Chương 8
“He asked if we understood the price.”
Noah looked down at the desk.
Laura continued.
“My daughter laughed because she thought he was joking. Then he told her this wasn’t a college tour.”
Noah rubbed his thumb across the edge of his phone.
“What did she do?”
“She said thank you and walked out.”
“Was she upset?”
“Not until the car.”
“What happened in the car?”
“She cried.”
Laura paused.
“Not because she couldn’t buy from him. Because she’d spent two years imagining the day, and then some stranger made her feel stupid for wanting to be there.”
Noah looked through the glass wall.
Mia was helping a customer near the reception desk.
“What would you want us to do?” he asked.
Laura was quiet.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s fair.”
“Can I tell you what I don’t want?”
“Please.”
“Don’t fire one guy and act like the place is fixed.”
Noah sat still.
Laura continued.
“Because that’s what companies do. One person becomes the whole problem. Everybody else gets to feel clean.”
After the call, Noah remained at Leonard’s desk for several minutes.
Then he went looking for him.
He found Leonard in the delivery bay helping Sam remove a protective cover from a car.
Noah waited until Sam left.
“You’re staying through December under the transition agreement.”
Leonard looked up.
“Yes.”
“I’m changing that.”
Leonard stared at him.
“How?”
“I want you out of daily management in thirty days.”
Silence.
The cover rustled on the concrete floor.
Leonard folded it once.
Then again.
“That is not what we agreed.”
“The agreement gives us the right to alter operational authority.”
“With board approval.”
“I have it.”
“You called them?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Leonard’s face became very still.
Noah felt sick.
He had expected anger.
The hurt was worse.
“You could have talked to me first.”
“You didn’t talk to me about the complaints.”
“That isn’t the same.”
“No.”
“You think this is punishment.”
“It isn’t.”
“It feels like it.”
“I can’t ask people to believe the culture changes while the person who tolerated it still runs the floor.”
Leonard dropped the folded cover onto a cart.
“And you can?”
Noah blinked.
“I can what?”
“Convince them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Run this place?”
“I’m learning.”
Leonard laughed once.
It was not kind.
“You own software. You bought a building full of people and cars. Those are not the same skill.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Noah’s throat tightened.
Leonard stepped closer.
“You think because you caught one salesman acting badly, you understand the business.”
“I don’t.”
“You think because I failed somewhere, everything I built is contaminated.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Noah looked away.
The delivery bay smelled faintly of rubber and detailing chemicals.
A compressor started in the service area.
For several seconds neither man spoke.
Then Leonard said, more quietly, “I sold to you because I thought you respected what this place was.”
“I do.”
“No.”
“I do.”
“You respect what you think you can make it.”
Noah opened his mouth.
Nothing came.
Leonard nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
He walked away.
That night Noah did not sleep until almost three.
At six forty, Priya called.
“You removed Leonard?”
“News travels fast.”
“He called one of the board members.”
“Of course he did.”
“He’s furious.”
“I know.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
Noah sat on the edge of the hotel bed.
“I’m tired.”
“You sound terrible.”
“Thank you.”
“What did you do with Derek?”
“Still suspended.”
“Two days.”
“I know.”
“You have enough information.”
“Maybe.”
“What are you waiting for?”
Noah looked at the backpack on the floor beside the desk.
He had not unpacked it.
“I don’t want to make him the scapegoat.”
“You can fire Derek and still fix the system.”
“I know.”
“You’re overthinking.”
“I know.”
“Then why aren’t you doing it?”
He rubbed his face.
Because firing Derek felt satisfying.
That was the problem.
Noah did not trust decisions that felt too good while he was angry.
“I want to talk to him.”
“So talk to him.”
“I am.”
“When?”
“Ten.”
“Then stop calling me like I’m your therapist.”
“You called me.”
“Right.”
She hung up.
Derek arrived at 9:52 wearing the same gold-tone watch.
Noah noticed.
Then hated himself for noticing.
They met in the conference room with the dealership’s attorney joining by video and an outside HR consultant on speakerphone.
Derek brought no lawyer.
He sat with both hands clasped on the table.
Without the showroom around him, he looked smaller.
Not physically.
Contextually.
Noah sat across from him.
The backpack was under his chair.
Derek saw it.
His eyes stayed on it for half a second too long.
The HR consultant began with procedural questions.
Derek answered calmly.
Yes, he had removed the backpack.
Yes, he had kicked it.
No, he did not intend to injure Noah.
No, he had not known who Noah was.
No, he did not believe Noah had stolen anything.
That answer stopped Noah.
“Then why did you grab the bag?”
The consultant said, “Mr. Bennett, we’ll get there.”
“No. I want to hear it now.”
Derek looked at him.
His face tightened.
“I thought you were messing with the car.”
“You thought I was going to damage it?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Steal from it?”
“I didn’t know.”
“What did you think?”
Derek looked toward the laptop screen.
The attorney said nothing.
Noah waited.
Derek’s fingers separated, then clasped again.
“I thought you were wasting time.”
Noah sat back.
There it was.
Not theft.
Not security.
Time.
“You grabbed my bag because I was wasting your time.”
“I was angry.”
“Why?”
“We had serious customers coming in.”
“There was nobody with you.”
“I had an appointment.”
“In forty minutes.”
Derek looked surprised.
Noah had checked the schedule.
“You knew that?”
“Yes.”
Derek looked down.
Noah said, “What did you see when you saw me?”
The consultant interrupted.
“That question is broad.”
“It’s the question.”
May you like
Derek rubbed his thumb against his watchband.
“A kid.”
