Page 2 of Beauty and the Boss Man

When he’s done with his sandwich, he gets up to throw away his trash before walking over to me.

“I might have a solution to your cold problem,” he begins.

I brace myself for him to mention a space heater again, but he doesn’t.

Instead, he continues with, “In a couple of weeks, there’s a construction conference going on. Well, it’s sort of half conference, half retreat. There will be classes but still other fun stuff to do too. I wasn’t planning on going, but they’ve asked me to speak at one of the seminars.”

I fight the urge to ask him why in the hell they’d want him to be a guest speaker. The man barely speaks more than fifty words a day. But I don’t interrupt him to say any of that.

He goes on, “Anyway, it’s a week-long thing, and I’d like for you to come with me. It’s a nice resort, and I’ll cover the cost of your flights and the room stay. All the meals are included, and it’s an open bar all week. And of course, you’d be able to take some classes while you’re there if anything interests you.”

I think about it for a moment. I’ve never been to any type of conference before, and I’m super intrigued to know what Mr. Quiet might say to a vast room full of people. But who’s going to run this place?

When I ask him that very question, he answers with, “Tom can handle things while we’re gone. The job on this site is winding down anyway, so I shouldn’t be needed.”

Tom is his number two when he’s doing the construction side of things. He’s a nice guy, but I guess I don’t have the faith in him that our boss does.

My mind races a mile a minute, worrying about how much work will be piled up for me when I get back. But I suppose I could take my laptop and at least answer emails while I’m there.

Feeling his eyes still staring at me, I sigh and say, “Okay. Sounds great.”

I swear I see a hint of a smile, but it disappears too quickly to know for sure.

“Perfect,” he replies. “I’ll send you all the details.”

I nod, and he heads toward the door to get back to work, but I stop him.

“Wait, how does this whole thing help solve the problem of me being cold?”

Now, he actually smiles. A full, wholehearted smile. And before he walks out the door, he says, “Oh, did I not mention it’s in Key West?”

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