Chapter 8 - HIS FATHER'S RULE
James Cole had raised Solomon to solve problems before bringing home panic.
Solomon admired that rule and expanded it far beyond its original meaning.
“Stop asking permission for the life you’re responsible for” had been written about whether Solomon should pursue a certification program.
Not whether he should relocate his wife and child.
Solomon expanded the rule because it suited his resentment.
That was another pattern.
People turn advice into doctrine when doctrine removes uncertainty.
Audrey read more emails.
Solomon complained that she dismissed Indianapolis without discussion.
Except she had never been told.
He had imagined her no.
Then resented her for the answer he imagined.
That realization made Audrey furious in a new way.
“You have been arguing with a version of me in your head.”
Solomon looked at her during counseling.
“Maybe.”
“No. You turned down Indianapolis for me without asking. Then blamed me for losing it.”
“I thought I knew.”
“And Charlotte?”
“I thought I knew the opposite.”
He looked ashamed.
The counselor asked:
“What would asking have required?”
Solomon answered:
“Risking a no.”
Exactly.
He had built his identity around solving problems.
A question he could not control felt like failure.
Then the counselor asked Audrey:
“Would you have moved to Indianapolis?”
Audrey thought.
“Maybe.”
Solomon looked up sharply.
She continued:
“My company had an office there then. We could have talked.”
Solomon looked devastated.
Years of resentment built around a refusal that had never existed.
Then Audrey asked the more important question.
“Would I move to Charlotte now?”
Solomon stared.
She answered:
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you hit Theo. Because you built the relocation in secret. Because trust is gone.”
Solomon’s face hardened.
“So the job is dead.”
“No.”
“What do you mean?”
“You can take it.”
He stared.
“Without you?”
“Yes.”
“And Theo?”
“That will be decided safely and legally.”
Solomon looked away.
For the first time, Audrey was separating his career from the family instead of treating one as leverage over the other.
He had wanted permission.
She gave him none.
Only reality.
Then Hartwell called.
They had learned about the pending family situation because Solomon disclosed it after the relocation dispute.
The company did not withdraw the offer.
They modified it.
He could start remotely for six weeks while resolving housing.
No family-move requirement.
No forced deadline.
The urgency Solomon had used to justify everything disappeared with one conversation.
Audrey almost cried from anger.
Then the recruiter said:
“There is one issue.”
“What?”
“Mr. Cole’s relocation advance.”
Because the family relocation was paused, part of the advance would need to be reconciled.
Not all immediately.
But the $14,000 used for the mortgage no longer qualified as relocation expense.
Solomon owed it back under the company policy.
May you like
He did not have $14,000 liquid.
Unless he used money Audrey had not yet found.
