Exposed (Rosato & DiNunzio #5)(3)

“Twelve years, almost since I graduated Temple, and—” Simon flushed, licking lips that had gone suddenly dry. “Well, I just got fired.”

“Oh, no,” Mary said, surprised. Simon was smart and hard-working, a success from the get-go. “When did this happen?”

“Two days ago, Tuesday. July 11.”

“Why?” Mary caught Feet’s stricken expression, and her father and the others had gone quiet.

“They said it was my performance. But I don’t think that’s the real reason.”

“What do you think?” Mary’s mind was already flipping through the possible illegal reasons, which weren’t many. Pennsylvania was a right-to-work state, which meant that an employee could be fired at will, for any or no reason, as long as it wasn’t discriminatory.

“Honestly, my performance is great. I’m one of the top reps. I’ve gotten great reviews and bonuses for years. Things started to go south after Rachel was diagnosed. The final straw for them was—” Simon hesitated, and Feet came over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Son, the baby’s going to be fine. We’re all praying, and she’s got good doctors. Great doctors.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Simon returned his attention to Mary, her gaze newly agonized. “I didn’t let people know, but Rachel relapsed and she has to have a bone marrow transplant. That’s why she got moved to CHOP.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that.” Mary felt her chest tighten with emotion, but she didn’t want to open any floodgates, especially with Feet, her father, and the others. Now she understood why they’d been so upset. Simon was in dire straits, with Rachel so ill and now him out of a job.

“Obviously, I wish the chemo had worked, but I feel great about the BMT Team at CHOP. They specialize in ALL.” Simon caught himself. “Sorry about the lingo. BMT stands for Blood and Marrow Transplant Team and ALL is acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is what she has.”

“I can’t imagine how hard this is to go through, for all of you.”

“We’re doing the best we can. My dad’s there all the time, so it helps when I have to work.” Simon managed a shaky smile. “It’s just that as a father, you feel so helpless. I mean, it sounds cliché, but it’s true. I know, I live it. You have hope, but no control. None at all. Well, you get it. You know, you see. She has to be okay.”

“She will be,” Feet said quietly, and Mary’s father, Pigeon Tony, and Tony-From-Down-The-Block walked over, their lined faces masks of sorrow and fear. They stood motionless behind him, having forgotten about the coffee and pastries.

“SIMON, WE’LL HELP ANY WAY WE CAN. WON’T WE, MARE?”

“Yes, we will,” Mary answered, meaning it. She patted Simon’s hand again.

Tony-From-Down-The-Block chimed in, “We’re going to get through this together.” He gestured at Pigeon Tony. “He’s gonna make some baked ziti for you, Simon. He’s an excellent cook, like, gourmet. All you gotta do is put it in the microwave.”

“Thanks, guys.” Simon turned around, then faced Mary. “Anyway, I think that’s the reason why they fired me.”

Mary blinked. “How so?”

“Well, when Rachel was first diagnosed, my boss, Todd, was really nice about it. I have decent benefits and they covered Rachel. I took out a second mortgage to cover what it doesn’t. The meds are astronomical.” Simon leaned over, urgent. “But OpenSpace is self-insured up to $250,000, which means that their insurance policy doesn’t reimburse them until their employee medical expenses reach that amount. They have to pay out of pocket until then.”

“Understood. It’s like a deductible.” Mary knew the basics of employment benefits.

“Exactly.” Simon nodded. “But Rachel’s bills alone are so high that the insurance company was going to raise the premiums.”

“I see, and are the premiums going up?”

“I don’t know, but I’m getting ahead of myself. After Rachel’s first round of chemo, my boss, Todd, kept asking me how Rachel was. I thought he was interested, like, being nice. He has a ten-year-old daughter. But then he made comments about the bills when I submitted them. And then when the first bills for chemo came in, for seven grand, he reduced my territory from three states—Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware—to just Delaware.”

Mary didn’t understand something. “What does it matter that your territory was reduced?”

“A reduction in my territory means I can’t make my sales quotas. Not only that, but the territory he gave me was more residential and had less businesses, so there was no way I could ever make quota.” Simon flushed. “I tried, but no matter what I did, I was only selling a fraction of the units. For the first time in twelve years, I didn’t make quota.”

Mary put it together. “So your sales go down and your performance suffers.”

“Right.” Simon nodded. “Todd was trying to force me out, hoping that I would quit, but I didn’t. I love my accounts, my reps, and my job, and I need the job.”

“Of course.”

“So when Rachel’s pediatric oncologist told me she needed the transplant and referred me to CHOP, I told Todd and he asked how much it was going to cost. At the time, I didn’t know the costs of the transplant, but the donor search alone cost like $60,000 to $100,000, and I told him that.”