Chapter 5 - The Locked Glass Doors
By two o’clock that afternoon, a steady autumn drizzle coated the mirrored glass exterior of Hollis Transit Systems headquarters in downtown McLean.
A sleek black town car pulled abruptly into the executive circular drive, splashing rainwater across the granite pavers.
Adrian stepped out into the rain without an umbrella, his tie loose and his jacket soaked within seconds.
Paige hurried behind him, holding a leather folder over her styled hair to shield it from the downpour.
"Adrian, wait, we need to call the board members right now before the news leaks," Paige insisted, struggling to keep pace on her high heels.
"The board works for me, Paige," Adrian snapped, not looking back.
"I handpicked every single one of those directors."
"They owe their seats to my expansion strategies."
He pushed through the revolving glass doors into the marble lobby, his shoes squeaking loudly on the polished floor.
At the security turnstiles, three uniformed guards stood in a rigid line.
The head of corporate security, Marcus Vance—a retired state trooper my father had hired twenty years earlier—stepped forward.
Adrian reached into his pocket and swiped his black executive keycard against the reader.
The terminal flashed crimson and emitted a sharp, continuous rejection beep.
"What is the meaning of this, Marcus?" Adrian demanded, tapping the plastic card against the turnstile glass.
"Reset the scanner immediately."
Marcus did not blink.
"I can't do that, Mr. Hollis."
"Your credentials were revoked at twelve-fifteen by order of the majority trustee and the Fairfax County Circuit Court."
Paige pushed to the front, pointing an acrylic nail at Marcus’s chest.
"Do you know who you are speaking to?" she hissed.
"This is the Chief Executive Officer of this corporation."
"You will be fired and blacklisted from private security by five o'clock today if you do not step aside."
"Ms. Ellison," Marcus replied calmly, producing an official envelope from behind the desk.
"You have also been suspended with pay pending a compliance review regarding unauthorized expenditure of company public relations funds."
"If either of you steps past this barrier, I am authorized by the local sheriff's department to have you arrested for criminal trespass."
Adrian stared through the turnstiles into the atrium he had treated as his personal fiefdom for over a decade.
May you like
Beyond the security desk, employees from the operations and marketing floors had gathered along the interior balconies.
Dozens of people looked down in stunned silence, watching their untouchable CEO stand stranded at the entrance like an unwelcome stranger.
