Page 7 of Ocean's Lost Octopus
Duncan
I studied the business card Ocean handed me. Holy shit, this guy was an executive. The suit should have clued me in to that, clearly not off the rack. His hair was styled, his skin glowing with health. Standing there, promoting the restaurant, I felt rough and unpolished. He would never want a restaurant manager for a daddy. Or a date.
When the event ended, I decided to go back to the restaurant after all. Mostly because my car was there. Having ridden over to the club in the van, I ordered a rideshare and waited out front on the sidewalk until the vehicle arrived.
All the way back to work, I tried to tell myself to let it go. If I ran into him in the building, I’d just say hello and let it go at that. He traveled in different circles than me. Would be used to the finer things in life. But by the time I got there, I was thinking screw it. He gave me his card, and he saw me working, so he knew I wasn’t rich.
“Thank heavens you’re back.” I was surrounded by the late-shift staff who all had complaints and concerns and needed my help. I went from one crisis to the next, putting out metaphorical fires until things settled down again, right before closing. Then there were all the jobs that had to be done at that time of night. If I hadn’t come back, the supervisor would have filled in for me, but as it was, I sent him home along with all the rest and sat down behind my desk in my closet of an office to handle the day’s receipts and some other bookkeeping I would have had to do the next day had I not returned.
The little was taking up a fair amount of my mind, and I had to add up the take three times before it matched what thecomputer told me it should. Our system needed updating pretty badly, but usually I didn’t have much trouble balancing.
I had my phone in my hand and a text typed before I glanced at the time. Late. But Ocean had been at the club, so he might still be up.
Nice meeting you, officially. Give your Octopus a hug for me.Send.
I waited a couple of minutes before bringing up a spreadsheet on the laptop screen. He was asleep. Alone.
He was single, right? He didn’t say otherwise when I asked him out. After a bit, I disciplined myself to get my work done. We lived in the same building, and maybe we’d run into one another in the pool area or the gym. From the way that tailored suit coat hung on his shoulders, he was working out somewhere. I’d been planning to check it out anyway.
Thebuzz-clicknotification made me jump. I scrambled to grab my phone, heart beating way too fast. I swiped the screen with my crossed fingers on my free hand. It was him!
Nice to see you as well. Are you home?
No, I decided to come in to work and help with closing.
You’re a glutton for punishment. Couldn’t you have just skipped it?
Interesting that he thought so. Yes, I could have, but the work wouldn’t have gone away. He probably had similar things to do, but most people didn’t know the crazy hours our industry required.
It’s easier to get it all done and then I can sleep in a bit in the morning.
That’s a very daddy attitude.
He couldn’t have given me a better compliment.I do like to take care of things and of people, so I suppose you’re right. Did you win any of the silent auction items?Pushing my laptopaway, I leaned back in the chair and planted my legs on the desktop.
You’re going to laugh.
Good. Tell me. It wasn’t that really graphic erotic sculpture with proportions unlikely to exist in nature, was it?
OMG no. You saw that thing? I didn’t bid but looked like a hundred others did. Can you imagine wanting that in your home?
I guess to each his own, huh? No. I wouldn’t want it, but I’m glad it raised money for charity.
We went back and forth, talking about the event and the nice things he’d heard people say about our food. He’d won a custom stuffie, meaning, he could use the website for the donating company to design a friend for his octopus and they would make it for him.
What is it going to be?I asked, intrigued at what kind of sea creature would be buddies with an octopus.Octopuses are very intelligent, aren’t they?
Yes and Tennie is the smartest of all. We need to look at all the options on the website before we decide, but thinking maybe a starfish or a sea urchin.
Can’t wait to see those.I caught sight of the wall clock over the door. One of many product promotions we received from suppliers, it revealed we’d been texting for over an hour.Hey, I’m going to sleep in, are you?
I wish. Eight a.m. meeting with HR about some sort of crisis. It’s always a crisis with them.It seemed executive status did not make life perfect.
Then it’s right to bed for you so you get at least a little sleep. Can you at least sneak in a nap at some point if you get tired?
Don’t tell anyone, but that’s why I have a couch and blinds that shut out the rest of the office. My PA guards my catnaps with the fierceness of a mama tiger.
I think I’ll like them.
