Chapter 11

 

Jason

“Is this what you meant when you said you had everything under control?” Kevin asked.

“What? It’s fine. She was probably just tired.” Even I didn’t believe a damn word I was saying. Anna must have overheard us talking. She was clearly upset, and I needed to make sure she wasn’t going to run off and tell her father what she had heard.

“Yeah, damage control might be nice,” Kevin said as I looked at him and then at the stairwell. “We can’t afford to have Edward and Marcus flipping out on us before we’ve even put together a good deal for them to look at. Go,” he said and waved me off so I could catch up to Anna.

I rushed down the stairs and out into the parking lot just as she was pulling out of her spot. I hurried around to the front of the car and gently tapped on the hood before walking to her window when she stopped.

Her cute lips were pressed together roughly, and she wouldn’t even look me in the eyes. My heart sunk at the realization that she was genuinely angry with me. It was a new thing for the two of us, and I wasn’t prepared to handle it just yet.

“Anna, can we talk?”

“I have to go,” she said without looking up at me, but I thought I could see tears rolling down her face.

“Did you overhear Kevin and me talking? I can explain.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

She rolled her window up and pulled away from me. Kevin was walking up to me as she left the parking lot. I shook my head in disappointment.

Anna hadn’t even given me a chance to explain what she had heard. I really wouldn’t be recommending breaking up her father’s company if it wasn’t the best possible option. Plus, just because the company got sold off wouldn’t mean that anyone would lose their job at all. Many times when new owners bought part of a company, they would then keep the staff on to run it – sometimes even paying more and providing better benefits because the new owners were typically part of huge corporations.

“So yeah, this was why I said not to sleep with her,” Kevin said almost under his breath. “You have gotten us into a big mess here. If she gets pissed, she could file a lawsuit or something against us because you’re her boss. Damn, Jason, this is a mess.”

“I didn’t sleep with her, she’s a virgin,” I said and then winced at the information I’d just willingly given to Kevin.

“Wow, okay, so you definitely need to not sleep with her. But what’s all this touchy-feely shit that’s been going on in the office? I thought for sure you two were sleeping together.”

“No. We are just flirting and having fun. I promised to take her on a date before I slept with her.”

“Jason, what the hell is going on? This is exactly the mess I didn’t want to happen.”

“I’ll take care of it. I’ll talk to her. Don’t worry. She probably doesn’t understand how this could all end up working out really well for her father. I mean he will end up stinking rich after we sell off the company. He’s got to be thinking about retirement soon.”

Kevin pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. This was what he did when he got anxious. Kevin wasn’t really the yelling type of guy, and his sensibilities always helped us in our business dealings.

“Apologize to her, talk to her, and sleep with her if you have to,” he said as my mouth literally dropped open. “We can’t have this thing going off the rails, and if she will listen to you and keep quiet, that’s a good thing. However you need to do that, just do it.”

The gravity of what he was saying was huge. Kevin had basically just said he didn’t care if I slept with Anna or not and that keeping our business deal was so important he was fine with it all. I wasn’t about to manipulate Anna or pretend that we were something more than we were, but I did care for her, and I hated that she was upset.

“I’m going to get in touch with her, and we will talk. I promise. And I’ll call you to let you know what’s going on.”

“Goddamn, Jason. I think I’m getting an ulcer from all this stress,” Kevin said as he grabbed onto his stomach. “How about we take a break on the big deals for a few months after this one is figured out.”

“Sure thing.”

“I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yep, and don’t worry so much. Everything is going to be just fine.”

The problem was, I was just as worried as Kevin. It was entirely possible that Anna was on her way straight over to her father to tell him exactly what she had heard. I dialed her phone as I climbed into my car, but it went straight to voicemail.

“Hey, Anna, can you give me a callback? I’d really like to explain this business stuff to you so you’re not so worried.”

I had to get home to Clyde or I would have driven over to Anna’s apartment to see if she was there. At least I would know if she was at her father’s house when I got to mine, even if there was nothing I could do about it.

Sure enough, as I pulled into my driveway, I saw Anna’s car in her parents’ driveway. My stomach dropped to the ground over what she was telling her father and how he might react. I liked Edward; I wouldn’t wish anything bad to happen to him, and I genuinely believed he could have a heart attack from the stress of hearing that the company was going to be sold.

If I was the one to tell him, I could explain things better. If we had some offers for the different parts of the company, we would have a clearer picture of how things would work after the sale. Right now, this was all just an idea. We didn’t have anything officially up for sale, and we didn’t have any offers so it would be extremely premature to tell Edward about the plan. Telling him right now would only cause enormous distress with no possible positive outcome.

I stood in the driveway contemplating if I should go knock on Anna’s family’s door. It was much too late just to be randomly knocking on my neighbor’s door, though. Instead, I decided to send Anna a text, more of a plea than anything else.

JASON: Anna, please don’t tell your father anything yet. Trust me, I have a plan, and I want to explain it to you. Please, just don’t tell him tonight. Give me a chance to explain.

Although my phone registered that the text was delivered and then shortly after it was read, Anna did not respond. I stayed in the driveway for five minutes as I looked up at her window and then at all the other windows to see if she was looking at me. I couldn’t see her and finally relegated myself to going home.

Clyde was already in bed and asleep, and Rosie was in her room. I felt horrible that I’d kept her away from her family again; I’d been working so much lately that I’d had to rely on her much more than I was used to. At least once a week over the last two months, Rosie had spent the night at my house in the spare room. Normally she only had to stay over when I was traveling or closing a big deal, not after the deal had closed.

But everything about this Cook, Sparser, and Conner deal was weird. Like where was Morgan Sparser at? That question had bugged me from the second we started looking into the company. And why was Edward Cook’s name the first on the list for the company name? Every time I’d ventured to ask those questions, I got weird roundabout answers that satisfied me for the moment but left me even more confused later.

I lay awake much of the night thinking about this deal and how it had felt different from the very beginning. I shouldn’t have agreed to talk with Edward and give him advice on his company so many years before. It was my policy not to give friends advice, and I should have let that policy include not giving neighbors advice.

I crawled out of bed when my alarm went off at six o’clock with only a few hours of sleep. I showered and made my way back to work. Anna’s car was still at her parents’ house, but that wasn’t surprising since it had been nearly midnight when I got home, and I left before sunrise.

When she got to work, we could talk things out. I was convinced that being face to face with each other was all she needed to see where I was coming from and what was really going on. Her father would be able to see it as well, but only if I could present it to him the proper way. The presentation was 3/4th of anyone accepting a proposal. They got a good feeling about what was being said right away and would make up their minds before they truly understood the deal.

“Everything okay?” Zelda asked as I walked onto the floor.

“Yep,” I said very unconvincingly.

I moved slowly to my office and put my things down before going straight to the coffee machine. There was no way I was making it through that day without lots of coffee. As I stood staring off into space and waiting for the coffee to brew, I heard a woman’s high heels leaving the elevator.

I hurried to look around the corner and was disappointed to find that it was just Mary from accounting. It wasn’t even seven o’clock, so there was no reason for Anna to show up to work that early. And she especially wasn’t going to be early after getting so upset with me and Kevin the night before.

I muddled through my morning, drank my coffee, ate some donuts and was ready for a nap by nine o’clock. I was also ready for Anna to come in and was getting pretty damn worried about her not being there.

My phone buzzed...

It was Zelda. “Hey, just wanted you to know Anna called and said she wouldn’t be in today. She’s not feeling well. Do you want me to see if a temp can come help out?”

“No, it’s fine. Thanks for letting me know.”

I went straight to Kevin’s office to tell him what was happening. This wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all.

“She called in sick today, and her car was at her father’s place last night. She’s not answering my calls.”

He went to his signature move of pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to figure out what would be the best approach. I grabbed a seat next to his desk and sat there waiting while we tried to figure this whole thing out.

“I’ll go talk to them,” Kevin said reluctantly as he breathed out a huge exhale. “This isn’t going to be comfortable, though, and you’re going to owe me big time.”

“You mean beyond the dozen or so past things I already owe you for?” I laughed and tried to get Kevin to chuckle, but he definitely wasn’t seeing the humor in the situation.

“Maybe we should give her, I mean them, some space? If they haven’t shown up here yelling and screaming at us, maybe she didn’t tell him yet. Maybe she’s just thinking things through, or perhaps she really is sick?”

Kevin just laughed at me without even looking up. He was just as tired as I was, and neither of us was thinking straight. “Let me think for a little bit, and maybe I’ll try calling Anna.”

“Okay, I’m going to have to take a nap or head out early today. I really didn’t sleep at all.”

“We can wrap things up early if needed. I’ll get some feelers out for the sale, and then we will go from there.”

As I walked back to my office, a gloom had settled in the hallway. Without Anna there, it wasn’t as bright and happy in the office. There was nothing especially different, except that Anna’s smiling face wasn’t greeting me as I approached my office door.

The rest of the morning was not productive at all as I waited to hear from Kevin and find out whether he was able to talk to Anna.

The uneasiness of the situation wasn’t what I was used to in my business or personal life. For as long as I could remember, I always had a good idea of what was coming next for me. If I was in a relationship, I could tell if it was going well or if it would be ending soon. That was probably why it didn’t devastate me when my ex-wife decided she couldn’t be married any longer. I’d felt her pulling apart from us for months before we actually had a conversation about it. The same went for work life. I usually listened to my gut and followed its recommendations for what to do. Sometimes I had to push myself out of my comfort zone in our business dealings, but even then, I could still feel that things were going to work out when everything was said and done.

Despite the ups and downs of this current business deal, my gut was telling me it was going to work out. Unfortunately, I didn’t trust that feeling at the moment. At that moment, I wasn’t sure my gut could be trusted to predict a damn thing.

By three o’clock, I hadn’t seen or heard from Kevin, and I definitely hadn’t heard from Anna. I’d gotten exactly zero work done and was calling it a day. I swung by Kevin’s office to check in and let him know I was leaving, but he wasn’t in his office.

“Hey, Zelda, do you know where Kevin is?” I asked.

“Yeah, he left around lunch time. Said he had some meetings and was going home after they were done.”

“Okay, I guess I’m going home too.”

My eyes could hardly stay open as I drove home and collapsed into my bed. I only got two hours of sleep before Clyde came bursting into the room after his day with Rosie. It didn’t matter how tired I was because when Clyde jumped into bed with me and smiled at me, I mustered up a second wind.

“Thanks, Rosie,” I said without leaving the bed. “Did you two have a good day?”

“We ate sand,” Clyde announced proudly. “But I’m not supposed to do that Rosie says.”

“Yep, don’t eat the sand.”

“I think more of it was in his mouth than in his stomach,” Rosie added. “He’s going to need a bath for sure. Would you like me to stay and do that?”

“Absolutely not, I’m looking forward to bath time tonight.”

“Can I take a bath in your tub?”

There were two main bathrooms that we used; one was in the hallway and across from Clyde’s room, and it was basically his bathroom since we didn’t really have visitors over very much. Rosie used that bathroom as well when she stayed the night. But then there was the master bath, and it had a giant jet tub that took nearly thirty minutes just to fill up with water.

“Sure, buddy. Let’s go for a swim in my tub tonight.”

“Yes!” Clyde exclaimed as he ran to his bedroom to grab his swimsuit.

When we took a ‘bath’ in my tub, we both just put our swimsuits on and played around in the water. The tub was too deep for Clyde to be in there alone, and it was much more fun when the two of us got to splash around together.

I walked Rosie to the door and peeked outside to see if Anna’s car was there, but it wasn’t. I hadn’t seen it since the night before, and I still had not gotten a reply from my voicemail or text message. The next thing on my list was going to her apartment, but I’d wait and see if she came into work the next day before I took that drastic measure.

“I’m ready, Dad,” Clyde said as he stood in the hallway with his favorite pair of Transformers swim trunks on. “Let’s go. I’m going to turn the water on. Okay?”

“Yeah, buddy, go get that water started.”

It was funny how energized I was even though I was still lacking sleep. Being around Clyde gave me the strength and energy I needed to keep going and finish out the evening. Emotions just weren’t my strong suit, and when I was younger, I’d pretty much successfully avoided dealing with emotions at all. But Clyde had changed all of that for me; for better or worse. I cared now. I cared about Clyde, Anna, Rosie, Kevin, and even Edward.

Since becoming a father, I’d been able to see how global the love that a parent has for their child is. And since losing Elizabeth, I’d also seen how a parent could be so selfish that they didn’t have that love. Even though I hadn’t been purposely looking for a romantic relationship, the friendship I’d been building with Anna was important to me. She was important to me. As Clyde and I played and had fun, I couldn’t stop thinking about Anna and how hurt she must have been by what she thought was going on. Without being able to see her and explain things, Anna would surely never forgive me.

After a bath and at least a dozen bedtime stories, I managed to get Clyde to sleep in his own bed. Within minutes of my head hitting my pillow, I was sound asleep and finally able to get some much-needed rest after a few stressful days.

Unfortunately, I’d forgotten to set an alarm on my phone, so instead of waking up at my normal time, I was awakened at eight o’clock when Clyde jumped into bed with me. He always had a level of volcanic energy in the morning that made me jealous. With age, that sort of excitement just didn’t come anymore.

“I’m sorry, Jason, he was eating breakfast and saw your car was still home,” Rosie said as she stood in the doorway.

“I know, you can’t stop hurricane Clyde,” I said as I grabbed him mid jump and held him up over me. “You look like you had a good sleep,” I teased.

“Yep, are you home today? We can go to the park? Or…”

“Clyde, you’ve got your new school today. It’s your first day of kindergarten,” Rosie said.

There are a few moments as a parent that I’ve been extremely disappointed with myself, and this was one of them. I’d been so wrapped up in work and my own life that I’d totally forgotten that summer was over, and it was time for Clyde to start school. What a huge thing for him, and I completely forgot about it.

“Oh, Rosie,” I winced as I climbed out of bed. “I haven’t gotten him any school supplies.”

“Clyde, go get your new backpack and show Daddy.”

Clyde ran off out of the room, and I was mortified as I stood there realizing what a crappy parent I’d been the last few months. Being busy at work had become my priority and not paying attention to Clyde.

“I’m so sorry, Rosie.”

“Don’t be sorry, Jason. My job is to make sure Clyde is taken care of when you can’t. He doesn’t care if you take him shopping. But I bet he’d really love it if you dropped him off for his first day of school.”

“Really, Dad? You’re going to drop me off at school?” Clyde said as he walked in carrying a Transformers backpack that looked packed with supplies.

“Yep! I’m taking you to school today,” I announced. “Give me two minutes, and I’ll be ready.”

“It’s okay, I have to eat my breakfast first,” Clyde said and ran in a near sprint back out to the kitchen.

“This is going to be a great day for him,” Rosie said and followed Clyde.

I grabbed some work clothes and threw them on before joining them in the kitchen. I made a quick piece of toast, and Rosie handed me a travel mug with coffee in it. The fact that I’d accidentally slept in that morning had worked out perfectly because I would have been very disappointed in myself if I hadn’t taken the opportunity to take Clyde to his first day of school.

As we were gathering our things to leave, there was a knock at the door. Rosie went to grab it, and there was Anna standing there. She was dressed in workout clothes and appeared to have just finished a run.

“Hey, Anna, I’m so glad you’re here,” I said almost too enthusiastically.

But Anna didn’t even acknowledge that I was talking to her. Instead, she kneeled down with some sort of toy in her hand and motioned for Clyde.

“Just like I promised you, my lucky Bumblebee Transformer,” she said sweetly as Clyde ran over to her and hugged her.

“You are giving it to me?”

“Yep. My brother gave it to me when I was scared to go to high school. I think he was joking, but I kept it in my bag, and I had the best time at school. I bet if you keep it in your bag, you will too.”

“My dad is going to take me to school today,” Clyde announced.

“That’s pretty exciting,” Anna said and looked up at me for a brief moment. “I bet he wants to make sure you have a great day.”

“Thanks, Anna, can you put it in my backpack?” Clyde asked as he turned around.

Anna slid the toy in his bag and then gave Clyde one last hug. Her eyes were so filled with sadness that I instinctively wanted to hug her too, but as soon as I started walking toward the door, Anna was walking away.

“Have a great day, Clyde; I’ll talk to you later,” Anna said and jogged over to her house.

Rosie looked at me with some sort of all-knowing glare, but she didn’t say anything. She grabbed Clyde’s hand and walked him out to the car as I followed behind them. Only when Clyde was buckled in, and the door was shut, did Rosie finally talk.

“So, what was that?” she asked with a smile and a little raise of the eyebrow.

“What was what? She’s our neighbor.”

“No, she looked at you.”

“What? You’re looking at me too,” I said defensively.

“She looked at you like a girl who is in love and has a broken heart,” Rosie said in her all-knowing way. “I guess I missed this. When did you and Miss Anna get together?”

“We aren’t together. We are friends who had an argument.”

“So, you did something stupid?” Rosie laughed.

“Yes, I did.”

“There’s still time to save your friendship; she clearly still has feelings for you,” Rosie said nonchalantly. “Make a good effort, though. Not the same kind of effort you made when you said you were going to stop eating bacon.”

Rosie and I both chuckled at her comparison. A few months prior, I’d been convinced by a news story that bacon wasn’t good for me. I told Rosie I wasn’t eating it any longer, but then the very next morning I grabbed a fast food breakfast sandwich that had bacon in it. Since then, Rosie used that to tease me, and it always made me laugh.

As Clyde and I drove to his school, I was smiling just as big as he was. This was a moment that I’d almost missed by being so consumed with my work. Since Elizabeth left, I’d made some big changes and worked hard to take the weekends totally off with Clyde. But this was just a reminder that I still had more changes that needed to be made.