A/N: Thanks for all the amazing reviews and thanks to my followers! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. A even bigger thanks to my amazing beta 'The Yankee Countess'.

Chapter 4: Too soon to say goodbye

"You're fired!"

Larry's harsh words echoed through the room and for a while everyone was quiet. Mr Branson tried not to show any sign of emotion, but Sybil, who during her work as a nurse had learned to read expressions, could tell he was genuinely hurt.

Larry, who had the brain capacity of a Twinkie didn't seem to notice or care.

"Pack up your things and come up to my office when you're done so we can wrap things up." He narrowed his eyes at Branson and gave him a warning look that said, 'Don't cause any trouble'.

A brief flicker of anger crossed Branson's face and Sybil was sure he was about to stand up for himself and sucker punch Larry, when he suddenly thought the better of it and shoved his clenched fists back into his pockets.

"It's not fair!"

Everyone was surprised by Gwen's soft, but firm voice.

"You can't just fire Tom; he's worked here for over ten years!" she yelled, taking a few threatening steps forward.

Larry spun around to face her, his eyes blazing with anger. "What did you just say to me?!" Tom quickly shook his head to stop Gwen from saying anything else.

Thomas, who saw this, grabbed Gwen by the shoulders and pulled her back towards the desk they'd been leaning on. "Nothing sir; Gwen's just having a bit of a rough day," he said by way of apology.

Larry nodded dismissively. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again," he warned. He knew his company couldn't survive if he fired all of his employees in one day, even though the mail room employees meant very little to him. "Come along Sybil; let's get back upstairs." He tried to grab a hold of her hand but Sybil pulled back and looked at him defiantly.

She had made up her mind and wanted nothing more to do with the loathsome man in front of her.

As Larry stalked out of the room, Sybil couldn't stop herself from turning around one last time before following him. She looked at Mr Branson who seemed lost in not so very happy thoughts.

"Don't worry Mr Branson," she told him kindly. "I'll have a word with Mr Grey about this." Her tone left no room for argument and her words seemed to pull him back to the present.

He gave her a sad smile in return, but his eyes sparkled in admiration. "That's very kind of you, but please don't get yourself into trouble on my behalf." Sybil was about to open her mouth to say something, but he stopped her. "I'll be fine."

Of course Sybil didn't believe a word he said, but she decided to leave it for now. She gave a polite nod and stepped out of the room.

"And please, call me Tom!" was the last thing she heard him shout before she reached the stairs and headed back up.

She caught up with Larry by the elevators. "Now you've literally seen everything here," he told her irritably. "I suggest we head back up to my office, so we can go through the necessary paperwork."

Sybil nodded in agreement, her mind still trying to process everything that had happened since she woke up this morning. She was exhausted and the clock hadn't even reached twelve.

Mrs Hughes was patiently waiting for them behind her desk and stood up the moment Larry stormed down the hallway, followed by a much slower Sybil.

"Sir…." Mrs Hughes began, but Larry didn't even stop to look at her.

"Not now!" he snapped, and headed straight for his office.

Sybil gave the other woman and apologetic look. "I apologize for Mr Grey's behaviour," she said. "I'm afraid he doesn't like me much and I've upset him," Sybil rolled her eyes dramatically and Mrs Hughes couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't worry Miss Crawley," she replied as she sat back down behind her computer. "I don't think I've ever met anyone who Mr Grey does like or approves of."

Sybil smiled and started towards the CEO's office herself. "Lucky me," she mumbled just loud enough for Mrs Hughes to hear.

Larry was already in his big black swivel chair, impatiently drumming his fingers on the desk in front of him. "Took you long enough," he muttered.

Sybil sighed, closed the door and sat down on a very uncomfortable wooden stool. "Let's get started," was all she had to say.

An hour later Sybil had a splitting headache, but the end of all the paperwork was in sight and she'd be able to go home and rest soon. Larry would set up a meeting with the buyers as soon as possible and he'd tie up all the loose ends as well. Sybil was glad because even though she truly disliked the man, she had no field experience in the business area whatsoever. In fact, she'd didn't even care how much money she'd gain from this, all she wanted to do was head back home and find a job as a nurse again.

A soft but firm knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. "Enter," Larry grunted without looking up from his work.

Mrs Hughes poked her head around the door. "Mr Branson is here to see you sir," she explained.

This time Larry did look up, and he even seemed a bit surprised. "Oh right," he said. "I'd forgotten I told him to come up here." Sybil tried hard to hide her annoyance; how could he have forgotten about the employee he had fired that morning already?

"Send him in," Larry told his chief administrative assistant. "Would you please excuse me Sybil? This won't take long."

Sybil shook her head; she didn't want to leave because she very much intended to keep her promise and have a word with Larry about the way he had treated Mr Branson—Tom, she corrected herself. "I'd like to stay, if you don't mind."

Larry didn't look happy and wanted to say something, but when Mr Branson came in, Larry seemed to forget about everything but his hatred towards the young man.

"I don't mind," Tom replied evenly not taking his eyes off Larry. Sybil stood and moved to stand near the door while Tom took her place on the stool.

Larry searched around in one of his drawers for a bit, before pulling out what looked like a personnel file with Tom's name on it. He opened it pulled out some papers and pushed them towards Tom.

"You know how this goes, don't you?" Larry sneered as he slammed a pen down in front of Tom for good measure.

Sybil saw Tom stiffen and for a moment she was convinced, for the second time that day, he was about to knock Larry Grey unconscious. After a deep sigh, however, all he did was grab the pen and sign his name on the documents.

"Um, excuse me?!"

Even though Sybil didn't know the first thing about firing procedures, she was pretty sure this wasn't the way things were supposed to go.

"You can't just fire an employee without probable cause!"

Tom turned around to face her and seemed upset. "Don't," he whispered through clenched teeth.

It was too late. Without realizing it, Sybil had given Larry the perfect ammunition to humiliate the man he hated and loathed the most, even further.

"No Sybil, you're right I can't," he answered in a nasty tone. "But ever since your father passed away, Mr Branson here has been late to work every day; he's called in sick countless of times, and worst of all he somehow tricks his co-workers to cover for him time and time again."

Tom was seething with anger, and he stood up and threateningly leaned over the desk, causing his stool to topple over. "I haven't tricked anyone and if you ever talk to me that way again I swear to god you'll regret it, bonus or no bonus."

Larry looked genuinely scared and stunned for half a second before a wicked smile appeared on his face. "Before you leave, you'd better tell your friends that they are on thin ice; very thin ice"

Tom huffed, snatched a copy of the signed documents from the desk, and headed for the door. "It doesn't really matter does it?!" he accused. "Next week most of the employees here will be out of a job anyway!" With that he stormed out the door, leaving a shocked Sybil and an enraged Larry behind.

It didn't take Sybil long to make up her mind, and she mumbled something inaudible to Larry and ran out of the office and down the hallway, just in time to stop Tom from stepping inside the elevators. Mrs Hughes had never heard this much commotion in all the years she'd worked at the company.

"Mr Branson, Tom, please—wait!"

Sybil nearly bumped into him as he took an unexpected step towards her and away from the elevators. She took a few seconds to catch her breath and all the while Tom waited patiently for her to continue.

"What did you mean when you said that next week most employees will be out of a job?" she asked him, curiously trying hard to concentrate and not to get lost in his twinkling green eyes.

"I guess Mr Grey didn't tell you then," he snarled, his accent stronger than ever. "The people he's planning to sell to, were—no are—this company's biggest competition." He looked earnestly at her and Sybil felt a bit idiotic for not quite understanding what all of it meant.

"They won't have need for anyone who worked for your father; they'll bring their own employees," Tom elaborated patiently.

Sybil looked at him wide eyed; surely Larry wouldn't allow that to happen?

…Would he?

"It was nice meeting you Sybil. I wish we could have met under different circumstances," Tom told her sadly. He picked up a plastic box that stood near his feet (she guessed it held his personal items) and pressed the elevator button.

Sybil took a deep breath to keep from blushing. "Wait," she said. "I'm not just going to let La—Mr Grey get away with this." She was confident she could secure Tom's and the other employees' jobs if she could just have a real talk with Larry about it.

Tom huffed and shook his head. "Do you truly believe you can make a difference, just because you're friends with the boss man?" he asked her in a monotone voice.

Sybil was a bit taken aback by his sudden change in attitude. "I'm just trying to help," she softly defended. This set Tom's teeth on edge even further.

"I've worked here for over ten years!" he snapped. "I really don't think I need help from the rich and powerful who don't know a thing about real work!"

Sybil was hurt by his harsh words and wasn't planning to listen to him a minute longer, when she noticed his eyes were focussing on something…or someone, behind her.

She didn't have think twice about who it might be; there was only one person that could evoke such anger from Tom Branson in this building.

"Mrs Hughes, please call security to escort this dirty little mick out," Larry snarled to the very confused administrative assistant.

In a split second, Tom was standing right in front of Larry, and without hesitation he pulled back a clenched fist and punched the CEO in the face with all his might.

Larry stumbled and fell backwards. "I'll see myself out," Tom growled, stalking past Sybil and starting down the stairs, leaving his plastic box with personal items behind.

Larry was groaning and holding his bleeding nose, but Sybil could tell it wasn't broken and that he would be fine after the initial shock wore off.

Speaking of shock, she figured now would be the best time to inform him of the decision she had made, so he wouldn't have to go through the same process twice.

"Mr Grey," she said in a tone that left no room for argument. "I've changed my mind; I will be accepting the position of CEO after all."

TBC

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