A loud rush floods Noel's head and for a moment he can't speak, his heart blocking any words that might come out of his throat.
"You will hand in your resignation on Monday," he father tells him, attention already shifted back to the documents on his desk. "If you still wish to work, I will arrange a civilian job for you, or you can take my offer to remain here, but you won't be permitted to engage in Paradigm work anymore."
"No."
His father pauses, glancing up. "Excuse me?"
Noel's pulse throbs in his ears. He grips the strap of his bag with both hands so hard he can feel the fibers imprinting on his palms. "I'm not quitting."
His father frowns. "Noel, this isn't a discussion. I'm telling you that—"
"You can't do this," Noel interrupts, earning an annoyed brow furrow. "I'm an adult. I'm twenty-five years old. I don't take any money from you. You can't make me quit my job just because I did something you don't like."
"I told you when you took that job that—"
"So?" Noel demands, pushing the words past the constriction in his throat. His heart is racing, thudding in the base of his skull. "You don't own me. I've done my best to stay quiet for two years to keep from embarrassing you—and I didn't do anything wrong at the party!"
"Do not raise your voice at me," his father warns, eyes flashing.
"I was helping a coworker!" Noel continues, ignoring him. "I didn't know someone was going to take a picture—"
"But you knowingly engaged with Jade Ransom," his father interjects, anger starting to bleed through his affected disinterest, "who is the most famous esper in the country! Everything he does is scrutinized and reported—simply by approaching him, you submitted yourself to that scrutiny, and therefore you cannot be trusted to protect the Arden reputation any longer!"
"The Arden reputation?" Noel repeats shrilly. "Is the Arden reputation really so delicate that it can't stand a single D-class guide?!"
"We have a legacy to uphold!"
"Then I'll change my last name! You won't have to worry about me damaging your reputation anymore!"
"It's too late for that," his father growls. "Cutting off Natalia's son would only reflect poorly on us."
"So then what are you going to do?" Noel asks sharply. "Because I'm not quitting."
His father slams his hand down on the desktop. "Either you resign, or I call President Laine!" he yells, pushing himself to his feet. "Your choice, Noel!"
"Call her."
His father falters slightly. "What?"
Noel crosses his arms, trying to hide the way his entire body is trembling. "You'll have to call the president, then, because I'm not leaving. Call her."
"You think I won't?" his father snarls.
"It doesn't matter. She won't fire me just because you tell her to, and I'm not quitting." Noel is betting a lot on Jade's influence with the president, but he doesn't think it's unwarranted. If the most powerful esper in the country has decided to work at your agency, you'd do anything to keep him there. All Noel has to do is tell Jade to prevent him from getting fired. It might raise the president's suspicions, but this is an emergency situation. "So you're either gonna have to let this go," Noel continues, "or you'll have to kidnap me or something, and there are plenty of people who would notice I'm missing."
"Noel!" his father hollers, eyes bugging out. "I will not tolerate this disrespect!"
"Fine, then, I'll leave!" Noel yells back. "Then you won't have to tolerate it anymore!"
"If you don't resign immediately, you will never see your grandmother again!"
Rage pours through Noel's veins, sudden and blinding. "Then I'll make damn sure everyone in the country knows my name!" he hisses. "I'll make it so that no one can even think of the Arden family without thinking of their sad little D-class!"
"Noel!"
"You'll have to kill me to shut me up!"
A loud crash behind him makes Noel jump and he whips around to see one of the ornamental vases near the door in pieces, shards littering the floor around its display stand. The lights flicker, and Noel looks back at the desk in time to duck out of the way as a pen holder flies past him. It hits the door with a loud bam!
"Do you think I won't hurt you, boy?!" his father snarls.
A spike of fear drills through Noel's chest and he stumbles back a step. "I'm not quitting," he repeats through the tremor in his voice. "You can't make me quit—and throwing a tantrum won't change my mind!"
Something else explodes nearby and Noel screams, raising his hands to cover his face.
Then the door slams open. "Dad, I thought I told you that I—" Beckett's loud voice cuts off and Noel peeks at him through shaking fingers, breath caught in his lungs. "What are you doing here?" Beckett sneers. "Leave. I have to talk to dad."
"Beckett," their father starts, instantly back down to a normal volume. "Your brother and I were in the middle of something—"
"So? This is more important." Catching Noel's wide eyes, Beckett jerks his head toward the door in a clear dismissal.
Noel doesn't need to be told twice. He scrambles out of the room, heart rabbiting against his ribs, and practically sprints down the hall. The assistant from earlier is coming out of another room as he passes.
"Oh, Mr. Noel, are you already—"
"Fuck you!" Noel tosses over his shoulder. "If I ever see you again, I'm calling the police!"
The rest of his dash through the house is kind of a blur. By the time Noel comes back to himself, he's hiking along the tree-lined street leading to the front gate, breathing so hard his throat feels shredded. He doesn't know why he was so scared. He wasn't even this bad when he was caught inside the perimeter shield with a titan-type malform and a deranged esper. And he walked away from Jade melting his shoes to the floor and nearly hitting him with electronic equipment feeling nothing but anger. Now, he's trembling so hard he nearly drops his phone twice while getting it out, just from his father tossing things around a little. What is wrong with him?
He goes to open his taxi app, then pauses. The idea of getting into a car with a stranger makes his chest tighten. Almost robotically, he navigates to his contacts and selects the last name he ever expected he'd be calling in a situation like this.
"Noel?" Maybe it's wishful thinking, but Noel thinks Jade sounds a little worried. "What is it?"
Noel swallows, coming to a stop on the pristine white sidewalk. "Can…can you come get me?"