Chapter Twenty-Seven
Noah
Tuesday morning arrived before I was ready for it. I barely got any sleep the night before since I was jet-lagged worse than I ever had been before. The American flight attendants were less concerned with my sleep than the Australian attendants had been on the way down. Even though Gina, Jess, and I were in good spirits. That last leg of our journey dragged on much longer than it needed to. And after dropping Jess at her apartment, Gina and I went home and passed out.
It was a good thing I’d set my alarm for work because when it went off, my body and mind were in different time zones and I had no clue what day it was. Checking my phone, I realized it was Tuesday already, and I had to get ready for work.
I lingered in the shower for longer than normal, turning the water cold so that I could wake up. I promised myself I would get right to work when I returned from Australia. That was easier said than done.
It appeared to be the first day I’d ever gotten dressed since I put my pants on backward and went through two pairs of socks before I managed to match them.
By the time I got downstairs, I was a little more grounded in my schedule. I made a strong pot of coffee and guzzled two cups before Jess arrived.
“Good morning,” Jess said cheerfully from the doorway.
I glanced at the clock. I needed to leave now.
“Hey, Jess,” I said and pecked her on the cheek. “I gotta go.”
“Have a good day,” she said as I headed out the door to start what was going to be what I knew would be a rough first day back at work.
The coffee kicked in halfway to work, and by the time I got there, my hands were shaking. At least my brain worked again.
Even though Allison rarely came in before eight-thirty, she was at my door when I arrived at the office.
“Give me everything in order of importance,” I said, opening my office door.
“Everything is important today, Noah,” Allison said. “Last week was a bit busy for everyone.” I tried not to hear the twinge of attitude in her tone of voice. I seemed to recall her taking every single vacation day since she’d come to work for me. Yes, I was the boss, but I deserved some time off too. Even if it meant I’d regret it soon after when dealing with people like her.
I tried to calm my declining mood. It was only because of my lack of sleep. Allison had done nothing wrong.
She showed me a stack of paperwork on my desk. The sight of it was alarming as I generally worked through each day’s contracts and proposals and other miscellaneous things to sign on a daily basis. I’d never seen this much work on my plate before. For a brief moment, I regretted going on vacation at all. But as Jess said yesterday on the way home, everyone needed a vacation.
I wished Jess could understand why I never went on them. I didn’t regret going to Australia, but I should have expected this workload. It was easy for her since, at the end of the day, she didn’t have to take work home with her, or deal with employees’ livelihoods in her hands.
Yet the time I spent with Gina last week was priceless.
I hated that I constantly battled between my personal and professional life. The daily war waged harder today, and the only way I could deal with it was to bury myself in my job.
By noon, I’d barely dented the pile, but I’d fallen into my routine much quicker than I’d anticipated. Allison held off on any meetings or phone calls for me, so I was able to lock myself in my office and get caught up.
A little after noon, I received a photo from Jess. She and Gina were at the park on the swings. I took a satisfying breath and looked at their smiling faces. How I wanted to get back home to them and extend our vacation just a little longer.
Seeing the stack on my desk propelled me to work harder so I’d be able to get home to Jess sooner.
My phone buzzed. I groaned and picked up. “I thought I said I needed time to catch up.”
“I know, Noah, but the warehouse just called, and one of the trucks is out of commission, affecting three deliveries today.”
I hung my head. “Get me in touch with them now, please.”
As Allison connected me to the warehouse, I closed my eyes and tried to remember the calming crash of water on the shore from my many trips to the beach last week. I was already fired up and needed to calm down before someone else was about to be.
It was seven o’clock by the time I got home from work. I’d texted Jess to let her know she’d have to stay late that night. Guilt snaked through me at the fact that I wouldn’t be able to see Gina until tomorrow night, but it wasn’t something I could help. Once I got back on track, I’d be able to get home earlier, but I had no idea when that would be. We were backlogged an entire week, and with my stress levels, no one was going to have a good week. My company hadn’t been this off track since we’d first started.
“Hey,” Jess said to me when I got home.
I pecked her on the lips and placed my briefcase on the kitchen table. I had a lot of work to complete tonight, but now that I was home, all I wanted to do was go to bed.
“Rough day?” she asked.
I rubbed my eyes. “Rougher than I can remember for a long time.”
She placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure tomorrow will be better.”
“I damn well hope so,” I said.
Jess frowned. “I made a casserole for dinner. Do you want me to heat it up for you?”
I checked my watch. “If you wouldn’t mind. I know it’s late though.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sort of the reason you’re stressed out now.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said. “I should have done more work when I was over there. Allison significantly underestimated how much was going on while I was gone.”
“Do you think you can catch up this week?” she asked.
“Probably not; I have this week’s work to do as well. I’m going to be pulling a lot of hours this week. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” she said. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a glass container. She moved around the kitchen as it were her own.
I sat down on one of the bar stools and watched her take a plate from the cabinet and place a chunk of the casserole onto it.
“Gina really missed you today,” she said.
“I feel guilty enough, Jess. I don’t need to hear that.”
“I’m just telling you what your daughter said,” I noted a hint of annoyance in her voice. Her attitude wasn’t helping my mood. I knew Gina missed me, but what the hell was I supposed to do about that? I had to work. Someone around here did.
“It will take her a few days to adjust to the new schedule,” Jess said. “Sometimes vacations, especially ones halfway across the country, need a little time. That’s all I was saying.”
“I know,” I said. “Today is the first day in a long line of days of adjustment for me.”
Jess broke up the chunk of casserole with a fork while she spoke. “Well, it’s a good thing you have a lot of money. If it gets too stressful, you can always sell the business and retire comfortably. I know Gina would love having you around more. Or you could take a demotion and be a salesman if you get bored with retirement.”
What? “Retirement? Jess, I’ve worked too hard to retire this early.”
Her eyes met mine. “You’ve made more in a short amount of time than most make their whole lives.”
“And I intend to keep making that money until a proper retirement age.” I stood up. What did she know about my past? Not much. When we were alone, I monopolized the time to get to know her. And I guarded my past. Maybe if she knew about the struggle I’d had growing up, then she would get off my back about working. Wendy had done the same thing at times, even though she knew me back then. What was it with women always trying to fix me? I wasn’t broke. “I grew up in poverty, Jess. Like sometimes I didn’t eat for an entire day. I lived in a one bedroom apartment and slept on the floor. I’ve worked my ass off my whole life to never go back to that point again.”
“Noah,” Jess said. “I didn’t know.”
“And that’s my fault, but you should see where I’m coming from.”
“But you have money now,” she said. “You can do anything with it.”
“Like retire before I’m forty? She needs to look up to a strong parental figure. Not some guy who sits on his bank account and golfs all day.”
“I wasn’t saying that,” Jess said. “She knows you’re anything but lazy. Or a golfer.”
I knew she was trying to make light of the situation, but my mood wasn’t broken by her words.
“I’m more than that,” I said. “I’ve worked too hard to let it all go now. I’m in my prime, and I intend on going until I can’t go anymore.”
“What about Gina?”
“What about Gina?” I challenged.
“She only has one parent. Don’t you think it’s important to be there for her? Right now is a crucial time in her development—”
“Isn’t that why I hired you?” I said. The moment the words were out I regretted them.
Her lips pressed together until they were a thin white line. “I think I should go. Heat up the leftovers for a few minutes in the microwave,” Jess said and left the room without giving me a kiss.
I stood there, staring at her for several moments before I heard the front door close. She definitely wasn’t coming back to talk about what I’d said. That was her though. She always ran. She needed her space, especially after the stupid thing I said to her.
I went over to the plate and brought it to the microwave, following her instructions.
I watched the plate move in circles around in the microwave. I might have been a little too hard on her, but I’d had a rough day. I wasn’t sitting at home making a quilt and playing at the park. Jess had no idea what I went through each day. Though since she didn’t, it wasn’t fair for me to be rude to her. Tomorrow was another day. I’d apologize in the morning. We both needed time to cool off.
When the food was ready, I grabbed the plate and a slice of bread from that bakery Jess loved before heading up to my office. Our talk had given me an extra boost of energy that I needed to carry me through working the rest of the night, though Jess didn’t stray very far from my mind.