My Right Foot Entered First, So I Became Her Childhood Friend's Sacrifice

I pushed open the office door and, out of habit, stepped in with my right foot first.

Wayne Fox jumped up from the couch, clapping.

Katherine, I guessed right again this time. It was the right foot!

I froze where I stood, my fingers tightening on the proposal I'd stayed up three nights straight to finish.

Wayne leaned in close to Katherine Gilbert, nudging her arm to hurry her along.

"A bet's a bet. No backing out."

"I order you to go shred the file in his hand."

The words had barely left his mouth before Katherine got up and pulled the papers right out of my grip.

She flipped on the shredder, and the thin stack hovered over the feed slot.

I caught her arm.

"The partner arrives tomorrow. Don't gamble with the company's interests."

The next second, her fingers let go.

The machine swallowed the file whole and spat out confetti.

Katherine turned her head to look at me, the coldness in her eyes too thick to melt.

"Wayne's got a lively personality. What's wrong with humoring him a little?"

"I promise, this is the last time."

There it was again.

I let out a short laugh, the hand at my side trembling faintly.

Ever since Wayne joined the company, Katherine had gone along with him on countless absurd bets.

Every time, she'd taken something that mattered to me and destroyed it as the stake, without asking.

My newly reissued ID, the medication for my emergency low blood sugar, the watch I'd bought with three months of saved wages.

And every time, she'd tossed off the same light promise that there wouldn't be a next time.

Which is why, a month ago, I'd already handed in my resignation.

From now on, I wouldn't be the clueless chip in their games.

1.

Katherine settled back into her chair as if she weren't the one who'd just fed the proposal into the shredder.

"I want the newest version on my desk before tomorrow morning."

"I know you can do it."

That line again.

When Wayne scraped his foot playing ball, she drove him to and from work for a solid month.

When I broke my leg and was hobbling around in a cast on crutches, she said I moved too slowly and told me to take the subway.

The moment Wayne sneezed, she booked him an appointment with a top specialist.

When I had the flu and burned to a hundred and four, half out of my mind, she told me to order some medicine off a delivery app.

Every time it came to this, she'd say it to me in that same tone.

"Adrian Swanson, I know you can do it."

"Wayne's different from you. He's delicate and willful, no sense of restraint. If I don't keep an eye on him, sooner or later something will go wrong."

I used to think that was trust. Only now do I see it for what it was: she didn't care.

I stayed at the office until the small hours before I barely finished the newest version of the proposal.

When I walked out the front doors, everything outside was pitch black, even the streetlights dead.

It was too late for anyone to take a ride request, so I opened my chat with Katherine.

"Are you asleep? Could you come pick me up?"

The message sank without a trace. I waited half an hour and got no reply.

I figured she must have turned in early.

So I scanned a rental bike and forced myself to pedal for forty minutes through the cold wind.

By the time I locked it up, all ten of my fingers were frozen stiff as carrots.

But when I got home, the light in the study was still on.

I couldn't tell what was being said, only that laughter kept spilling out.

Katherine had the call on speaker, and on the other end was Wayne.

"Don't forget what you promised me."

"Relax, I won't forget."

When she saw me, the smile slowly faded from her face.

"I'll hang up now. Get some sleep. If you can't get up tomorrow you don't have to come in for the morning, I'll fill in your attendance for you."

I took off my coat and hung my bag on the rack.

Bending to change my shoes, I remembered a day last month when I'd forgotten to clock in.

When HR came to find me, Katherine happened to be standing right there.

In front of everyone, she tore up the paperwork I'd submitted to make up for it.

"A bad memory is no excuse for slipping up."

"This counts as a day of unexcused absence. Consider it a lesson."

The HR rep's gaze drifted between me and the wedding ring on her hand.

In the end all they could squeeze out was a dry line.

"Ms. Gilbert really is impartial."

Katherine had never tried to hide her relationship with me.

On my first day at the company, she'd announced in front of everyone that we were husband and wife.

Some of the staff weren't happy about it.

"Another one who got in through connections."

The voice wasn't loud, but everyone there heard it clearly.

Katherine swept her eyes over the room, her look sharp, her words sparing no one.

"I won't let personal ties affect my judgment."

"If anything, I'll hold Adrian to a stricter standard than anyone else."

"At this company, there is only ever a chain of command."

And she meant it.

She handed me the heaviest workload, cut my project timelines, and dumped every difficult, thorny client on me all at once.

I could only grit my teeth and take it, never daring to voice a single complaint.

But now, all at once, I didn't want to take it anymore.

As I turned, Katherine was leaning against the study doorframe, the look behind her gold-rimmed glasses soft as water.

But the words that came out chilled the warmth I'd only just gotten back right out of me.

"Wayne's footing at the company still isn't solid."

"That project you're running right now, just hand it over to him."

I opened my mouth, and my throat, raw from the cold wind, hurt like I was swallowing knives.

I won't agree to it.

The project was already in its final stage.

Handing it over now would mean everything I'd worked for this whole time had been for nothing.

She let out a short laugh, looking at me the way you'd look at a child who didn't know any better.

I knew that's how you'd react.

She opened the fridge and took out a chestnut cake.

The familiar logo on top made my eyes sting.

That shop was almost a two-hour drive from the office.

Because I loved it, Katherine used to buy me one every week.

After Wayne showed up, the cakes stopped.

So she still remembered.

She carefully peeled the packaging open for me.

Wayne went all the way to South Seattle to buy this. To thank you.

My hand paused on the spoon wrapper, and I looked up at her.

The two of you went together?

Katherine nodded, scooped out a piece, and pushed it into my mouth.

Her tone said it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Now that you've eaten his thank-you gift, the project is settled.

I pulled out a tissue and spat the cake into it.

Katherine's face darkened.

Before she could speak, I pointed at the notch in the cake.

The moment she'd opened the packaging, I'd noticed the whole chestnut that should have been on top was gone.

He thanks me by making me eat his leftovers?

Katherine didn't see anything wrong with it at all.

Wayne bet me you'd refuse.

He just ate his winnings early. The outcome's the same either way.

She set the spoon down and added quietly,

And it turns out you really are as selfish as he said.

Selfish.

The two words pressed down on my shoulders like a mountain.

The cake left in my mouth was so cloyingly sweet it made me a little sick.

I threw the whole cake away right in front of her and rinsed my mouth out several times.

Then I shut the bathroom door.

Shutting out that line she kept wearing to death.

Wayne lost his sister. Would it kill you to give a little?

The moment the hot water came down, the exhaustion in my body wrapped around me completely, like a tide.

I thought back to the first time I'd stopped her from lying in the same hospital bed as Wayne. Katherine had called me selfish then too.

A year ago, the eldest Fox daughter had gone off a cliff racing on the winding mountain road.

By the time they got her to the hospital, the window to save her had already passed.

Outside the operating room, Wayne collapsed against Katherine, sobbing.

Katherine, my sister left me.

Katherine's eyes went red, and she patted his back to soothe him.

She may have left you, but I won't.

Evangeline Fox was my best friend. From now on, I'll look after you in her place.

Basil and Leopold Fox held his hands too, their mouths full of thanks and relief.

I stepped forward to pat Wayne's shoulder and comfort him, but he slipped away from me without making it look deliberate.

They held each other tightly, and no one else could get a step closer.

In the end, Wayne cried himself unconscious in Katherine's arms, his hand still gripping the hem of her skirt so hard it couldn't be pried loose.

Katherine helped him up, laid him gently on the hospital bed, and then moved to lie down beside him.

Something went hollow in me, and I reached out to stop her.

That's not really appropriate.

She turned to look at me, her brows drawn tight.

At a time like this, and you've still got that man-and-woman nonsense in your head.

Adrian, don't be so selfish.

The cold in her eyes pinned me where I stood.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the eyes under Wayne's lids rolling frantically.

He was faking it.

But I didn't call him out. Instead, I considerately closed the ward door for them.

The draft in the corridor blew me cold all over.

In that moment, I understood.

Wayne weighed far more in Katherine's heart than I'd ever imagined.

As I stepped out of the bathroom, my phone lit up with a message.

The divorce agreement is drawn up and sent to your email.

Katherine was standing in the doorway, though I didn't know how long she'd been there.

Who's messaging you this late?

I pressed the screen dark, my tone flat.

Just spam.

The next morning, I opened my computer and found the proposal gone.

Wiped clean. Not even a copy left in the recycle bin.

When the conference room door opened again, the sound of happy handshakes and easy deal-making spilled out.

No surprise there. Gilbert Corp had landed the project.

Everyone crowded around Wayne Fox, asking how he'd cracked such a tough nut.

Wayne shot me a look, smug all over his face.

"You have to know what the client wants, of course. Read their angle."

"Not like some people, who only grind away and never think to adapt."

While I was running myself ragged out there, chasing down what the client actually wanted, he'd been lying around in Katherine's office playing games.

While I was pulling all-nighters on the proposal, he'd been swiping Katherine's card for the most expensive spa treatments.

One word from Katherine about letting him have his way, and he actually believed he'd done any of it himself.

I snapped the pen in my hand and shot to my feet.

Katherine came striding over from across the room, fury on her face.

"Adrian!"

She flung a stack of files straight into my face.

The sharp edges of the paper opened a thin cut. Small, but it stung, hot and raw.

"What have you been doing all day? You can't even get a simple data check right."

"This company isn't a place for you to slack off and coast."

I looked at where her finger jabbed. It wasn't even the section I handled.

Katherine drew a sharp breath, her index finger drumming against the table.

"Starting today, you give your position to Wayne Fox."

"You're demoted to a regular employee. Move your desk out to the staff hall."

I looked at her, cold, and then I laughed.

So it wasn't enough to steal my work. She wanted to use me as a stepping stone to push Wayne up too.

This time she'd given him everything.

My heart felt like a hand had closed hard around it.

For once, I nodded, obedient.

"Fine. I'll move right now."

Tomorrow was the day I officially left.

Might as well pack early, so I could walk out light when the time came.

Katherine went right on, announcing loudly to the room.

"To celebrate landing the project, we're holding a celebration dinner tonight at the Grand Meridian Hotel."

"Wayne's already arranged the seating. Everyone clock out early today."

The room broke into cheers.

That evening, every employee took the seat assigned to them on the list.

I was slower packing up, so by the time I got there, the banquet hall was almost full.

Wayne sat pressed close to Katherine, on her right.

Every dish in the bowl in front of him, Katherine had served with her own hands.

"The bones in this fish weren't picked out clean."

"That was careless of me. Eat this piece, there's nothing in it."

"I want some of that beef."

"There's garlic in it. You won't like it."

...

I watched for a moment, then followed the name cards to the seat in the farthest corner.

The most out-of-the-way spot, and the farthest from Katherine.

By the time the dishes circled around to me, there were only scraps left.

I set down my chopsticks and drank a few sips of water.

By the end of the meal, my stomach, which hadn't acted up in a long time, was cramping with hunger.

Someone let out a sigh, I don't know who first.

"Some people's CEO husbands really do look pathetic."

"If I were him, I'd have stepped aside long ago. Clinging to the position like that, hide as thick as a city wall."

I gripped the side of the glass, my knuckles going white.

I'd just opened my mouth to say something when a whole glass of red wine came pouring down over my head.

One look from Wayne Fox, and everyone at the table swallowed their gasps.

The cold wine ran down my cheek and into my collar, soaking the front of my shirt.

He leaned close to my ear, his voice low enough that only I could hear.

"Feel like making a bet with me?"

I didn't look away.

"Bet on what?"

He picked up a fresh glass and swirled the deep red liquid inside.

"On who Katherine goes to first when she gets here."

"My money's on me."

The moment the words left his mouth, he splashed the wine in his own face.

Then his leg buckled and he dropped to the floor.

"Adrian Swanson, what are you doing?"

Every pair of eyes swung to us.

Katherine Gilbert followed the sound and came striding over.

She pushed through the crowd without sparing me a glance.

She stripped off her coat and draped it over Wayne, bracing his arm to help him up.

"What happened?"

Two clean tracks of tears slid down Wayne's face, and in his hand he clutched a jade pendant snapped into two pieces.

"I only came over to make a little bet with Adrian. He didn't say a word, just threw wine in my face and shoved me to the ground."

"Katherine, what do I do, this was the last thing my brother left me before he died"

The disgust in Katherine's eyes was almost solid. Her hand came around hard and caught me full across the face.

"Apologize."

Blood welled at the corner of my mouth, and my head rang.

Wayne laid his hand on her arm again.

"He lost the bet. The one who loses has to finish all the drinks on the table."

"If Adrian can do it, I'll forgive him."

I looked where he pointed.

Ten glasses, lined up in a row.

Every one of them filled to the brim.

He'd planned this from the start.

Katherine pushed me forward.

"Drink."

She didn't ask what the bet was. She didn't ask why my clothes were soaked through with wine.

Wayne's words from before came back to me.

"You've already lost."

In this game, I never had a chance of winning.

I gave and gave until the end, and he lost his sister while I lost my wife.

My stomach cramped, spasm after spasm.

Someone started egging it on.

"Come on, drink up, don't ruin a happy day like this for everybody."

Wayne softened his voice.

"Maybe Adrian just can't stand that I took his spot."

Katherine's voice was cold as ice.

"You went too far today. One of these days I'm taking you to kneel at Evangeline Fox's grave and beg her forgiveness."

My shoulders sagged.

My fingers closed around the first glass.

The liquor hit my throat and burned all the way down, searing a path into my empty stomach.

Like needles driving in.

Second glass.

Third glass.

"He's not going to drink himself dead, is he?"

Katherine shot the man a glance, her fingers trembling faintly, but her voice didn't give an inch.

"Anything happens, it's on me."

When the last drop was gone, I set the glass down.

I picked up my bag and forced my way through the crowd.

My two suitcases stood in the corner by the door of the private room.

I hadn't planned on going back tonight.

As I pushed the door, I turned and looked back once.

They were all gathered around Katherine and Wayne, the whole scene as lively as if it were their own wedding banquet.

"Goodbye for good, Katherine."

The door swung slowly shut, cutting off, once and for all, the last look between us.