The narrator becomes increasingly worried after noticing a folder with their name, unexpected calls involving Richard’s lawyer, and several private conversations. Richard then asks them to meet privately at four, making the narrator believe they are about to lose the job they had spent years helping build.

Throughout the week, small details seem to confirm those fears. The folder appears in accounting, conversations stop when the narrator enters a room, and Richard continues taking quiet calls with his lawyer. An unexplained meeting at the park makes the narrator imagine the worst, including having to leave the company and disappoint their mother.

By Friday, the narrator is convinced that their future at the company is about to end. When they finally meet Richard on a quiet park bench, however, the conversation takes an unexpected turn. Richard explains that he is selling the company and stepping down, and the new owners have allowed him to choose someone he trusts to replace him.

That person is the narrator. All the mysterious meetings, legal conversations, and paperwork had not been about removing them from the company but preparing them for a major new responsibility. After spending the week fearing they were losing their future, the narrator discovers that Richard had actually been giving them an opportunity they never expected.