Free Quitting the Boss by Ann Victor Page B

her interview with Gavin, she was sated but the anxiety returned as she realized her calculated risk hadn’t played out the way she’d hoped.
     

~ ~ ~
     
    Alec still felt as though he’d been blindsided, though in hindsight, he should have seen it coming. Why else would Jenna want to leave the department? She never spoke of any career aspirations and seemed perfectly content in her role as a project manager.
    She wanted more. It seemed so obvious now, yet even after a night of stewing in Gavin’s guest room, Alec still hadn’t figured out what he wanted.
    More
.
    Fuck him. More meant marriage, kids, a life of deceit and lies.
    He hadn’t gone home Monday night because he was worried Jenna might not be there when he returned. She had every right to walk out. She’d be a damned fool if she didn’t. But if she had been there, what the hell was he going to say to her? Yesterday when she’d opted to work from home – her home, not his – had been both a relief and an annoyance. She was avoiding him.
    And who could blame her.
    More
.
    As he stared at the phone in his office, the word haunted him, stirring up memories he tried like hell to keep locked up tight. In his world,
more
opened doors to things Alec didn’t want to explore.
    His parents’ marriage had been a lie; his mother was something he couldn’t bring himself to put words to. But he needed answers and ignoring the past wasn’t going to put it to rest.
    If the memories haunted him, then the phone taunted him. Desperation and futility battled because as desperate as he was to get those answers, they wouldn’t change anything. He would be forced to face the reality of whatever truth they held.
    Prone to weighing the pros and cons in any situation, Alec tried to measure the past against the future. His past was filled with lies, broken promises, and unfathomable betrayals.
    His future was Jenna … if only he’d pick up the damned phone.
    “Now or never,” he grumbled, snagging the handset from its perch and punching in the number he hadn’t dialed in years.
    “Elijah Stoker’s office. This is Claire. How may I help you?”
    His mother’s professional voice was exactly as Alec expected. Claire Winter was the poster child of control. She managed her career as the personal assistant of one of Chicago’s most prominent commercial real estate investors, all the while portraying the perfect family. Alec had believed the farce for so many years his world was completely shattered when he learned the truth.
    “Hello, Mother.” He’d long ago stopped calling her Mom.
    “Alec?” she asked, the surprise evident. “Is everything alright?”
    Of course she’d be concerned. He never called her at work.
    “Everything’s fine. How’s Dad?”
    “He’s fine.”
    Alec hated the word fine. Its use typically mean that nothing was fine, but it was an exchange he had grown accustomed to with his mother.
    The silence stretched between them. Alec never called her at the office. His calls were limited to special occasions, Mother’s Day, birthdays. He’d stopped calling on their anniversary, finding it hypocritical to wish them a happy day when he knew his mother’s secret.
    “How are you?” Claire’s voice was wary, so out of character for his confident and controlled mother. It broke his heart a little, but then, she’d broken it a long time ago.
    “Are you still with him?” Alec asked, getting to the point of his call.
    “Alec,” she sighed. “What’s going on? Why did you call?”
    “Does Dad know?”
    Her sigh sounded desperate, as though she hadn’t known Alec had been carrying this secret for nearly ten years. As though she knew he couldn’t keep it any longer.
    “You’re my son and I love you, but what you think you know isn’t any of your business.”
    “I don’t
think
anything. I saw you.” The memory flooded his mind, the vision he’d tried for years to forget. He was a junior in college and had just found out he’d earned the