Page 2 of Open To Negotiation

I let out a sigh and looked around my apartment; it was a cold night, but I’d opened a window to let some fresh April air in. I didn’t have any pictures hanging up, other than the one of my mom and I on the bookshelf in the living room. This place didn’t feel like home. I don’t know if I even know what that felt like. I had minimal furniture, just what I needed to get by. My couch was piled with colourful blankets and pillows because I wasn’t an animal, but the place still didn’t feel permanent.

My apartment was a one-thousand square foot layout with one bedroom. It was in a slightly run-down part of town, but the building had some updates. Sure, the elevator didn’t always work, and yeah, the lights always seemed to be burnt out in the parking lot, but it was safe enough. I had savings and I could maybe look for more space, but I wasn’t here all that much anyway.

There was a small kitchen, living room, and my bedroom which was a bit of a chaotic mess with all my clothes vying for space. Thankfully I had in-suite laundry so I didn’t have to make small talk with my neighbors while washing my underwear.

I let out another sigh, a comfort show replaying on the TV in the background. I was feeling stuck, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint why. I needed something to change but that meant that I needed to do things differently.

I just didn’t know where to start.

2

Theo

“How was your flight?” Noah asked as I answered the phone. Settling into the backseat, I watched as the private airstrip grew further away.

“Fine.” Silence greeted me on the other end, which meant that he was waiting for more information. “The deal is done. Paperwork is in your inbox.”

“I already saw it,” he replied. It may be ten at night, but Noah was one of six owners of Knight Enterprises. We didn’t know the meaning of normal working hours. “Did you get everything at the London office sorted?”

When we decided to relocate from London to Calgary and open a new office, we all knew there would be regular trips back. Especially when there was an issue that needed to be dealt with in person.

HR had called, letting us know one of our managers needed to be let go. They were trying to force people to work longer hours without billing it, taking credit for their work and belittling people in meetings. It had been my turn to fly over there.

“Yeah, shortlist was created for the replacement. HR will set up invites with the top two candidates.”

“Great. You know Mum was pissed to hear you were in town and didn’t stop by.”

“I was busy.”

Noah let out a heavy sigh. I wasn’t a talker, people tended to think I erred on the side of grumpy, but I think people talked too much. Noah was still trying to push me to change, even though I’d been living with him since I was thirteen. “Well, you’re going to have to call and explain that to her yourself.”

I hadn’t talked to her in a while and I felt guilty about it, but I was okay living with it. “Did you need something else?” I asked, running a hand over my head, pushing my dark hair off my forehead.

“You’re just a joy this evening.” I waited him out; he was one of the friendliest members of our board and sometimes not feeding into it was better. “I’ll see you in the office tomorrow.”

“See you then.”

“At least you say some sort of goodbye, unlike Asher,” Noah mumbled. “See you tomorrow.”

I ignored the thirty-five unread emails that had come in since I shut off my laptop all of twenty minutes ago and closed my eyes.

The car came to a stop before I knew it.

“We’re here, Knight,” Arthur spoke softly from the front of the car as I reached for my briefcase.

“You didn’t have to pick me up,” I said, sending him a glare. But since he’d been driving me around for five years now, he was unaffected by my general disposition.

“You know Shelly likes to watch reruns of that Downtown show at night, I’m thankful for a reason to get out.” Arthur brushed me off with a wave of his hand.

I paid him well as my driver and Shelly, his wife, was my assistant. When we relocated here, they said they wanted to come. I tried to double their pay which they both refused to my annoyance. They said you didn’t have to pay family and while I never had grandparents since my mother’s parents died before I was born, I felt like I had some now. Even though it was begrudgingly from my side, especially at first.

“Thanks for the ride, Arthur. Get home safe.” I got out of the car and waved as he drove off.

I headed up to one of two penthouses on the twentieth floor. We owned this building along with several others in the downtown core. Asher took up residence across the hall from me. Letting myself in to my apartment, I dropped my bag in the foyer and headed to the bar cart in the living room.

We had bought the building before we moved here and had done upgrades. The floor to ceiling windows that ran along the back of the room allowed me to see the city lights and the mountains in the daytime. The whole place was done in a style called Industrial Modern, or so I was told, it didn’t matter to me. I mostly just slept here.

I grabbed a whisky and stood looking out at the city. It was dark out this early in the spring but come the summer we would have light until after ten. It was one of the things my mum had loved about Calgary. The winters may be harsh and cold but the amount of sun you got all year round was preferable over wet, gloomy London.