Page 7 of Off Limits

“Richmond,” sounded from behind me, and I turned to find my boss, Mr. Seagraves. He was twenty years my senior, and every last year was etched across his face. Every day, I waited for the announcement of his retirement, but it was yet to come. “I'm so glad you made it.”

I bet he was. The old fart flirted with me every chance he got. I never made a fuss, since he never got handsy or anything. In a way, it was flattering, and I figured it was never a bad idea to be in the boss's good graces.

“I'm glad to be here,” I replied before shaking his outstretched hand. Mr. Seagraves held the gesture a little too long, and smiled a little too widely. I was grateful for Gavin clearing his throat and distracting my boss…until Mr. Seagraves’ attention shifted, and his grin widened even more, becoming damn near predatory.

“And who is this?”

“This is my friend Gavin,” I replied after a moment's pause. Calling him ‘my son's friend’ felt wrong. He was much more to me than that. Even my friend left a sour taste in my mouth, but I swallowed down the flavor and feeling to add, “Gavin, this is the CEO of our company, Mr. Seagraves.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Gavin replied, nodding his head instead of offering his hand.

“It is indeed. So, just a friend, eh?” Mr. Seagraves replied, nearly salivating as he leaned closer to Gavin. “So you are single, then?”

My heart surprisingly sank into my stomach when Gavin answered, “I wouldn't say that.” He told me that he hadn't met anyone special in college, but I hadn't asked any other questions. It shouldn't matter. It didn't matter. So why did it feel an awful lot like it mattered?

A sigh of relief left my lips when Gavin added, “I'm in a long term relationship with my student loans.” His joke was cute, but it didn’t garner Mr. Seagraves’ reaction. He laughed out loud as he clutched his stomach. Gavin was charming the pants right off of him. Hopefully not literally, because nobody needed to see that.

“I love a man who can make me laugh,” my boss gushed, stepping closer to Gavin. “Tell me; what did you study in school?”

“Marketing and business.”

“You don’t say! Our Chief Marketing Officer, Sheryl, is due to retire soon.” I wasn’t surprised to hear it; Sheryl was even older than Mr. Seagraves. “Everyone will shift upwards, and we will have an entry level position opening up. Maybe I can put in a good word for you; I know the boss,” he winked as he referenced himself. Mr. Seagraves wrapped his arm around Gavin’s shoulders, and I got the sudden urge to kick him in his wrinkly balls. “I have a feeling you and I could make something beautiful together. What do you say?”

“I have to politely decline,” Gavin answered, stepping out of my boss’s hold. Both my and Mr. Seagraves’ eyes widened. This was a great opportunity, especially for someone just starting their career.

“Decline?” Mr. Seagraves repeated, sounding shocked. “But why?”

“To be honest, sir, your offer makes me uncomfortable. You asked nothing about my studies or credentials, so you know nothing about my abilities. That along with your touch tells me there may be ulterior motives at play - no offense. I know I can earn my way up the corporate ladder on merit and hard work. Settling for anything else is a disservice to myself.”

Well, I’ll be damned. I’d put up with Mr. Seagraves’ slight creep factor for years; even seeing it as commending at times. But Gavin stood strong, respectfully but clearly drawing a line in the sand. He put his integrity above his career, and I was insanely proud of him.

I was unsure how Mr. Seagraves would react to Gavin calling him out. I couldn’t tell if the expression on his face read as anger or embarrassment. My boss had a lot of pull in the business world, even outside of our company. He could easily help or hinder Gavin.

But whatever happened, I would stand by Gavin’s side, both figuratively and literally. I side-stepped to be closer to him. I stopped myself from placing my hand on his back. It would be an innocent touch of solidarity, but I didn’t want to cross any boundaries as my boss had done.

Mr. Seagraves’ appearance finally softened. “Forgive me for stepping out of line. You seem like an upstanding young man who will be an asset to any company you join. Tell you what; next week, bring your resume to my office and I’ll look it over. Now, if you two will excuse me, I have to make my rounds.” He gave a dip of his head and disappeared into the crowd.

I blinked as I tried wrapping my mind around what just happened. “That was amazing.” Gavin was amazing. There was no way in hell I would have been so brave at his age; especially when dealing with an authority figure. He certainly wasn’t a meek kid anymore.

“Guys like that will take a mile if you give them an inch.” He looked at me and asked, “He’s never tried anything with you, has he?” The iciness in his gaze and stiffness of his jaw gave me a little thrill.

“No, nothing like that. He’s just made borderline inappropriate comments every now and then. To be fair, I’ve never told him to stop; I just ignore it.” Gavin nodded and I asked curiously, “Are you going to take in your resume?” Even though Mr. Seagraves made a shitty first impression, the company was great. If I had any qualms about Gavin’s safety, I’d tell him to run for the hills.

“I’ll think about it.”

It was fair; as much as I would like Gavin to join my company and potentially my team, the most important things were his comfort and needs. Whatever direction he wanted his career to go, I wanted to help.

So, I guided Gavin around the room and introduced him to my coworkers. A few of them asked if he was my son, which made sense, given that he was the same age as Wade. It was strange, though; the more time I spent with Gavin, the less I noticed our age gap. I chalked it up to his maturity and charm. All I knew was that I greatly enjoyed being near him.

And speaking of his charm, it was on display for everyone we met. He had each person either in stitches or hanging onto every word he said. We even found ourselves talking to a group of people which included Mr. Seagraves again. He behaved himself this time and he and Gavin held an actual conversation.

When Mr. Seagraves asked what he was looking for in his career, Gavin told him he was looking to work in a collaborative environment. He enjoyed brainstorming with both clients and colleagues to build the best campaign possible. He said it was important to capture the client's vision while applying design expertise.

His answer impressed more than just my boss and myself. Several of my colleagues told him about job openings they knew of around town, while others encouraged Mr. Seagraves to ‘snatch Gavin up’ before our competitors could. With the positive buzz going around, I had a feeling there would be a bidding war for him before he finally settled somewhere.

“Are you hungry?” I asked when we finally broke away from a chatty group.

“I'm starving.”

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