The Decision
387 Words
8:00AM.
Victor was already in my office. No coffee. No files. Just him.
“You’re early,” I said.
“I don’t sleep when I’m waiting for an answer,” he said.
The _Joint Venture_ file sat on my desk. Unsigned.
I poured coffee. Didn’t offer him any.
“50/50,” I said. “You know what that means.”
“It means you’re not doing this alone,” he said. “It means if they come for you, they come for me too.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then I walk out at 8:01,” he said. “And I don’t look back.”
I should’ve liked that. Clean. No strings.
I didn’t.
My father taught me to never trust a man who offered you half his empire on day two.
Victor wasn’t my father.
“Why 50/50?” I asked. “You could’ve taken 30. I would’ve said yes.”
“Because 30 is charity,” he said. “50 is war. And I want to fight beside you, not behind you.”
Damn him.
I picked up the pen. Montblanc. Same one my father used.
Victor watched. No breathing. No blinking.
I opened the file. Page 1. Page 2. Page 3.
Clause 14. _Termination: Either party may exit with 90 days notice. No penalty._
He’d given me an out.
I signed.
Once. Twice. Third time for the joint venture seal.
8:04AM.
I slid it to him.
Victor didn’t smile. He signed too. Slow. Deliberate. Like it mattered.
Done.
“Hale & DeMarco,” he said. “Official.”
I leaned back. “Don’t make me regret this, COO.”
“You won’t,” he said. “CEO.”
He stood. Then stopped.
“My office is across the hall now,” he said. “Door stays open. Always.”
“Why?”
“So you never have to sign alone again,” he said.
He left.
I sat there. Staring at two signatures on one page. Mine. His.
My phone buzzed.
*News Alert: _Hale & DeMarco form $4.2B alliance. Shares surge 18%.*_
The three firms backing out.
We won the first round.
But when I looked at the door he left open…
I realized the hardest fight wasn’t them.
It was what happened when the office got quiet at 9PM.
- Writer
