Chapter 25

Scott

I stood outside my car looking at the construction site in front of me. I was at a job interview with the company from the paper. I had sent in my resume, and they called me back the same day, scheduling an interview for that Monday morning. Nerves bubbled over in my stomach as I approached the office trailer door. Inside was a middle-aged man, round in the belly, with a sincere smile on his face.

“You must be Scott,” he said. “Welcome. Come sit down. Would you like some coffee?”

“No, thank you, though,” I said, shaking his hand and handing him a paper copy of my resume.

“Wonderful,” he said, looking it over. “You worked for your last company for a long time. What happened?”

“Honestly? I fell in love.” I chuckled. “She just happened to be the boss’s daughter.”

“I see.” He chuckled. “Thank you for being honest. And ouch, that sounds like a bad time.”

“It wasn’t at first, but seeing as I’m here now…”

“Well, I talked to your foreman, Bill, and he gave you a glowing recommendation,” the man said. “He told me you were fired wrongfully and that they missed you.”

I smiled. “That was nice of him.”

“So, tell me why you want to work here.”

“I know the work,” I said. “It’s almost muscle memory at this point. I know the regulations, and quite honestly, the work pays well. I just want to come in, keep my head down, work hard, and bring in the money.”

“That is a good answer,” he said. “I get tired of the same old ‘I’m the best man for the job’ answers. I like your honesty. How about overtime? Are you opposed to weekend work from time to time?”

“Opposed? No.” I chuckled. “I welcome it. In fact, I’m motivated to be chosen for it. I have dreams for the future, and whatever money I can make, I’m on board for.”

“Excellent,” he said, taking notes.

As we went through several technical questions I could have answered in my sleep, I felt this weight lift off my shoulders. At first I thought it was the idea of having a job, having something to get up for in the morning. I hadn’t been out of work for long, but I was starting to go stir crazy not having something constructive to do with my hands. I was more motivated than ever to get the money saved up that I would need to open my first hardware store. It was my dream, and no matter what the business plan said, no matter how daunting it looked, I was determined to make it happen. But even with all that weighing on my mind, I realized it wasn’t the prospect of a new job that was motivating me; it was that I felt better. I felt better after punching Carl straight in the jaw.

I’d had so much pent-up anger, so much aggression, that I hadn’t known what to do with it, and letting it out on that asshole was like a sweet release. As I had stood in the parking lot looking down at him, I’d realized something. It was his fault I was in the position I was. He took information that was none of his business and ran with it, spilling the beans before they were ready to be spilled. It wasn’t that Cassie’s father was told. It was that we didn’t have the chance to do it together in an adult setting with calm minds. Carl took advantage of the shock value behind it all. Everything fell on his shoulders. All the fault and blame were his and his alone.

My mind had gone back and forth, over and over, blaming myself, then blaming Cassie, then going back to blaming myself. It wasn’t my fault though. I had done nothing wrong. It wasn’t Cassie’s fault either. She was in the same boat I was. Cassie wanted to be with me. She wanted a life with me, no matter what the consequences, and instead of seeing that as a beautiful thing, I had pegged her for being selfish. It wasn’t, though. It was kind and loving that she wanted to be there to support me through all the trials and tribulations of life. She wanted to be there for me, not for herself, and she was willing to risk her entire beautiful life for that. Selfish was as far off the rails as her choice could have been.

As for me, I had known exactly what I was doing from the beginning. I was acting like I did everything on a whim, and maybe the first night I did, but after that, every choice I made was calculated, thought out, and purposeful. I knew what the risks were. I had known them before Cassie ever even showed her face. But I’d weighed them against the idea of not having her in my life, and the risk was worth it to me. I spent so much time kicking myself because the repercussions of my actions were so negative that I hadn’t stopped to think about the fact that I had already known there was a good chance it would happen and I’d made the choice to be with Cassie anyway. Why? Because she did something to me I had never felt because of anyone in my life. She made me want to be a better man, to drive for my dreams and never let anything stand in my way. With her by my side, I knew things would work out in the end, even though it looked like they hadn’t.

From the first moment that I saw Cassie on that job site, I knew there was something between us. The way her eyes sparkled when she looked at me, how her demeanor changed every time I walked past, and how interested she was in knowing all about me had made me think she felt that connection too. It was like we were being drawn together by some outside force that didn’t want us to stay apart. I knew the night I got into the Uber with her that things were going to change forever, but I couldn’t stop myself. I felt like I needed her. I needed to be as close to her as possible. The sex was hot, sure, but there was more to it than that. It was like being with someone I had known my entire life.

“Well, Scott,” the man interviewing me said. “I don’t think I need to know any more. I’d love to have you on the team.”

“Really?” I said. “No second interview?”

“I’ve been in this game long enough to know that when you have someone with your experience and dedication, you don’t pass them by,” he said. “I’m sorry about what happened to you at the last place. That is a huge chunk of time to lose, but I think you will find that you like it here. There is always drama with crews, but we keep a tight leash on things, and generally, most of my guys are people I would consider friends.”

“Excellent, sir. Thank you so much.”

“No problem,” he said. “I’ll call you tomorrow with all the details.”

“Perfect,” I said, standing up and shaking his hand. “I look forward to working for you.”

I left the job interview feeling even better than before. My goals were within reach. I saw that when I had created my new business plan. With this job, I could continue forward—and at the same pace as before—and before I knew it, I would have my own company. I wasn’t a nobody, and I had to stop letting Cassie’s father make me feel that way. In fact, I needed to stop allowing anyone to dictate how I felt about myself and whether I thought I was good enough. I was an upstanding guy, someone who cared about others, who worked hard for his dreams, who never took anything from anyone I didn’t earn. I was trustworthy, loyal, and when I loved, I loved with my whole heart. Mark was wrong. Any girl would be lucky to be with me, and I knew I would be lucky to be with Cassie. We complimented each other, and no matter what my bank account balance was or what car I drove or didn’t drive, that didn’t define my worth. Nothing but how I felt about myself defined who I was on the inside.

I got in my car and headed home, feeling awesome about landing that job. It wasn’t even much of a pay cut—a couple of bucks—and hopefully the guy was right about the drama part. I wanted to work, to get my job done and move on toward my dreams, without having to deal with a bunch of gossiping men. Not only did I want to prove how amazing I was to myself, but I wanted Cassie to see it too. I didn’t want there to be any doubt in her mind that I was the right man for her. She would see it as soon as I told her about the new job, about how close I was to making my dreams come true, and about how sorry I was that Carl had gotten in the way of everything. If she didn’t already know how perfect we were together, I would show her by being the man I was when she first fell in love with me.

I put away my things and changed my clothes, hanging my one suit back in the closet where it spent most of the year. I never really had a reason to dress up, but I kept it for funerals, weddings, job interviews, and things like that. When I was done, I grabbed my phone and sat down on the couch, scrolling through it until I came to Cassie’s name. I wanted to tell her about the new job, share things with her, try to get her back into my life. I dialed the number and listened to it ring, and I sighed slightly as it went to voice mail. She didn’t pick up, but I wasn’t sure what I expected.

“Hey there,” I said, leaving a message. “It’s Scott. I really would like to talk to you. Some things have happened, and you were the person that I first thought of. We need to sit down and talk things through. Call me back.”

I hung up the phone and sat there for a moment, not feeling as bad as I normally did when she didn’t answer. I had a plan this time, a plan that would benefit me and her at the same time. It felt good to be back on track, to know what I was looking forward to in the future. I looked at the time and figured I might as well go out Ubering. Every extra dollar was a step toward my goal. I grabbed my keys and headed out for the evening, finding my first fare almost immediately. Mondays had always been quiet, but that night I made quite a bit of money. Things were starting to go well for me everywhere I turned. Maybe this wasn’t the end of my story, just a change of scenery, which seemed to be exactly what I needed. I had become stagnant before, but at that point, driving around in my car, a new job on the horizon, I felt completely renewed and ready for the next steps. Life was getting better, and all I needed now was to get Cassie back in my life.