Then I checked my rearview mirror.
The woman had disappeared from view.
I pulled over.
That decision had cost me my livelihood.
But even afterward, I couldn’t imagine deliberately leaving her alone on the roadside.
My phone vibrated on the passenger seat.
I expected another call from Gavin.
Instead, it was my former wife, Sarah.
I almost ignored it, then remembered she was collecting our daughters after school.
“Hey.”
“Chris?”
She immediately noticed something wrong with my voice.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“You sound terrible.”
“Long morning.”
“Are you sick?”
“No.”
After a pause, she asked more carefully.
“Did something happen at work?”
I looked toward the agency building.
For an instant, I wondered whether someone had already told her.
“Who told you?”
“Nobody.”
“Sarah.”
“You only use that voice when something’s wrong.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“I got fired.”
Silence followed.
“What?”
“This morning.”
“Why?”
I nearly laughed at how absurd the explanation sounded.
