Page 114 of Where We Fall

“Thanks, Ma,” Mia says sincerely.

“I’ve been thinking about everything,” I start as I twirl a piece of lemon garlic spaghetti onto my fork. “Lexi and Marcus are both a part of our success at our company, right?”

Luke and Mia nod their heads in agreement.

“Well, what if we just have them open a Chicago office? We can keep Lexi on as the IT Director and hire someone to work under her here in Cleveland. We have plenty of clients in Chicago, and one of them is our largest. Marcus can run the office. We know we needed to expand our workforce and get some people in under us to do a lot of the contract work while we go out and bring in the clients. We also know that getting some employees underneath us to trust enough one day to help with sales is something we need to implement sooner rather than later.”

No one answers immediately. Instead, everyone seems to think about my suggestion. Mia speaks first.

“I think that’s an excellent idea. Keeping both of them on board is a win for the company. It’s 2023, there’s no reason we can’t do Zoom meetings and work around the distance between us. If we’re going to be a top wine distributor, we need to think like it.”

True. Our goal to move from a million-dollar revenue company to a billion dollar will only happen with expansion.

Lexi has been streamlining our systems to get us in that direction, but a larger sales team will be what makes the difference.

Marcus leading the way on training would actually be perfect. His personality is perfect for it. Everybody instantly loves him. He has that kind of warmth.

Now that I know Mia’s on board, I look over at Luke. He shrugs his shoulders.

“I’m just mad I didn’t think of the idea first,” he says. “Seems so damn obvious.”

“It is a great idea,” Ma says. “When are you going to tell him?”

“I’d like it to be sooner rather than later. What if we flew there in a couple of days? We can scope out some offices to temporarily rent. Short-term leases until we have an idea of what we want, and we can surprise him there.”

“I’ll look into office space,” Savannah offers. “I’m sure I can have a nice list for you by tomorrow evening.”

“Perfect. Thank you,” I respond. “Maybe we can fly out on Tuesday then.”

Mia and Luke agree. Now, I just hope that Marcus doesn’t hate me and accepts the offer.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Lexi

Themorningsunsneaksin through a gap in the curtains.

I stretch my arms over my head and look to my right. Marcus is sleeping soundly, his mouth halfway open. I smile to myself as I look at him.

Despite him trying to put on a brave face, I know the last couple of days have been hard on him.

He’s texted with his family here and there, but nothing really significant. At one point, he will have to acknowledge his feelings about leaving his home.

Even if he is ready to do this, it’s okay to feel sad for what he is leaving behind.

He has an entire family unit back there that loves him unconditionally. Sure, they have some issues, like most families do, but I know he will miss them.

I’m not going to force him to deal with it if he’s not ready.

I just hope that he doesn’t regret moving here down the road. I don’t want to be the reason for any unhappiness he has in life.

He begins to stir in his sleep. One eye pops open, and he looks over at me.

He groans. “Why are you watching me like a psycho?”

I laugh. “I can’t help it. You look so sweet and innocent when you sleep.”

“Sweet and innocent. Are you saying I’m not those things when I’m awake?” he says with both eyes closed.

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