Page 46 of Over My Dead Boss
I scratch my head, still unable to grasp what Ryker just told me.
“Anyway,” he says. “For whatever reason, Phoenix did actually care about that company, almost as much as he cared about his books. So now he wants to leverage all of his remaining assets, which, mind you, is far from the billions he once used to have in order to get back his baby.”
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“So you think he’s about to bankrupt himself in an attempt to get back control?”
Ryker nods and lets out a deep sigh, a pained expression on his face.
“I do want to help,” I assure him. “I don’t want Phoenix to make a mistake and be left with nothing, but I don’t think I have the right to interfere here.”
“Maybe,” he agrees. “I just don’t know what to do anymore. Usually he’ll at least listen to my concerns, but this time… I am afraid he’s not thinking straight. He’s letting anger take over, and that’s not a good basis for decisions, especially decisions as important as this one.” We stare out into the distance for a bit. A cloud is moving in front of the bright moon that shimmers onto the water of the pool down below. “You care about him?” Phoenix’s best friend asks eventually, and turns towards me.
Feeling a little caught off guard, I struggle to find the right words. “I’ve only known him for a relatively short time,” I answer truthfully, without revealing the entire truth. The truth that I do care. A lot. “I mean, I’ve been a fan of his work for forever and probably know most of it by heart, but don’t tell him that.”
Ryker laughs and cocks his head to the side. “I won’t say a peep, but I guess that means you do know him quite well.”
“It’s not the same.”
“Of course it isn’t, but his books are like an extension of himself. Which means you already loved his brain before you even met him. And from the looks of it, you even seem to be fond of his cranky character.” He mimics his head exploding.
“Hearsay,” I say reflexively, “but you’re not wrong. I do very much enjoy spending time with him. His grumpiness is as endearing as it is entertaining, though he’s been very ungrumpy for the last couple of days. Which is nice in its own way.”
“I got that feeling as well. He seems… different today. In a good way.” Ryker leads me back inside and we slowly return to where we left his date and Phoenix. “Anyway, I obviously can’t ask you to do anything, but if you think it’s appropriate, maybe talk to him. Perhaps he’ll listen to you.”
On our drive back, I am stuck so deep in my head that I overhear Phoenix addressing me twice before snapping out of it.
“You ok, Olivia?” he asks and I just nod.
I obviously have no right to snoop into his life any more than I already have, but I have come to care about him quite a bit and maybe that means that I should at least talk to him about it. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I finally answer. “Just thinking.”
“What did he say? Did he tell you about Valentine’s Day? I will murder him.”
“No, but I want to hear all about that now.”
“Alright, but first open the glove compartment.” He grins from ear to ear and before I have time to, he opens it himself. A bar of chocolate pops out. “Fortune Chocolate!” he announces with glee, an emotion I have barely ever seen on him. One which suits him rather well, one that makes my heart flutter and my stomach sink. “Read it, come on.”
I do as I am told, unwrap the candy and fish for the little roll of paper, then read it out loud, “Wanna fuck?” A single laugh escapes me. “Well, aren’t you the romantic?” I say as Phoenix winks at me. “And now he’s boasting about his winking abilities, too. How rude. This Valentine’s story better be good. Go.”
“Ok, but only if you tell me what’s up with you. Promise?”
I nod and wait for him to start.
“In my freshman year of university, I had a crush on this girl with whom I had a class together. We talked a few times in passing but didn’t really know each other. It was a day or two before Valentine’s Day and our Glee Club did a thing where you paid $10 or so and one of their singers would come by during class, sing a song for your crush and hand them a card.
So, naturally, I figured this would be my chance and instead of having to approach her and awkwardly ask for a date like a normal, scary human being, I could just do it with song.” He takes his hands off the wheel for a second to make jazz hands. “So I picked a song — Friday I’m In Love, because I had once seen her wear a band shirt by The Cure — and paid up… and then proceeded to get very anxious about this whole idea. Of course, it didn’t really hit me how bad the idea was until I told a friend about it, who, after laughing a solid five minutes, informed me that my crush was already in a committed relationship with this guy from the football team. I was a little sad, but mostly relieved that I found out in time, so I went back to the Glee Club, told them to cancel the gig and keep the money.
Next morning rolls around, I’m sitting in class with the girl when there’s a knock on the door and my stomach turns. I figured something might have gone wrong, and they were performing my song anyway. Luckily, somebody else had ordered a singing Valentine as well, so I relaxed again and thought I was in the clear. Until there was another knock, maybe five minutes before the end of the class, and instead of one singer, an entire barbershop quartet walked in. They announced they were going to sing for Barbara. My crush. Barbara blushed, obviously assuming that her boyfriend was responsible for this.” Phoenix pinches the bridge of his nose. “Then they began to sing, and I have to say, it was an impeccable performance, didn’t think that a rock song could sound that heartwarming. Eventually, they hand her the card that had my name on it and if she had blushed a little before, she was flushed now. Just entirely red. So she looks over to me,” Phoenix smirks while rubbing one of his eyes, “and says, ‘But Phoenix, I have a boyfriend.’”
I release a long drawn-outOhhhhhand can’t help but feel bad for him.
“Yeah, I don’t think I have ever been as embarrassed. My friend, the one I told about my plan, had gone to Glee Club after me and paid them $100 to perform an a-cappella rendition of Friday I’m In Love.”
“That’s a shitty friend.”
“Ha, yeah, a little, but everything turned out fine in the end. It’s how Ryker and I became friends. He was one of the singers, voice of an angel.”
“No way.”
