Chapter 80: Crossing Lines
Over the years, Derek had often heard a lot of people say that they had lost track of time. To him, the statement had never rang true. How could anyone lose track of something that was always there, punctuated by each heartbeat that their body gave?
For him, paying attention to time came as easy breathing, a habit borne from years of doing nothing at night, but watching as the minutes ticked by, giving way to hours until the numbers finally signaled the start of a new day.
But now he finally understood what they meant.
He did not know how long he stood there watching the rain. When he finally did move, it was with the slowness of an old machine coming back to life. Gears grinding against one another as they came back to life. It was only after blinking several times that he finally realized that he was still holding her resignation letter.
He blinked down at the piece of paper, struggling to process it.
Resignation. She had quit.
What? The words refused to make sense. Emily Molson and quitting did not belong in the same sentence. Emily Molson leaving him to look for employment elsewhere just did not compute.
"Why?" He asked the piece of paper. And when all it did was keep showing him the words that he did not want to see he tore it in half. The action so satisfying that he put the torn pieces together and basically shredded them with his bare hands. By the time he was done, the letter was reduced to confetti and he let it fall.
It fell to the floor in a million pieces, and Derek stepped on them for good measure. And then, looking down at the paper, something clicked for him. He had no idea how long she had been gone, but he had to stop her. Rushing out of his office, he hoped and prayed that it was not too late. If he was lucky, she was probably still in the building, but he doubted it.