Page 28 of Executives' Omega
“And I’ve never seen you happier in a job, until recently. You’ve always been worried about them before, but this time it was different. You’d come over and tell me about the good things that happened, instead of the bad. I think…” He paused and ran his hand up and down my back. “I think… that if you can clear these hurdles: loving your bosses and worrying about what the one said when you went to Chicago…”
“Zane,” I interrupted.
“Zane…” he corrected as the sound of another car going by came from the street. “If you can stop worrying about what he said, I think you’ll find that this is really the job for you.”
“I can’t disappoint them,” I whispered.
He rested his head on mine. “I don’t think you will.”
“You know better.”
“I do, which is why I think you’re in the best place for you.”
I elbowed him in the ribs, earning an ‘oof’.
Owen responded by holding me tighter so that I couldn’t move. “Listen to me, Bug. You know I want what’s best for you, and I think this is it. It might be scary, but I know if you can give it a little more time, it’ll all get better.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
He sighed. “Trust me? Please. At least another month. Don’t start looking for a new job until after the fourth, maybe even wait until August? Can you do that?”
I took a deep breath, then nodded. “Ok.”
“You won’t regret it, I promise.”
I let out a long breath but didn’t argue.
“Ready to go back in?”
“A few more minutes?”
“Ok.”
I didn’t want to go back in and face Aunt Sharon again, but I’d do it for Jace and Owen.
∞∞∞
“Good morning,” I said as the guys walked off the elevator and towards their offices.
Brendan, Alonzo, and Zane each smiled at me, but Linden merely grunted and nodded an acknowledgment.
It had been that way all week. Things had been ok on Friday, then the baby shower over the weekend, and when I came in on Monday morning, Linden was cold and distant.
After five days of minimal interaction, I still had no idea why.
“Linden,” Zane chided.
Linden merely flipped him off and stormed to his office.
Brendan sighed. “Sorry about him.”
“What did I do wrong?” I asked, turning to stare at where Linden had disappeared.
“You didn’t do anything,” Zane replied. “He’s just being an asshole.”
“If you say so…”
Zane smiled, then continued towards his office. Alonzo followed a moment later.
