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Tyler’s voice suddenly broke through my train of thought, knocking it off its tracks.

“What?” I said, sounding just as distracted as he’d accused me of being. I coughed to clear my throat, wanting to reestablish the balance between us. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that you’ve been staring at your laptop forever, but I haven’t heard you type a thing.” He smirked as he went on. “I’d say that qualifies as being pretty damn distracted, don’t you?”

“Fine. You caught me.” I shrugged. “I’m a little distracted today but it’s nothing I can’t recover from?—”

“Is this about Parker?”

“I…” I suddenly stumbled over my words, failing to come up with anything that sounded like a coherent thought. “Uh…”

“I mean, it’s obviously about Parker, right?” Tyler laughed. “Francis told us what was going on with you two at the make out cave. Nice one, by the way, getting away from us at the beer place so you two could get some alone time?—”

“I don’t know if we should be talking about this at work?—”

“If we don’t talk about it at work, where are we gonna talk about it?” He laughed again. “Seriously, though. I get it. Hooking up with someone new always eats up all of my brain space, too.”

He then placed another stack of papers on my desk before he added, “Oh, George wanted you to look these over. He said to let him know if you had any questions.”

“Got it.” I nodded as I took the papers into my hand. I quickly noticed that the majority of them were blank except for one huge bold letter in the center of each of them. I began to sort them out, connecting one letter to another in my head, my lips quietly reading the phrase they spelled out loud:

R E T I R E M E N T P A R T Y T O N I G H T

Y O U R T U R N K I D D O

“Wait…” I was struggling to process the words I’d just read, my heart starting to race behind my chest. “Does this actually mean what I think it means?”

“Congratulations, Nicholas!” Tyler was beaming as I looked back up at him. “I told you that promotion was yours if you wanted it.”

“Holy shit…” I set the papers back down on my desk, as the realization slowly washed over me. “Holy shit! George wants me to take over for him?”

“Not so fast.” Tyler grinned as he shook his head. “There’s a whole process to it. George isn’t just going to hand you the keys to the place?—”

Tyler’s response was cut off by me hastily pulling him into a too-tight hug, excitement flowing through my veins. “Holy shit! Tyler! Holy shit!”

“Whoa. Are you hugging me right now?” Tyler chuckled. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Where’s George?” I asked as I pulled away from Tyler, the question coming out much louder than I’d intended. “Is he back in his office?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s?—”

Once again, Tyler’s response was cut short, this time by me rushing out of my office and right into George’s. I knocked on his door while I was already standing in the door frame, feigning politeness despite the million questions I had burning through my chest.

George’s face lit up when he noticed me, soon resting the pen in his hand against a nearby notepad.

“So, I’m assuming Tyler delivered my message?”

“Are you serious?” I pressed. “Is this real? As in, this is really happening?”

“You think I’d waste my time trying to prank you, kid?”

“I just wasn’t expecting this so soon?—”

“Oh, it’s not that soon.” George let out a light chuckle. “We’re having the retirement party now but make no mistake. I’ll still be in charge around here for a few more weeks. This is more of a formality, gives everyone a chance to grieve my future absence and to make whatever plans they need to make. Like you, needing to plan how you’re going to move all your crap from your desk into my office.”

“I’m not going to let you down, George.” It was all I could think to say, my brain so muddled with the news. “I’m going to do the absolute best I can to live up to your legacy and?—”

“I know you will, kid.” George smiled. “Why the hell do you think I picked you?”

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