Chapter 16: Terminated

Heads turned toward the pillar.

One, then ten, then a whole section of the crowd.

Phones swung around with them.

Up on the stage Alyssa held the microphone against her chest and waited for my face to break.

"Let's go," Sam said quietly.

"No."

I stood there until she had to look away first.

She did, laughing, and handed the mic back to Jared.

Then I turned and walked out of the hall.

The boot thumped on the concrete all the way to the doors.

That night I sat on the floor of Sam's living room with my license agreement spread out on the rug.

I'd signed it in 2021, the year Ironwood launched.

Jared's father had insisted on it before he died.

"You protect your name, kid," he'd told me. "Nobody else will."

I'd framed the patent.

I'd never read the license again.

Sam read it twice with his glasses on the end of his nose.

Then he put his finger on paragraph nine.

"Any product sold under the Ironwood name requires the Licensor's prior written approval."

"Velvet Lift doesn't say Ironwood on the front," I said.

Sam held up a photo of the teacher's bottle.

The back label.

Small gray print under the directions.

AN IRONWOOD PROFESSIONAL SYSTEM PRODUCT.

"It says it on the back," he said. "And I'd bet my car the invoices to Alyssa say it too."

He turned the page.

"Paragraph fourteen. Unapproved use is a material breach. The Licensor may terminate on written notice, effective on delivery."

"On delivery," I said.

"On delivery."

We looked at each other.

At nine on Sunday morning Sam sent the notice to Thayer's lawyers.

At ten fifty-five I walked into Room 4B.

It was supposed to seat eighty.

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