Page 49 of Jump Start

“I’ll show you to your office then! And you’ll have the contract by the end of the day. If you have any issues with what’s written in there, please let me know and we’ll work it out.

Chris led me down the hallway past Thomas’s office, where he was sitting on the phone, before revealing my own office. Just two doors from Thomas’s.

His and hers offices. Cute, Harper.

I was impressed to see all the junk that was in there cleaned away. The office was smaller than Thomas’s but had a desk by the window and a small balcony, whereas his didn’t.

“Welcome,” Chris said as I saw a beautiful orchid sitting on the desk with a note, before leaving me to assess my new officealone.

I read the card attached to the beautiful phalaenopsis.Harps, congratulations! Now you can boss me around outside of the bedroom too xx Thomas. His note made me laugh and blush at the same time.

I placed the orchid against the window where it could get some sunlight and took out my laptop. I would need to resign now, whilst working out of my new workplace, what an odd sensation.

As I waited for my laptop to start up, I noticed a familiar figure in the corner of my eye leaning on the door frame. “Office swap? I didn’t realise how nice this one was,” Thomas said with a wink.

I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Thank you for the lovely plant and no, absolutely not.” He kissed the top of my head, and we stood there for a while, not speaking, until he finally broke the silence.

“I am so fucking proud of you, Harper,” his voice shook a little at the end. I dared not look up at him, knowing that if I made eye contact, I would cry. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d be working as a journalist at a racing garage. That was the thing about life, right when you thought you had it figured out, it threw something completely amazing and left field at you.

***

Thomas let me be so I could write my email to Harry. I felt a little disheartened to be leaving my very first job in journalism,but it was time for a change. This would be an exciting step up for me.

I leant back in my chair after hitting send, the last line of my email replaying in my mind.

I want to thank you for taking a chance on a journalism graduate straight out of university. Your faith in me was encouraging and gave me a fantastic start in my career.

It was true. Harrydidtake a chance on me; however, his recent attempt at forcing me to out the Echidna team was less than savoury. I knew Harry would oblige me with a positive reference, so I wanted to end things on the most professional level I could. Sometimes, you just had to play the game. I had given Harry three weeks’ notice, as I had a few pieces I needed to complete for publishing. I also wanted to be fully present for the last race of the year. Funny to think that by then, I would be an actual member of the team.

I walked out to the balcony of my new office and looked out to the small park across the road. No one was there, only the trees swaying in the breeze, birds trying to get food off the ground, and an endless stream of cars going by. I made a mental note to walk over there one day on my lunch break.

I felt I had made the right choice, that this was a step forward in my career and regardless of Thomas’s whereabouts, Echidna was a good fit for me. On top of that, I could confidently say that I was now a motorsport fan.

***

At the end of the day, Thomas and I walked hand-in-hand to hiscar before splitting to get into our respective sides.

“This could be us every day,” he said as he started the engine.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t given that a thought at all yet. There’s a lot going on.”

“No, no. No reason to be sorry. I just like having you stay with me at my place.” He offered no further comment. It was lovely how excited he was to have me live with him. I just needed more time to consider what it meant to be living together. Our feelings for each other were clear but working together and living in the same house sounded like a huge commitment, and I wanted to make sure I was making the right choice for me.

Sometimes, it surprised me how sure he was about the whole thing.

“Thomas?” I asked, halfway through the drive back to his place.

“Yeah, Harps,” his reply was gentle, while he continued to look out into the traffic.

“Thank you for asking me to move in with you, but I don’t think I’m ready yet. Can we see how working together goes first?” I asked looking across at him, trying to work out his thoughts from afar. The afternoon sun behind his head highlighted his features, making him look golden in comparison to the dull grey interior of his car.

He considered his reply for a moment.

“I get it, Harps. Yeah, of course. We’ll just keep staying at each other’s places and have our own time. All good.” I could hear the disappointment in his voice. I didn’t want to hurt him, I just wanted to be sure.

“It’s just that seven months isn’t a lot of time, don’t you think?” I asked as he turned off the road to meet the gates of hisproperty.

He reached out his window to check the mailbox, before coming back empty-handed.

---