August 10, 2022 (Two Years Earlier)

Penny hunched forward in the office desk chair, gently swiveling herself back and forth. She closed her eyes and ran her fingers along the edge of David's wooden desk, inhaling deeply. He kept an extra suit jacket here in his office for emergencies, and she'd taken it down and draped it over the back of the chair behind her. It was no use, though. It was fresh from the dry cleaners. The only scent she could detect was from the chemicals.

She couldn't believe her bad luck. Honestly, it was so unfair. She'd spent all summer working as his assistant, and he'd never taken a day off. Not once. Not a single morning had gone by that she hadn't strolled into the office and found him already here at this desk, his hair still damp from the shower, tapping away at his computer. He'd never called in sick. He'd never showed up late. He'd never even skipped his morning run, as far as she could tell. And now it was nearly lunchtime on her final day, and David had picked today of all days to blow off work.

Penny sighed. That's what she got for procrastinating. She should have given notice two weeks ago. She'd planned to give herself a couple weeks off before orientation at Yale. She'd even gone so far as to type up her resignation email.

Dear Mr. Powers: Please accept this email....

She'd sat up late two weeks ago, staring at that unsent message on her laptop screen, but she couldn't quite bring herself to send it. She didn't really need two weeks off, did she? Not when they had that big presentation coming up. She couldn't leave him in the lurch like that. One more week, she'd vowed. She'd moved her cursor away from "Send" and saved the message to her Draft folder instead.

But then the presentation had been pushed back a week. She'd sat up late again the next Thursday, staring at the email in her Drafts. And once again, she'd hesitated. She couldn't quite pull the trigger.

She knew last night that she couldn't delay any longer. Today was Friday. Her orientation at med school started first thing Monday morning. The time had come.

The tears had blurred her eyes last night as she sat with her hands on the keyboard, writing far more than the situation merited. As if by continuing the email, she could somehow delay the inevitable. She'd spent hours on that email, carefully crafting every word. She wanted to leave him with a good one. Something to make him laugh out loud when he read it, and smile to himself whenever he thought about her afterward. If he ever thought about her afterward. . . .

She must have held down the delete key and started over from scratch at least three times before she'd been satisfied – until at last she'd worked up the nerve to hit "Send." And then she'd immediately gone to her Sent folder and re-read her words at least a hundred more times, cringing to herself all the while for her stupidity.

Penny pulled the email up on David's computer screen again now as she sat there in his chair. She'd logged into his account. It wasn't too late to take it back. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that he hadn't come to work. She could still delete this email and write him something else. Something short and sweet – and professional.

She paused and bit her lip as her eyes skimmed over the words.

**********************************

Dear Mr. Powers:

Please accept this email as formal notice of my resignation, effective immediately. I have enjoyed my time as your assistant and wish you all the best.

If you're interested, the reason I'm leaving is to attend medical school at Yale. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I meant to give you two weeks' notice, but the end of the summer snuck up on me. [Please insert snide comment about my chronic lateness here.] In any case, you can't really give me too much grief about it. I'm a temp, after all. And maybe I would have mentioned it at some point if you ever talked about anything other than yourself and your many dates....

Just kidding. I actually learned a lot from you this summer. A lot of rules to live by. Some of these you might recognize.

Rules:

1) If you want to sound smart in a meeting, just say the word EBITDA a lot. (Nobody in finance knows exactly what that stands for.)

2) Never get a job off Craigslist.

3) Never throw a party without a bottle of scotch that nobody wants to drink.

4) Never get involved in an email correspondence with a guy who claims to have a "romantic soul."

4a) Especially if he's your boss.

4b) Especially if he's kind of funny.

4c) Especially if you kind of wish that some of his BS emails were halfway true...

Anyway, I'm still working on Rule #5 and onward. I'm pretty sure your rule list stretches well into the hundreds by now, but we can't all be as accomplished as David Powers, Senior Vice President of Rule-making.

In all seriousness, thank you for a memorable summer. Perhaps our paths will cross again someday. If not, then I wish you well.

Sincerely,

Penelope Stewart

**********************************

This morning, she'd held her breath in the elevator, wondering how he would react. Would he be amused? Surprised? Upset? Would he try to convince her to stay? Not likely. She knew what he would do. He'd probably pretend he hadn't even read it. He'd wait to the very end of the day and let her walk away five paces before he called to her turned back: "Hey Penny. Thanks for the email thing." And then he would flash her that maddening little smirk of his, and she'd have to pretend that she felt like smiling back.

Probably. Right?

Of all the possible scenarios she'd imagined, it had never even occurred to her that he might not have any reaction at all. He might not even come to work today. Now, she feared he wouldn't even know that she was leaving until after she was gone.

It wasn't fair. Of all the days to blow off work, he had to choose this one. He'd had a date last night - first date with some marketing executive. Penny hadn't given it much thought. He'd scheduled it for a Thursday night, which meant he didn't expect it to go very far. But it must have gone well. Must have gone so well that it was still going Friday morning....

Penny had no right to be upset, of course. So what if he was off somewhere, banging some uptight businesswoman? It was probably good for him. Penny knew better than anyone how hard he worked. What he did with his time was his own business.

But did it have to be today? Today of all days?

Maybe it was for the best. She probably would've been disappointed with his reaction. At best, he would have sent her on her way with a handshake and a hearty "Good luck." Maybe a hug? Maybe a hug that lasted a few seconds longer than it should have? On the subway ride into work this morning, she'd allowed herself to entertain the fantasy that he might even take her out for a farewell lunch. Somewhere fancy, of course. Maybe Lutece? Maybe she would get to be the woman on his arm when he strolled up to the snooty French maître d'. "David Powers, party of two." Maybe just this once-

BANG.

The office door swung open and slammed loudly against the doorstop. Penny clicked the email closed and leapt to her feet at the sound. She cast about in her mind for some plausible explanation - some excuse why she'd been sitting in his chair. Her words died in her throat as she turned. It wasn't David after all.

"Leo?"

David's boss barely even seemed to register her presence as he stormed into the room. Did he know David hadn't come in yet? Should she try to cover for him?

"Um, I think David just stepped out," Penny stammered awkwardly. "I'm sure he'll be back any second-"

Leo waved an arm to cut her off and came over to David's desk. He yanked open the top drawer and looked inside. It was empty except for a calculator and few pens, lined up in a careful row. Penny watched over Leo's shoulder as he slammed it closed again.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked.

He looked up, startled, as if he'd only just noticed her standing there. "Do you know where he keeps his personal contacts?" He pulled open the lower drawer and started rifling through the files.

"Personal contacts?"

Penny narrowed her eyes as she watched him. Personal contacts? Which one? There was that literary agent - he'd taken her for a weekend in the Hamptons, and Penny had worried it might be getting serious. But David seemed to have lost interest. The new one last night had been a first date. Penny didn't even know her last name. She tried now to dredge up the little information he had told her.

"I think he said she works for a credit card company. American Express, maybe? Her first name was Belinda. Or maybe Lucinda-"

"No, no," Leo interrupted, his words coming out in a terse staccato. "Family. Family contacts."

Penny looked at him blankly. David never really talked about his family at all, she realized. Had he ever mentioned any siblings? There was that one time, back when she first started....

"His mother lives in Connecticut!" Penny exclaimed. She turned to head back toward her cubicle. "He gave me the address to send flowers for her birthday. I have it at my desk-"

Leo only shook his head. "That's a nursing home. Alzheimer's."

"Oh." She felt a pang of guilt. His mother had Alzheimer's disease? How advanced? How could she not have known? She pressed her fingers to her temples, trying desperately to remember if he'd ever mentioned anyone else.

"I'm not sure," she said at last. "Leo, what's going on?"

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

Leo stared at her. She'd been too self-conscious at being caught daydreaming in David's office to notice how pale Leo looked - a green cast to his complexion, bloodshot eyes.

"Leo?" He had one hand on David's desk, and he leaned against it heavily. She saw the sweat beading up on his forehead. He usually wore his hair in a careful comb-over to conceal the bald spot, but now it was swept haphazardly off to the side. "Leo?" Penny took a step toward him. "Are you OK?"

"He was on his morning run." Leo clamped his mouth back closed, and Penny thought she saw a shudder pass through his shoulders. He turned away and glanced out the window as he spoke again. "Battery Park," he said softly.

Penny felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck. "What about Battery Park? Where is he?"

"They took him to Mount Sinai."

"You mean the hospital?" Her voice sounded high and tight to her own ears as she strained to understand. "What happened? Leo, is he OK?"

Leo wiped his palm down the length of his face. She saw his Adam's apple bob up and down before he answered. "They don't know yet."

"What do you mean? He's OK, right? Tell me he's OK!"

Leo turned away from the window and met her eyes at last. "He's been in surgery all morning."

"What? For what? Is it serious?"

His eyes were rimmed with pink, she saw. From sleeplessness? Or something else?

His voice had dropped so low she could barely make out the words. "It happened this morning," he said. "In Battery Park. The police think it was a mugging."

"Is he OK?" she tried to whisper, but all the air had gone out of her lungs.

"Shot in the chest," Leo told her. "It's serious, Penny. It's critical."