Derek stared at the whiteboard for a long moment.

He took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen.

I could see the email notification from the consulting firm, waiting for his electronic signature.

“They gave me forty-eight hours to accept,” he said.

“It’s a lot of money, Derek,” I said. “It would make things very easy for you.”

“I don’t want easy,” he said.

He deleted the email notification from his screen with a single swipe.

“I want to do something that actually matters,” he said, turning to face me.

He took a step closer, his expression more serious than I had ever seen it.

“Let me join Solar Reach,” he said.

I blinked, surprised by the sudden intensity in his voice.

“Derek, we can’t pay you anything close to what Chicago offered,” I said.

“I don’t care about the pay,” he said. “I want to be your operations director. I can handle the suppliers, the shipping, the logistics. I can protect the business side so you can focus on the technology.”

I looked at him, seeing the determination in his eyes.