Chapter Text
It had been over a year since the debacle in Italy and so many things had both changed and…not changed. While Kendall and Shiv had taken their father’s advice to create their own pile so to speak, and had left Waystar to start new ventures and endeavors, Roman had stayed with the company and surprisingly Mattson liked him and had let him stay on as COO. Things weren’t the same anymore but he was enjoying the new direction the company was going in and for the first time in a long time, he truly cared about the work he was doing.
It was late on a Wednesday night and Roman was sitting on the couch in his office, his knees pulled up to his chest, quickly scrolling through and replying to work emails before he left the office for the night. He frowned to himself as he saw Gerri’s name copied on an email. With Mattson taking over as CEO, Gerri had gone back to being General Counsel but her and Roman’s relationship had definitely changed after Italy. They still remained friendly and pleasant with one another but their relationship since Italy had been strictly professional. They mostly just discussed work matters with each other and nothing else.
But seeing her name copied on this email makes him realize that he hasn’t seen her around the office lately… Had she had some trip scheduled he didn’t know about? And sure enough, after he replies to the long email chain with his thoughts, an automatic Out of Office reply from Gerri’s Waystar email address bounces into Roman’s inbox. Usually he just automatically deletes those kinds of automated messages without reading them, but he opens up this one.
Hello,
I will be out of the office without access to emails from November 15th to January 31st. In my absence, please direct your questions and urgent issues to Tegan Price, Deputy General Counsel.
Thank you,
Gerri Kellman
It was a typical bland and generic Out of Office message, with the contact information for Tegan, Gerri’s deputy, but Roman’s eyes nearly bug out of his head at the length of time Gerri says she’ll be gone for. Why is this the first Roman’s hearing of this? Gerri never took actual vacations or used her Paid Time Off. In fact, Roman remembered the only other time Gerri had taken a proper vacation where she wasn’t even available by email or phone, his father had been livid and grumpy for the whole two weeks (well, even more livid and grumpy than he normally was). But if anyone deserved a vacation, a true proper vacation, it was Gerri Kellman. The woman was always taking care of everybody’s else’s problems and worrying about everyone and everything but herself. Roman couldn’t help but smile to himself. She deserved to Eat, Pray, Love it up in Europe for three months, or do whatever the fuck she was doing during this leave of absence.
He wasn’t expecting this. When she had waved goodbye to him on Friday night on her way out of the office, it was like any other Friday evening and he figured he would see her again Monday morning. Not that it was goodbye for two and a half months.
Gerri, what gives? He quickly texts. Where are you??????
He pauses before typing I miss you but thinks twice of it and quickly deletes that part of the message. He leaves it at “Where are you?”, sends the message, and then quickly fires off a text to his driver that he’s ready to leave the office for the night.
* * * * *
Thursday, Roman’s day is packed with back to back meetings and conference calls that he doesn’t even realize he still hasn’t heard back from Gerri. Mattson however does mention in one of their meetings that Gerri has taken a Leave of Absence and to direct any issues towards Tegan, the Deputy General Counsel, or other members of the legal department.
Roman had a charity event to attend Thursday evening and he collapses into bed after he gets home, just past one in the morning. He forgets to look at his phone before sleep overtakes him.
But by lunchtime Friday when Roman realizes Gerri still hasn’t answered his text, he’s starting to get worried. This isn’t like her to be completely off the grid. Even when their relationship was greatly strained right after Italy, when he and his siblings were trying to figure all their shit out, and he was carrying a lot of anger towards Gerri, they still talked regularly. They had to for work related matters.
He had seen Frank and Karolina whispering about something in a corridor earlier that day, could have sworn he heard the words "hospital" and "surgery" being muttered, and for a moment, he thought to ask them if they knew what was going on with Gerri, but he changed his mind at the last minute, Karolina already entering the elevator to go downstairs before he had a chance to.
In between meetings, he quickly fires off another text to Gerri and sends an email to her personal email account for good measure. And then he throws himself into his lunch meeting with Mattson in a futile attempt to not think or worry about her.
* * * * *
Early Friday evening, He’s pretending to review some figures in a spreadsheet and texting back and forth in a group chat with his siblings about their weekend plans, when his phone rings. Gerri’s name and the phone number from her personal cell phone, flashes across the call display.
Finally Roman thinks before he quickly picks up the phone.
“Gerri! Finally! What the hell! Where have you–”
“Hey, Roman.” She cuts him off. “Sorry, somehow I missed your text Wednesday night. Things have been…hectic. I'm just now finding time to reply to everyone's messages from the past couple of days.”
She sounds tired and groggy, Roman realizes. She’s definitely not her usual self. He frowns to himself. Plus, its not like her not to reply to texts and emails in a timely manner. Even when she is swamped with work or personal matters.
“Where are you anyways?” He asks, his brows furrowing in concern.
“I’m in New York. At home.” She nervously clears her throat, not in the mood to explain everything to Roman right this moment. “I just needed some time off.”
“Gerri, what’s going on…”
“I can’t go into it right now but I’m okay. I’ll explain everything later. I just didn’t want you to worry about me.” She knew how Roman could get.
That’s easier said than done, Roman thinks to himself.
“I’m glad to hear your voice.” It’s slipped out of his mouth before he has a chance to stop himself.
Shit he thinks to himself, knowing he's crossed a line.
“Mom, dinner’s ready,” he suddenly hears a young woman cheerfully say in the background. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were…”
“It’s okay, Cassie,” he hears Gerri say. He assumes Gerri has put her hand over the phone’s speaker but it doesn’t do much to muffle her and her daughter’s conversation in the background. “I’ll be right there, okay?”
“Okay, Mom,” the other woman says. "No worries. Take your time."
Roman frowns to himself again. Was that a toddler he heard start to cry in the background? What the fuck was a toddler doing at Gerri’s house?
“I have to go, Rome, but I’ll talk to you soon. I promise.” He could have sworn he hears her voice cracking slightly on the last syllable.
“Gerri, what is going on?” Roman asks again, the toddler’s wailing getting louder and more incessant in the background.
Gerri lets out a shaky sigh on the other end, sounding more vulnerable than Roman can ever remember her seeming, even compared to that horrible night in Italy that they'd both like to forget, and he hears the hesitation in her voice. “Roman, I - I…I have to go. Have a good night.”
“Gerri…”
“I have to go, Roman. I’ll call you sometime next week.”
To Be Continued…