"
Matthew was deeply shocked.
William said, "Peter has decided to rejoin Wallaby in an at-large
position, working on our future products. However he'll only come
back if you leave." William produced a folded document from his
coat pocket. "I'm sorry, Matthew, but I have to ask you to
resign."
"I will not," Matthew protested loudly.
Several diners, most of them Wallaby employees, turned their
heads in the group's direction.
"Matthew," William said, his voice empathetic now, "I'm afraid
you have no choice." He unfolded the document and placed it
before Matthew. "We've put together a first-rate severance
package for you."
For what felt like a long time, Matthew was unable to do anything
but sit there and stare down at the document that spelled out the
rewards of his terrific failure. His brain sizzled as he
attempted to focus on the details. He saw numbers and lots of
parenthesized paragraphs. There was a long line at the bottom,
with his name printed beneath it.
He raised his head and looked across the table at Peter. "Why?
Why didn't you just agree with me when I suggested all this? It
would have had the same outcome."
"Sorry, Matthew, but it was never that simple."
But it could be now, Matthew thought, sitting there at the
breakfast table, clutching tightly in his fist the little
circular thing he had been hiding in his briefcase for so many
years.
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