Chapter 24
She hadn’t heard from Xavier, and he hadn’t sent her any more work.
Izzy wondered what was going on. She couldn’t let too many days go by empty, and with things starting to slow down for Thanksgiving and Christmas, she was extra vigilant about her work drying up on all fronts. All of her jobs kept the wheels turning, and she couldn’t afford for Xavier to slack off with his side of the deal.
It occurred to her that he was a little disorganized, that he didn’t always have clear timelines in place, and she didn’t like that—having fluid boundaries.
She had started to use the MacBook in earnest, because it was faster, and easier, and it now made her own laptop seem so painfully outdated in comparison. And it was loaded with the latest software. She’d even started taking it to college with her.
A few days before the Thanksgiving weekend, she sent Xavier an email, and when he didn’t reply, she called him.
“Hello.” He sounded gruff, short. Not like his usual self.
“You haven’t sent me any work.”
A sound, something like a grunt, came over the phone. “Didn’t I?” he groaned again, as if it was a chore for him to find her something to do.
“Do you have anything?” She was all caught up with her studies. “I’ve got lots of free time right now and I can do the big stuff, if you have anything that needs doing.” And she wasn’t going home for Thanksgiving this year, either.
“Let me think about it.”
“Something wrong? You sound stressed.”
“I’m kind of busy right now. I’m not going to be able to give you anything to do until after Thanksgiving.”
“Oh, really?” That didn’t sound good. “I thought you had lots of paperwork for me to go through?”
“I can’t do it right now.”
She thought he sounded distracted, or maybe his assistant had returned and he wasn’t telling her. “Has your VA come back?”
“No. Why do you say that?”
“It’s just that you said before that you had lots of work for me.”
“I hadn’t counted on you being so fast.”
“I can’t help it. I’m efficient.”
“I’d noticed.”
“So, can you give me some more? Things have quietened down for me on all fronts.”
“I’m busy, Laronde. I swear I’ll sort something out for you but right now I’ve got papers everywhere and my office is a shitstorm. I can’t even think straight.”
“I could help you tidy up—if its paperwork and admin things.” Anything for a few extra hours of paid work.
She needed the money and she didn’t want to be in a situation where she started the New Year and had no work. Savannah might change her mind and might not want her back ever, and Xavier could say he didn’t need her anymore. And where would that leave her?
He fell silent, which made her think he was thinking about it.
“In that case, hell, yeah. If you want, you can come over and tidy up my office. But I’m going to be here, because I work from home.”
“Duh. I know that. You already told me.”
“I’m just reminding you because earlier you seemed happy that you wouldn’t have to be around me.”
“I trust you now.”
“You didn’t trust me before?”
“I didn’t know you. You had a reputation.”
“There’s nothing to it. It’s all conjecture.”
“I’m not so sure.”
He let out a long breath. “Why is it never possible to have a normal conversation with you?”
“We are having a normal conversation.” But she knew what he meant. It was true. They always seemed to be bickering.
“Come over when you’re ready. I’m in all day.”
An hour later, she buzzed up to his apartment. He was in a gray hoodie and lounge pants and had bare feet. It caught her off guard, because she was so used to seeing him dressed up, even in casual jeans and a t-shirt, they would be designer jeans and designer t-shirts. And she felt odd staring at his bare feet, as if it gave her a personal and more intimate insight into him.
“I don’t wear a suit to work,” he said, maybe because he caught her looking, maybe because her gaze lingered too long.
“It must be a perk of the job, being able to wear what you want.”
“It is. Do you want a drink? Something warm? Coffee, tea? Something else?”
“No, thanks.”
“College winding down now?”
“It’s like a ghost town. People are starting to go home for the long weekend.”
“When are you leaving?” he asked, his arms folded across his chest, the draw string from his hoodie hanging down over his chest.
“I’m not going home for Thanksgiving.”
He looked perplexed. “You’re not? I thought all starving students rushed home for Thanksgiving.”
Not this one. She couldn’t afford to travel home for Thanksgiving and had decided to go just the once at Christmas. It made sense with it being a longer break then. “I’ll go home for Christmas.” She didn’t need to explain to someone like him why she could only pick one time of year to go home.
“Where’s home?”
“Cleaver. It’s a small town near Pittsburgh.”
“It probably doesn’t take too long to fly back?”
“I guess not.” Not that she was flying. For her it was 9 hour train journey. “Cara’s gone home.”
“She has?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“So it’s just you at home?”
“Yes.” She smiled, letting him know she was okay about it, and that she didn’t want that pitiful look from him.
“How’s her ankle?”
“Fine, back to normal now.”
“Good. Are you girls planning on going to any more women’s marches?”
“If they have some more, then sure.”
He didn’t say anything to that.
“Why don’t you show me this messy office of yours?” she asked.
“Follow me.”
She followed him into his office and examined his workplace. “You’re right.” She surveyed the carpet of paper and books, and magazines all over the floor. They weren’t thrown haphazardly; there seemed to be some order, but it was messy. “It is a mess.”
“I’ve got stuff I need to get done today. It wasn’t this messy a few days ago, I promise.”
She cast her eyes all over it. It wasn’t going to be more than a few hours work. But if she could make herself useful, she could wrangle a few more hours of work out of him.
“Show me what you want me to do.”
~ ~ ~
While Izzy tidied up his office, he moved his laptop to a far corner of the kitchen and worked there.
There was much to be said for having virtual assistants take care of things, but nothing beat having someone come in and look after the paperwork the way it needed to be. He was often so busy, he didn’t have time to properly do it and his businesses were suffering for it. Having her be here wasn’t such a bad thing.
A couple of hours had passed, and she was still tidying up, filing away and archiving his paperwork.
He ordered a vegetarian takeout from NYB, the place he knew she’d liked food from the last time. He ordered it without asking her, because he didn’t want to go through the back and forth of asking her if she was hungry, having her say no, even though he knew the chances were she probably was. A feeling in his gut told him that she probably hadn’t gone home because she probably couldn’t afford it.
“I had lunch,” she said, when he told her to come into the kitchen because he’d ordered some food in.
“That was hours ago.” He beckoned for her to sit down.
“Aren’t you having anything?”
Was that disappointment he heard in her voice? This was working—this new way of not pursuing her so doggedly. “I’ve got to scan some documents through,” he said. “You start, and I’ll be back.”
He rushed into his office and saw the newly transformed neat and tidy office space.
“Nice,” he mumbled to himself. She’d done a great job. He felt as if he could breathe again.