Working It(8)

Yeah, like that was going to happen.

When he wasn’t actually working, he was home thinking about work. He was surprised on his third day of employment when Zack handed him a brand-new tablet. “It’s embarrassing to see you using paper and pen.” Nolan had been grateful and about to say something when Zack followed up with a quick, “But don’t waste my time playing around setting it up.”

So the last two evenings had been filled with him learning the new technology, operating system, and programs. Now, no matter the time of day, Nolan had access to Zack’s schedule and Zack had unfettered access to him.

That was an oddly appealing thought.

The tablet was yet another mixed signal from his boss. The thoughtfulness of the tool so he could do his job more easily, versus the cold remarks he’d made when presenting it. This contradiction in Zack’s personality had been digging at Nolan from the moment he’d laid eyes on him that first day. Nancy had warned him when he’d gone to chat with her in her office that once Zack got annoyed, Nolan would be on the receiving end of a barrage of negative remarks and picking. “He does try for a while, but he’s just not a very nice person.”

Her remarks had echoed in his ears the entire walk back to his desk.

The phone rang, jerking him from his thoughts. “Good afternoon, Mr. Anderson’s office.”

“Nolan.”

A shiver rolled through his body at the sound of Zack’s rumbling voice on the other end of the receiver. “Yes, sir?”

“Cancel my six o’clock with Jeremy. I ran into him earlier, and we discussed the shipping issues with Vancouver.”

Three clicks and Jeremy was deleted into the ether. “Done. Anything else?”

“Go home.”

Nolan frowned. “It’s only four fifteen.”

“I have a personal appointment that’s going to take up my time, and I won’t be back to the office. It’s Friday. Go home.”

Oh. That was more than a little unexpected. “Are you sure? I don’t have any plans tonight and would be more than happy—”

“If you say another word, I’ll fire your ass.”

Nolan snapped his mouth shut. Zack was also quiet, and if it weren’t for the hiss of the open line, he would have sworn his boss had hung up on him. The temptation to say something—ask a question, pretty much anything—was strong, but he had no doubt Zack really would fire him.

So he waited. Eventually, Zack cleared his throat. “This week was . . . positive. Given you’ve never done this job before, I didn’t know what to expect. You surprised me.”

“Thank you.” He cringed and hoped the almost-compliment wasn’t leading up to a death blow.

“Leave. I’ll see you Monday.” Zack hung up.

Nolan held the phone receiver out and stared at it for a few moments before replacing it on the hook.

Okay. That had happened.

He couldn’t shake the feeling this was a test. Did Zack expect him to ignore the demand and stay, or did he genuinely want him to have an early weekend after putting in long hours all week? It shouldn’t be this much of a problem, and he hated that his brain went off in search of problems when he should be gathering his things and leaving. Shit, he could get some takeout to bring home to Tina. They could celebrate that he was now gainfully employed and looking as though he might actually be able to keep the position. For the first time in a long while, Nolan smiled as he got to his feet.

If Zack were testing him, then there wasn’t much he could do about it. He’d earned this. All week he’d managed to keep from having a panic attack as he’d focused on his new job while learning what it meant to be an executive assistant. That was a feat unto itself. Tonight he didn’t have to be strong.

He ordered Chinese from their favorite take-out place and grabbed it on his way back to the apartment. By the time Tina got home from work, Nolan had the table set, the wine poured, and the music playing.

“Happy Friday!”

“You’re home early.” She dumped her things on the floor by the armchair and grabbed her glass of wine from him. “And I approve.”

“Boss wasn’t going to be coming back, so I got to leave. I wanted to give you a thank-you dinner.” They clinked their glasses together. “To your neurotic brother finally becoming gainfully employed.”

“Here, here.” She swallowed down a large gulp. “Now all I need to do is get my neurotic brother back out to the clubs so he can find a hot guy to bang.”

“No.” Nolan turned his back on her and marched into the kitchen. “I’ll get the food.”

She strode just as quickly after him. “Come on. You haven’t dated anyone seriously in years. You need to get back out into the world.”

“I’ve been in rehab and not really dating material. Not to mention the whole freaking-out-in-large-crowds thing.”

“So don’t go somewhere that there’s a large crowd.” She took the bag that held the food containers out of his hand and put it back down on the counter. “I wasn’t going to push you if the job didn’t go well, but it did. For the first time since your accident I’m seeing the old you. You’ve been happy to leave the apartment every day. You’re smiling, for God’s sake. If your boss didn’t sound like an asshole, I would tell you to go after him.”

“I don’t even think he’s gay, so that wouldn’t work.”

She waved her hand. “Doesn’t matter. What I’m saying is that you’re finally on the mend. Honestly and truly getting better emotionally and spiritually. You need someone in your life, someone who will love you for the awesome person that you are.”

It wasn’t like Tina to hound him about this sort of thing. “What’s going on?” Nolan put his wine down and gave her a hug. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” She hugged him back hard. “Really good. When I saw that you’d bought dinner and wine, I thought for a moment you’d heard my news.”

Nolan pulled back, frowning. “News?”

She sighed. “Let’s get this to the table and sit. It’s good news. Mostly.”

It was hard to wait even the few minutes it took them to relocate the food and wine to the table. His sister had been such a help to him over the past two years, had put a significant part of her life on hold for him, she deserved to have something positive happen. Nolan even went so far as to fill her plate with all of her favorites before he broke down. “Spill it.”

“I don’t want to ruin—”

“Tina.”

“Okay, so I’m not sure if you remember the project I was on last year. The ad campaign for the new line of trucks?”

“I remember.” There had been talk of her team winning some sort of advertising award. She’d been disappointed when it didn’t happen.

“Well, it turns out that it wasn’t just our department that had been impressed with what we’d done. I’ve been approached by senior management to lead a new department. It’s a new position working mostly with a company in Japan, but it’s a major contract and a huge promotion for me.”

Nolan had always been a bit in awe of Tina’s job and her work in advertising. The way she’d combined her skills in graphic design and psychology, and successfully moved up her company’s ranks, had blown his mind. “Oh my God, sweetie. Congratulations! What’s the problem?”

Her smile faltered. “That’s because of the not-so-great news. If I accept the position, it means I have to move. The new team is at our Vancouver division.”

As the words soaked into him, the panic he was sure she was worried about began to churn. “And you don’t think your baby brother can handle life on his own? Pfft.”

“Please. I know you better than Mom and Dad. I know things have been hard on you. It broke my heart to see everything that you’d worked for taken away from you because of a fucking icy road.”

“It was more the tree in the ditch that I hit than the road.”

“Nolan!”

“Sorry.” Leaning back, he ran his thumb along the rim of his plate. “I owe you so much, Tina. You saved my ass in more ways than I can count. A place to live, food, not teasing me when I was at my lowest. I know it’s been hard on you, even if you haven’t said anything.”

As he spoke, Nolan knew there was only one thing he could do. Taking his glass in hand, he stood and held it out. “To my amazing sister. Let me be the first person to congratulate you on your promotion. I have no doubt that you’re going to get that new team whipped into shape the same way you got me back to normal.”

Tina’s blush covered her face before Nolan finished speaking. “You’re not normal.”

“As close as I’m likely to get.” He downed the remains of his glass. “When do you leave?”

“I told them I needed a weekend to think about accepting the position. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take it.”

The fact that she’d been so worried about him, to the point where she was willing to turn down a promotion, annoyed Nolan. “You will.”

“Then I’ll have to give notice on this place.”