“Mr. Dannings!” She called, closing the distance between her and the pair of men still inside the elevator. “Thank god I caught you before you left.”

“Is something wrong?” Josh asked, reaching out to hold the black woman’s arm gently. A few of her long braids billowed gently as she turned to look at Josh. For a moment, she smiled warmly at him, thankful for the concern. In the next second, it was gone, replaced by her strong sense of professionalism.

“I’m fine. But my department isn’t,” she clarified, gesturing towards the 3D animations team which filled the entire floor. She lifted her tablet and swiped twice before turning it towards Hunter. “We’ve been working to meet the deadline set by Universal for this Monday when one of our newest animators, Calvin, didn’t save some of the key designs properly. Tea was then spilled on his computer, and now the last 2 weeks of our work are gone.”

“Shit,” Josh cursed, staring at the unfinished product with wide eyes while Hunter brought a hand to cover his mouth. Hunter was silent. He remembered when he’d signed off on this program less than three months ago. He thought it was a terrible idea to work with a program with such archaic saving methods, primarily because one mistake to click save could set everyone back. But most of the chief editors, excluding Kellie, had insisted on having the program and there hadn’t been any issues before. Until now. Josh looked back over at the office floor with a wince. He was glad that his girlfriend wasn’t in any trouble, but the stress he expected to come from this mess seemed almost as bad as whatever he’d imagined.

Finally, after several moments of silence, Hunter stepped out of the elevator, allowing the doors to close behind him and Josh before he fixed the two of them with a determined glare.

“Kellie, I want you to contact all the animators that we have in the building. If any of them are willing to work overtime, then I want them in conference room B in ten minutes,” Hunter told her, watching as she nodded before quickly rushing off. “Josh, come with me. We need to speak to Calvin.”

Josh nodded, reaching into his backpack to pull out his own tablet. He’d packed up under the assumption that he was going home but that possibility seemed distant now. 

The pair marched into the densest portion of the crowd, eyes set on the now crying man and the woman flailing her hands as she spoke not far from him. She had a towel in her hand and was wiping around the computer as a couple of people spoke angrily at her. 

Hunter cleared his throat, ready to raise his voice to get their attention but the crowd quieted automatically, keenly aware of the CEO’s arrival. The still-cleaning woman stared at him with wide eyes, fear clearly shining through her eyes. Hunter felt strange seeing such an expression pointed at him. 

She seemed certain that this was the end for her and judging by the varying expressions of those around her, most of her peers agreed. He stared around the group with a stoic expression before his eyes landed on the man.

“You were the editor working on the animation, correct?” Hunter asked bluntly. The man nodded his head and Hunter watched as he lowered his head in defeat, already preparing for the sting of termination.

Hunter sighed, not happy with how defeated the man appeared in his office. It was far from the vision he had when he took over this company, but he would deal with the man’s mental state after he fixed the mess that he had helped to create.

“Do you think you can still work?” Hunter asked. The young man’s head shot up, a glimmer of hope pushing past the tears. 

“Yes, yes of course. I know a lot of work was lost but I’ll try to fix as much of it as I can.”

Hunter smiled lightly, it wasn’t a large one but it was the best he could do during this mess.

“Good, then you can stay for some overtime tonight?”

It took a moment for the kid, Calvin, to realize that was a question and he was soon nodding furiously with a shocked expression, slowly standing up from the floor. Hunter then turned to the woman who had been wiping up the tea. “And you, what do you do?”

The woman blinked, seemingly unsure of what to say.

“Uh, animation, sir,” she stuttered out, wet cloth still in hand. 

“Then would you mind staying for overtime as well? We are going to need any animators that can help on this design, hopefully, some of the 3D animators who worked on the original so we can get it as close to that as possible,” Hunter explained to them, seeing understanding come to some of the people standing around him. “If none of you can help with that, I suggest that you finish up any assignments that you had and head home.”

Hunter was about to leave when he noticed some of the nasty looks Calvin was getting from the others around him and his blank expression quickly morphed into a scowl.

“I hope that none of you thought that you were being helpful by grilling this man over his mistake for the past, what, ten minutes?” Hunter asked, seeing a few people flinch at his accuracy. “I don’t care if you felt right or justified in your actions, the next time another crisis like this happens, I want my employees to mobilize for a solution, not tear each other down over the problem.” 

Josh quickly followed Hunter as walked away from the group, smirking as he thought of Hunter’s ‘dad speech.’ It was so on brand.

“Meet me in Conference Room B if you’re able to help!” Hunter yelled over his shoulder, trying to appear unconcerned by the eyes following him as he went. 

That was the key to being a young leader. Fake it until you make it. Or until faking it doesn’t feel so horrible anymore. Josh waited until they were a good ways away from listening ears before making his quiet comment.

“Well, I guess you aren’t going home on time after all,” Josh told him, sending his boss a sympathetic look when he sighed and smiled in response.

“No, I guess I’m not.” Hunter replied, continuing on to the conference room. The saddest part of all this, an aspect that Hunter couldn’t share, was how he just wanted to see River. Truly, Hunter never indulged himself as much as he did when it came to River. To prioritize some personal wish over working was so unlike him. But for once, he was putting himself first.

Now, it would be impossible to leave. 

Even if he did and left this mess to his subordinates, the guilt would eat away at him and he wouldn’t be able to enjoy being in River’s presence.

I can always try again next week, Hunter thought, shoulders sagging tiredly. He only gave himself a couple of moments to feel disappointed before he squared his shoulders and stood up straight. He was the CEO of Stick Figure Animations. Putting his personal feelings aside and focusing on the problem at hand was the only choice. He had to make this right. Not for him, but for everyone involved.

Soon enough Kellie entered, the rest of the animators trickling in behind her. So many people had agreed to stay behind that they didn’t have enough space in the conference room and had to use the hallway instead. 

The more they discussed what needed to be done, the stronger Hunter’s determination became. Even if he had to finish it all by himself, Hunter wouldn’t give up on the project until the sun came up Monday morning. So what if his weekend was now doomed for hours and hours of ceaseless animation? Hunter decided long ago that all of this was worth it. 

His business was worth it.

And so was the crippling loneliness that sat in his chest.