Page 87 of Full Send

I look over at my phone on the nightstand as I hear it buzz, ruining a perfect moment. I see Jeff’s name flash on the screen. I’m jolted to my feet when I realize it’s not a text message or app ping. It’s an incoming call. He’s calling me and it’s still only 9:00 AM back in Ohio.

“Shit shit shit.” I stand up, heading to the other side of the bedroom. I look back at Tanner still in bed, but sitting up now with a worried look across his sleepy face.

I answer the call, terrified of what might be coming my way. I can feel my pulse quickening, sweat on my forehead, the warning signs of an impending full blown panic attack all rearing their head.

“What are you doing right now, Veronica?” Jeff asks, his tone more curt than usual.

“Morning, Jeff. Just waking up. It’s still early out here,” I reply.

“I just got off the phone with Princeton Mills. Remember the last design we worked on with them for their instant coffees and teas? When we consolidated their branding and did that press release?” he asks.

“Yeah. Of course, why?” I’m not sure where he’s going with this. It has nothing to do with Earth SnaX and that’s about all I’ve been working on lately.

“It’s a fucking shit show. Somehow all the print plates for their packaging are wrong and they don’t match anything in the press release. It’s halted their production and they can’t ship anything. I need to go there and see what happened and help smooth this out,” Jeff continues, his rushed breathing audible through the phone.

A sense of dread washes over me. Princeton is our single largest and oldest client. Anything they ask for, they get, no questions asked. I see Tanner out of the corner of my eye, heading my way. I can tell he knows this isn’t good.

“So, how can I help? What do you need?” I ask, hoping for the best.

“I need you to come back, tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. I can’t lead the Earth SnaX presentation tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be at the plant to see how this got messed up forPrinceton and doing damage control,” he says, flatly, as if this is a normal, reasonable request.

“What? I’m on vacation, Jeff. Why can’t they reschedule? Can we not do it over video?” I’m in disbelief. This guy never stops asking for more and more.

“Veronica. They’re already flying in from Oregon. I talked to Cindy this morning and they already boarded their last connecting flight. They get into Dayton tonight. The best I could do was get the presentation moved to later in the afternoon tomorrow. Hopefully you can get back by then. We’ll cover your flight change costs.” Flight costs? He’s calling to upend my whole vacation and that’s what he thinks I’m worried about?

“Ok, Jeff. I’ll let you know when I change my flights.” I manage to reply, feeling completely defeated.

“Good. I’ll see you in the office when I’m back onThursday,” he replies, before promptly hanging up.

My head is spinning.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I have to get to the condo and pack. I have to call the airline and change my flight. I have to go back through the entire presentation again. I’ve been in such a blissful bubble here I haven’t even thought about it in days.

I rush to the side of the bed, putting my clothes on in a flurry, looking around for anything else I brought over.

As I’m getting dressed, I feel Tanner’s hand on my lower back.

“Ronni,” he says, his voice straining to stay calm. “Talk to me. What’s happening? What’s wrong?”

“I can’t, Tanner. I have to go pack. I have to leave,” I say, rushing to the living room to grab my overnight bag with my change of clothes.

“What do you mean you have to go? You’re just going to leave?” he asks, struggling to get his jeans on, trying not to tripover following me around as I frantically try to find my things in the cabin.

I stop for a second, looking back at him. His eyes are tortured and worried. He’s still shirtless and I desperately want to touch his chest and sink my head into him and feel his warmth. But if I do, I know I’ll never pull myself off of him to leave.

“Yes. My boss needs me there. We can’t reschedule this presentation and I’m the only one who can do it.” My heart pounding in my throat as I start to spiral, thinking about what the next twenty-four hours are going to be like.

“You’re kidding, right? That’s bullshit,” he says, his voice now unable to hide his disapproval. “They can’t just cancel your vacation and make you come back. Don’t they get that people have a life outside of work?”

“Please, I don’t have time for this right now. Can you just take me back to the condo? I need to pack, like right now.” I can barely contain my emotions. I can feel my legs shaking, my hands trembling. “Please, Tanner. I need to go back.”

I can see his body language soften. He heads to the kitchen to grab his keys before throwing a jacket on over his bare chest. Even now, drifting into a full blown nightmare, the way his body moves, his muscles work, is poetry in motion.

“Let’s go,” he barks. Rex looks at us with concern as Tanner leads me out the front door, pulling the cabin door shut behind us.

The ride to the condo is silent. I’ve spent practically every hour I could with Tanner for nearly two weeks and nowhe’s silent,almost unreadable. It’s hard to tell, but I think his expression drifts from what looks like concern, to anger, to near tears. His jaw is clenched and his teeth are digging into his lower lip. His knuckles are white, his hands are grasping the steering wheel so tight.

---