Sequel • Worth Fighting For
It is commonly known and spoken that time heals all wounds.
But what they don't tell you is that those wounds remain, leaving behind a plastic film of torment and affliction with those subconscious memories nudging you l...
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Joshua Parker That day - Four Years Ago
The tie holding the top buttons of my shirt together felt even more restricting than usual, given the room I was currently standing in and the audience I found myself across from. "You've impressed me so far, Mr Parker. I'd really like to see where this partnership leads to."
I felt myself stutter. "Partnership?"
"I've mentioned this before, Josh." I followed Mr Hunt with my eyes as he stepped in front of his desk and perched against it. I was standing at the opposite side of the room, unsure as to what stance to opt for in this situation. "I really want you to join with me. Obviously not right away, you're still young and in the very beginning of your career, but I want to build you up. Give me three years and you'll be there, beside me and with your name on the wall next to mine."
I'd been working at Hunt Industries for just over a year now, and already he was putting my name and the word partnership in the very same sentence. Every single hour I'd worked for him had led to this moment. Every evening I'd spend at the office instead of being back home was another night closer to hearing what I'd just heard from Mr Hunt's lips.
"You're serious?"
His eyes were all but teasing.
"Of course I'm serious." He then reached behind and pulled up a wad of paper from his desk, neatly piled together with a clip. "I have the contract written up already by the lawyers. It's very similar to your first contract you signed with us, just with some minor, refreshing changes, notably the pay."
"How does this work? Are you going to train me?"
"In a way."
He was quite habitual with his short and sweet answers. Mr Hunt was a very private man usually, keeping to himself in his office while his employees worked tirelessly on the other side of the wall. Anything he said to me in this room was more than I'd heard from him over the last year.
The thought of the money perked my ears more than anything. Savannah and I had been planning to move out of our apartment as soon as we could. Our pay checks barely covered our current rent, which was astonishingly high for the street we lived on. Double locking our doors and windows, ensuring Savannah didn't walk alone anywhere and always making sure nobody was following me up the stairs was something I'd once hoped would be a thing of the past.
And now it finally could be.
"This feels way too good to be true, Mr Hunt."
"Please, call me Luke from now on, we're partners - or on the way to being anyway." His smile was genuine, fatherly almost. "One thing I want to make sure of is that what we've talked about tonight, stays in this office. I've plucked you from the bottom of a long list of people having worked a lot longer here and with a lot more experience than you do."
