I’m more furious than I’ve ever been in my life.

This is all happening so quickly. I know that my control over the company has been slowly eroding over time, but I had no clue how quickly things were shifting toward Karl’s point of view.

All day, I stew in my office, planning and trying to figure out where to go from here.

“Can’t you just fire him?” Clay asks me, leaning up against the wall and looking out the window.

“Not that easy,” I say. “Members of the board protect him. They can override me if it comes to that.”

“Are you sure they will?” he asks.

“Maybe,” I say. “But I can’t risk it. If they do decide to override me, basically all of my authority is gone at that point.”

“So you’re stuck with him.” Clay sighs, shaking his head. “He’s such a vindictive fucking prick.”

“No kidding.” I watch as Clay moves away from the window and sits down in front of my desk.

“You still have our support, you know,” he says. “Far as I’m concerned, this is your company.”

“Thanks,” I say to him. “We just need to convince everyone else now.”

He grins. “You make it sound simple.”

“It’s not.” I sigh and stretch. “I need some way to discredit him. Make his whole plan look flawed…” I trail off, shaking my head.

“You’ll come up with something. You always do.”

I hope Clay’s right. I spend the day banging my head up against the wall, trying to come up with some semblance of a solution to this problem, but I can’t see it. From my perspective, the board simply prefers Karl’s way of doing things, and I have to either give in and accept it, or I can move on.

I don’t want to move on and I don’t want to accept it. There has to be a third way, I just need to find it.

The afternoon comes and goes. I have a couple meetings that don’t last long, and otherwise Minnie holds my calls. I stay locked up in my office, staring out the window, trying to reason with myself, trying to figure it all out.

“You staying late?” I look over and Minnie is standing in my doorway.

I shrug. “Guess so.”

She frowns. “Don’t wear yourself thin,” she says. “Go home. Get some rest.”

“I’m fine.” I look back out the window.

“It’s six, you know,” she says softly, before leaving and closing the door behind her.

I look at the clock, surprised. She’s right, it’s already six in the evening. I am a little hungry. Most of the office is probably gone by now as I stand up and slowly gather my things.

Instead of taking the car, I decide to walk. I like to walk through the city sometimes. The crush of post-work traffic is already starting to abate, although there are still plenty of people out. The sun is strong and clean, although the wind is a little crisp as I walk slowly past second-hand stores, stationary places, fancy bars, expensive workout boutiques.

I didn’t speak to Sofia at all today. I don’t know why, I don’t have a real reason. I was too upset and too obsessed with work stuff, but now that I’m out of the office and on the street, I can’t help but think about her again.

I don’t know what this is going to mean for her. If Karl does somehow get more power than me in the company, I’m afraid he’ll fire her or do something worse. I’m afraid he’ll try and destroy her simply to get back at me for resisting him. Karl’s that kind of guy, and although she didn’t ask to be involved in any of this, it’s too late to go back. I can’t undo what’s been done. He’s aware of this relationship, and he’s going to use it against us as soon as he can.

That only motivates me more. I need to do something about this, if not for myself, then for Sofia.

As I’m walking, a high-end antiques shop catches my eye. In the window is a gorgeous, simple necklace with a thin, almost gossamer silver chain and a basic diamond pendant at the end. On a whim, I go into the shop and buy it, not worrying about the price.

With the necklace in my pocket, I catch a cab and ride it to Sofia’s apartment. I get out and walk up her front stoop. I ring the bell and wait.

“Yes?” she says over the intercom.

“It’s me,” I respond.

There’s a short pause. “Jacob?”

“Yes,” I say. “I want to see you.”

Another short pause before she buzzes. I push open the door and walk up the stairs. Her apartment door is slightly ajar so I walk right in.

She’s standing in the kitchen, a glass of wine in her hand, frowning at me. “I didn’t expect to see you,” she says.

I cock my head at her. “Why?”

“We didn’t talk all day, I guess I thought…” She trails off, shrugging.

“Something happened.” I walk over to her and stop, the island counter between us. “The board’s taking Karl’s proposal.”

She doesn’t seem surprised. “What’s that mean for you?”

“Means I have less time to make something happen,” I admit. “But I’m not finished yet.”

“Good.” She sips her wine and I can feel something’s strange between us. There’s a tension that wasn’t there this morning.

“I brought you something.” I reach into my pocket and take out the necklace.

Her eyes brighten a little. “Where did you get that?”

I shrug. “Just some shop on the way over. Put it on.”

She takes it tentatively and clasps it around her neck. It looks perfect hanging down between her breasts, just inside her cream-colored blouse.

“You should know something,” she says quietly, looking down at the counter. “Karl called me into his office. Told me to end things with you or he’ll fire me.”

I stare at her, surprised as hell. “He straight up said that?”

“Yes,” she says, not meeting my gaze.

“That fucking…” I shake my head, at a god damn loss for words. “He’s scum. You know that?”

“Of course,” she says. “But what if he actually does it? I mean, what if he tells people? Jacob, it’ll destroy me. The way people treat women who have affairs with their boss, I don’t know if I can survive it.”

“Sofia,” I say, stepping toward her.

“Wait,” she says. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“Listen to me.” I walk over to her and press her back. She looks at me, surprised, as she bumps up against the countertop behind her. She places the wine glass down as I take her hips and hold her chin up, making her eyes meet mine.

“I told you I’d get you through this,” I say softly. “I brought you into it. You didn’t ask to be in the middle of it, but you are. And I’m going to make sure you’re okay.”

“How?” she asks quietly. “The board is going with Karl’s proposal.”

“Don’t worry about that,” I say. “I’ll figure it out. Just understand that nothing’s changed.”

She blinks a little and nods once. “I believe you,” she says. “But I’m still worried.”

“I know.” I kiss her lower lip. “I’ll take care of you.”

She sighs and kisses me. I hold her like that, tight against me, feeling the warmth of her body.

It’s like a drink of water for a dying man. This kiss is exactly what I needed. I was floundering all day, lost in my own anger and misery, trying to figure out some way to get around all the fucking red tape and politics threatening to drown me. But this here, this is pure and good and right, and I know that I have to get past it all. I have to do it for Sofia.

I let her go and step away. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say.

“Where are you going?”

“Home,” I answer as I walk to the door. “I have some work to do tonight.”

“Okay.” She watches me go, idly fingering the necklace. “Wait, Jacob.”

I pause at the door and look at her. “It’s going to be okay.”

She looks at me for a second and nods. “Yeah. Okay.”

“See you tomorrow.” I leave her apartment, shutting the door behind me.

I head back downstairs and out into the night, heading to my apartment. I have some calls to make, some favors to call in. But I’m not down and out, not yet at least, and I’m going to keep fighting until it’s over.