It’s too late. ” Yes, ma’am. It is ” 1 million. It was only 1 million.

” Dana, it’s slowing. I need Dana. Jazelle. Hi. It’s right. You heard. Yes, it’s true. I was wondering if your cousin’s firm is still Hello. Hello. ” Do you still have the car at least? ” No. ” Your record is impressive. Staff of the year, branch manager at one year. But honey, everybody in this town reads the news.

 A branch that loses a million- dollar lawsuit doesn’t have a manager problem. It has a luck problem. And nobody hires bad luck. ” Give me 60 days. 60 days. No salary guarantee. Results only. You’re overqualified for everything we have and radioactive for everything you want. I’m sorry. Truly. Come back when the news cycle forgets you.

 I can get you front desk at a dental office. 12 an hour. 12 an hour. I ran an $85 million branch.  Not anymore. About the dental office filled. Sorry, hun. You hesitated. ” It’s really her, the branch manager selling bracelets. Should we go in? God, no. What would I even say? ” Rent was due the first, Sloan. ” Mr. Mr. Pharaoh, I need two weeks.

 The website’s about to turn. I’ve got ads running. ” You said that last month. I’ll give you till Friday. After that, I change the locks and keep the stock. It’s in the lease. You didn’t read. ” Branch manager to this in one year. ” Please, you’re the only person I still respect. Use your influence.

 Anybody’s house, anybody’s company, I don’t care anymore. I can do anything. Get up, Slowing. Get up off the floor. Let me make a call. It’s me. The chef position. Is it still open? Yes, I have someone. Hard worker, fast learner, no bad habits I know of. Monday. She’ll be there Monday. There’s a household. One of our board directors.

Big house, big family, big kitchen. They need a chef. Live in if you want it. Good pay, meals included. It’s honest work. A chef? You cooked before you managed. That juice shop of yours back in the day, people still talk about it. It’s what’s open, slowing, take it or leave it.

 Without you, my enemies would have laughed at me. You saved me twice now. I won’t forget it. I swear to God I won’t forget it. I’m sure you won’t. ” Well, look who’s shopping for himself. ” Sloan, you look well. ” I am well. I just signed with the director’s household. Private chef, big house, big money. I was wrong to think we’d have fixed your miserable life by now.

 But you know what? Me, I make good choices and good things come to me. Watch and learn. ” I pray more good things come. What ” I said, I pray more good things come to you, Sloane. Truly, good luck at the new house. I hear the kitchen is something special. She took the bait. Yes, the house on the hill. ” She’ll start Monday. ” Mrs. Park, I manage this estate.

 The madam doesn’t meet kitchen staff. She speaks through me. So, you’ll answer to me and I’ll answer to her. Walk with me. The rules are not flexible. One, fresh juice only every  morning. Two, you never repeat a meal. Three, cleaning is your religion. She has fired a chef for a thumbrint on a wine glass.

 Can you live inside those rules? Mrs. Park, I ran a juice shop before I ever ran a branch office. Fresh juice is how I made my name. As for meals, I managed an $85 million Target. A menu is a spreadsheet with flavor. ” H. And your last company, the one in the news, it’s a very unserious company. They borrowed half their capital from foreigners and almost killed my dreams.

I got out with my integrity and that’s all I took. Integrity. Can you make salmon and wild rice ” blindfolded? ” Don’t cook blindfolded. We had a man who did that. Start now. The juice press is in the third drawer.  Breakfast tray goes up at 7:00. ” Boss. Boss. I was just thinking about you.

 The car is running rough again, but she’s loyal. She gets me there. ” Otis, check your account. ” My boss, the car is fine. I don’t need ” Boss. This says $500,000. This says half a million dollars. There’s been a mistake. The bank made a ” No mistake. Every dime you’ve ever made went into that battered car of yours. And you drove me like I was made of glass.

 And you never once asked me for anything. That ends today. Flip it eight times, Otis. Next time I see you, I want a fleet. Let them talk. Loyal men don’t explain themselves. Build the fleet. ” Who was that? ” Who was who, ma’am? ” Hey, what do you think you’re doing? Grant the laundry guy. I knew it. I knew I’d seen you slinking around.

 Who sent you? Was it her? Did my enemies hire you to? You know this juice is for the madam. You get up. Get up right now. Do you know what they do to staff who steal in this house? ” Slow in. ” Why don’t you slow a me? You broke crutchwearing. Mrs. Park. Mrs. Park. The laundry guy is drinking the madams. Chief executive. Sir. Good morning, sir.

” Good morning, Mrs. Park. The chef makes good juice. ” Chief. Chief executive. They called you. This is  Whose house is this? mine. It’s always been mine. ” And the madam, the madam I cook for, the one with the rules. Who is she? ” You knew this morning. The chief executive.

 You knew whose house this was when you gave me the job. ” Sit down, Sloine. I don’t want to sit. Grant Holloway is the CEO of the Holloway Group. The building you worked in, the company that fired him, the company that collapsed, his all of it. He was never poor. The collapse, the debt, the marshalss, my house. Scripted, a test.

 He wanted to know if you loved him or the life. The crash was real. The crutches were real. Everything else was stage craft. And you failed every scene, Sloan. The locks, the papers, the curb, every  single one. I loved him. I was just frustrated. You threw a man on crutches out of his own house. Face reality. You’re the chef now.

 Dinner at 7:00. Don’t repeat a meal.  ” The chef makes good juice. Then the chef can hear you. The chef should know that in this house we pray staff to their face. Look at them. They made me a servant in my own husband’s house. His lover sits at my table eating my salmon. Enjoy it,  Grant.

 Eat well, both of you, while you can. ” Eddie, there’s a smell in the pantry. I think we have rats. ” Rats? Mrs. Park keeps the good stuff locked, but there’s powder on the second shelf. Blue box. Careful with it, ma’am. And that stuff’s not food safe. You touch it, you wash twice. ” Not food safe. How not food safe? ” Ma’am, ” just tell me where the box is, Eddie.

” I don’t want to get nobody in trouble, but the chef took the rat powder. She asked me how not food safe  it was. And ma’am, we don’t have rats. ” She took poison from the store room. Eddie saw her. Grant, she’s planning to put it in our food. ” Let her. ” Let her ” swap the box for flour first, then let her cook. 12 years.

 As I tested her with locks and doors and money,  now she’ll test herself in front of a camera with her own hands. Set the table for dinner Monday. All three of us. And make sure the kitchen camera can see the pot. ” Flower. God forgive this house. This one. Tomorrow from 5:00 a.m. I want it recording. The stove, the pot.

 Nothing else matters. ” And the dining terrace, ma’am. ” That one, too. All of it. I want her served her own cooking in high definition. There. Eat well. ” Sit down, ” sir. ” You heard me. Sit. Eat with us. ” Staff don’t eat at the madam’s table. House rules. New rule tonight. Eat. I  I already ate in the kitchen before service.

” Then just taste the salmon. One bite. Chef’s pride. You can make it blindfolded. You said so yourself. ” I’m allergic to to the seasoning. The new seasoning. I shouldn’t. ” Allergic to your own recipe. ” I have a stomach  thing. I’ve had it all week. ” One bite. Slowing. ” Why are you doing this? I’m the chef.

 I cooked. My job is done. I don’t have to eat anything. You can’t make me. ” You’re right.  We can’t make you. But the camera can ask you. ” Rat poison from the store room. Eddie told Mrs. Park. Mrs. Park told me. I told him. The whole house knew before you even opened the box. That’s not That’s not what it looks.

” You wanted a script, Sloan. That’s the real script. You wrote it yourself in your own kitchen with your own hands. ” By the way, it’s flour. Mrs. Park swapped the box on Sunday. You’ve been serving us flour all evening. Good salmon, though. ” Sloan Holloway, you’re under arrest. ” Grant.

 Grant, I was your wife 12 in years. ” And I was  your husband through all 12. You never noticed either.  ” You’re staring. ” I’m allowed. I own the garden. I talked to the lawyer this morning. She took the plea. 6 years. ” I didn’t want it to end like that. ” Neither did I. She did. ” And me? What happens to me in your famous script? ” Funny you should ask. Vivian Cross.

 When I was asleep for 13 months, you held my hand. When I was blind for 12 years, you told me the truth. You are the only person in my whole life who never needed a test. Will you marry me? ” Say it again properly. ” Viven, I love you. Marry me. ” Yes. Now get out of the wet grass before you ruin your knees.

 I’ve already nursed you back once. come true.