Hint of revelation

The cyclist apologized and offered to give Matthew his phone number. Matthew was annoyed. He would miss the meeting for sure. The car was in bad shape. The windshield was broken and the hood had deep scratches. He gave the cyclist a notebook and told him to write his information there. He had little to do but wait the arrival of the police. It was 12:45. The lunch was at 13:30. It was all done for. All he could do is phone Phillip, his boss.

“Don’t worry, Matthew,” said the raspy voice on the other end of the phone. “I cannot be there to take over, but I’ll find someone who can. Take good care of yourself and let me know if you need anything.”

Two hours passed. Matthew called Phillip again to let him know the matter had been settled and to ask for an update on the meeting.

“Who did you put in?”

“Sergei.”

“Sergei?! OK, I guess. Hope everything went well.”

“It went great, actually. He closed it,” replied Phillip over the background echo of a sky jet. “The client had some feedback and Sergei dealt with it.”

“Oh?”

“They basically said they want to continue with Sergei.”

“What?!”

“Matthew, her words were particularly strong. She finds you cold and abrasive. And you didn’t pay attention to her feedback. … Matthew, are you still there? Listen, we can discuss this later. What is important is that you are in good health.”

“Her feedback is full of requests that cannot be achieved on this platform.”

“Nevertheless, we can try to work something out. Maybe have another meeting with the development team. Tomorrow.”

“It’s not my contract anymore,” said a despondent Matthew.

After a pause, Phillip said:

“How are you? Any bruises?”

“No, not really.”

“What about the cyclist?”

“What about him?”

“Is he OK?”

“I don’t know. He left on his own two feet, so I assume nothing’s broken.”

“Do you need a day off?”

Matthew didn’t know what to say.