“Hey, Mason…did you get that report done for me yet?” I had barely turned on the light to my office when Dominic was at my door. Instead of finding this behavior irritating, I had learned to see his haste as endearing. I had become an integral part of HFS and Dominic knew it.

“No, but I’ll have it by COB today.”

“Very good, Mason,” he muttered as he turned to leave. Just before he was out of sight, he turned back around for one more question: “How’s Jordan doing?”

I smiled. Dominic was slowly warming up to Jordan again. Right after he quit, Dominic vowed to never have anything to do with him again but now, seeing as his top HR employee was carrying his child, Dominic was slowly making an effort to acknowledge Jordan’s existence, and even show interest in his well-being.

Tactfully, I had decided to wait a couple of months before coming out to the office about my relationship with Jordan. Though a few people probably questioned whether or not our relationship had begun before Jordan quit, they never asked me about it and, eventually, the excitement of the situation faded into the past, like most things do.

“He’s really good, thanks for asking.”

“Well, maybe the wife and I will have you two over some time.”

I knew this would never actually happen, but appreciated the sentiment all the same. “That would be nice.”

Closing the door behind him, I saw his expression soften and his shoulders relax. Even though he struggled, he was trying to be a nice guy and was proud of himself when he accomplished even a small exchange of pleasantry amidst his busy day of fighting with salespeople.

Suddenly, a dull pain began to take hold in a deep part of my abdomen. I chalked it up to indigestion from the Chinese dinner Jordan and I had indulged in the night before and opened up my laptop to get started on Dominic’s report.

I was soon interrupted by another knock at my door. On the other side, I saw through the glass partition the familiar long legs hidden by a brown pantsuit.

“Come on in, Amy!”

Opening the door, I noticed a sense of fluster instead of her normally stoic demeanor. Her eyes were wide and she began rubbing her hands together as soon as she took them off of my doorknob.

“I need your help. I think we’ve been in violation of some ergonomic code and now one of our employees is threatening to sue. We can’t have that bad press right now, Mason, we just can’t.”

“Don’t worry, Amy, I am on this. We’ll figure it out.”

Like with Dominic, I noticed her shoulders begin to relax as she let out a deep exhale.

“Thank God. Do you have time to come to my office to discuss the details? This is very time sensitive.”

“Of course.”

It happened as we were walking down the hall to her office past the cubicles: I felt a warm sensation emerge from my lower region, like a slow but determined explosion. My pants were beginning to deepen in color due to the liquid that was beginning to soak through them, eventually dripping down my leg and onto the floor.

“Oh my GOD!” Amy cried out, calling attention to the entire office. “Mason! Your water broke!”

With that, applause began to erupt from all corners as Amy led me by my arm to the closest chair of the nearest cubicle. Various cries of support like, “Way to go, man!” and “You can do this!” rang through my ears, but I only had one thought on my mind:

“Someone please call Jordan!”

“Of course, Mason.” Amy was handing me a glass of water. “My car is right in front - I’ll drive you to the hospital. Marcus, get Jordan on the phone.”

“Use my office. Speed dial number five,” I told him.

“No problem, Mason. Good luck!”

With that, Amy grabbed me, lifted me back to my feet – with surprising strength - and we made our way toward the elevator bank.