Page 66 of Caught A Vibe

A voicemail from Nicola following up on damage control for the reviews.

All needing my opinion before they can act.

I leap from well-rested to stressed in a heartbeat. Any one of these events could put us under if I can’t fix it. Together? I’m screwed. Every day more problems chip away at my belief that I can do this. My resolve is crumbling under the impact of these setbacks. My plan is in shambles.

I have always been the person with the answers. The one who figures things out and saves the day. It’s been a point of pride that I can take care of myself and my responsibilities. Maybe my childhood was rockier than I’d like, but it did give me a killer work ethic and a desire to be in charge. Now that I am, running my own company, employing my friends, making million dollar mistakes, that desire is flagging and I don’t know if I have the energy to keep going. But I have to. Failure is not an option.

A kiss on my shoulder from Dash startles me. Had there been any coffee left in my cup, I would have scalded us both.

“Good morning. Do you have a minute before your day gets hectic?” he asks, taking my hand in his.

Too late for that, but I nod and let him lead me to the couch where I’d fallen asleep waiting for him to finish last night. I don’t want to be salty about it, but I had a free evening and he’d chosen to work through it. I had hoped to unwind with him, and I’m a little miffed that an article about Zoom backgrounds took nearly seven hours to write.

He opens his laptop and sets it on my lap before reaching across me to pull up my website.

“You fell asleep yesterday and looked so peaceful that I couldn’t wake you. So when I finished my article, I got to work on the client portal.”

He clicks through a few of the pages while I try to catch up. It’s hard to pull out of a pity spiral on a moment’s notice. He’s saying words, but I’m not taking any of them in.

“You can see the basic functions here, but I didn’t want to do the full design until I knew I was on the right track. What do you think? Is there anything I’m missing? Anything you’d like to change?”

I sit back against the sofa cushions and feel my soul shrivel a little. I am a horrible person. Here I am, pissy that he hadn’t set aside his work for me, and he’d been letting me rest and doing work for my company instead. That sticks like a fish bone in my throat, and I cough to clear the sudden tightness.

“Dash, I don’t know what to say. You outlined so much so quickly. This looks amazing.”

With his jazz hands flared to the side, he grins and croons in his best sea witch voice, “This is what I do…it’s what I live for!”

I can’t help but laugh. “And what will I have to give you in return for this…favor?”

Dash laughs with me but quickly sobers. “I know you want me to play along and demand your voice so you’ll have to use body language, but I can’t. You don’t owe me anything for this. I’m happy to help and shake the rust off my skills.”

“You never told me why you stopped coding.” I don’t want to pry, but I really fucking want to pry.

“That is a long and sad story, and now is not the time. The pages are all saved in draft form so you can look them over in detail today and tell me anything you want to add or change. Be as specific as you can, and I’ll keep working on it this evening. Have a great day, babe.” He kisses me on the lips and beats a hasty retreat toward the bedroom. “I’m gonna hop in the shower.”

Message received.Touchy subject. And he’s right. First thing in the morning, as I’m triaging my company’s failures, isn’t the best time to tackle an emotional memory. I’m distracted and not likely to be able to give him the attention he deserves. But I’m not going to forget. I owe him some slack after the way I misjudged him, so I will save my questions for later.

As I sit there, trying to get my analytical brain to function, a message pops up on the screen from his former roommate, Rishi. Dash’s reply from his phone flashes almost immediately.

Rishi:

How goes things with sex toy babe?

Dash:

Things are going great.

I hope he doesn’t ask about my giddy grin when he comes out of the bathroom. If he does, I can truthfully say I’m ecstatic about his design work, because I am. I sit for another few minutes, scrolling through the page mockups, making notes and brainstorming functionality. This is going to be amazing when it’s finished, and I can see how he’s setting up places for community to grow once I have customers in the pipeline.

I can’t believe how well he’s solved this problem for me after one conversation and a coding binge. With this solid win under my belt, I switch his computer with mine and join the Zoom call to save my company with a lighter heart.

Chapter18

Dash

Idrop my phone down on the couch, my hand gone boneless, my jaw slack. Adrenaline and dopamine fight for supremacy in my bloodstream as excitement and fear fire simultaneously. I can’t believe it. In the middle of the uncertainty of a global shutdown, I’ve been promoted.

The lowest man on the ladder, the last one hired, the gamer boy.

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