Dating For Decades (8 page)

Three people have already quit and now me and Lucas are all that is left. Half the crowd is shouting his name while the other half is shouting mine. I can’t let my fans down. I wish I could see who they are. Between the heat and the sweat, my eyes are practically sewn shut.

“The last one is pretty hot. Want to call a truce?”

I stare at him. I could and then move on and not force my body into this, but I’ve come too far. “Never.”

I take the last pepper and bite into it with purpose. Lucas follows my lead and we stare each other down as we chew. Sweat pours down both our faces, and we can’t stop squinting our eyes. We both swallow at the same exact time.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a tie!”

Lucas stands up and it takes me a minute. I’m miserable and my stomach is torturing me. I manage to stand and he takes my hand and lifts our arms in the air in victory. “Damn, girl, you sure held your own.”

A smile breaks through as he squeezes my hand. I turn my head and he’s looking right at me. His eyes are watering from the peppers, but through the puddle of water, a sparkle shines through.
 

“I’m tough as nails.”

Except when I’m not.

Chapter

Ten

A long night’s sleep is what was needed after burning my mouth and throat on the peppers. I think I’ll stay away from anything with pepper, even black pepper, for quite a while. The back to school event was a success, but I’m glad to be back into my routine. Straying from my day-to-day gets me into a bit of a tizzy sometimes. I welcome structure.
 

I’m at my desk peeking around some of the files. My end goal is to find the best solution to our problem without buying more server space. Lucas has a good idea, but I want the credit for this. Or even
partial
credit, maybe seventy percent me, and thirty percent him. I’ve given so many years to this company. Lucas can’t beat me to the punch. This project is
mine
.
 

Three cups of coffee later and my hair a ratted mess from racing my fingers through it in frustration, Lucas knocks on my door. I wave him in.
Great. What the hell does he want?
He can’t gloat about yesterday. We tied. No one won.

“Good morning! And it’s a great one, isn’t it?” He hops into the room.

Even with the florescent lights his skin is perfection and the most beautiful shade of brown. When he smiles, the right side twists up and the tip of his tongue pops through between his teeth. I hate him.
 

“I guess. What can I help you with?”

“Did someone get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”

“What does that even mean? I’ve never understood that saying. So I get out of bed on the right instead of left. It doesn’t change my mood.”

He ignores me, and he’s right to because I’m not very happy to see him right now. I don’t like being interrupted when I’m trying to think. Especially if I’m trying to work in order to upstage
him
.
 

“Terrence and I went out for drinks last night to discuss the Pilot Project.”

My body weakens and my heart drops. “Oh? Was this a business meeting I wasn’t aware of?” I click through my calendar. “I don’t see a meeting request.”

He waves his hands at me. “It was very last minute. We stayed to help clean up after the back to school event, and I suggested drinks.”

I stand up, attempting to tower over him, but he’s still taller than me, even though I’m in heels. “I’m a part of this project, too. Why didn’t you call me?” My voice is shaking, rolling in like thunder.

“I checked your calendar. You had a pedicure the first time I wanted to do this and yesterday you left pretty soon after the contest.”

I love I can access my boss’ calendar if I need to, but the fact Lucas can see mine really bothers me. He doesn’t need to know what I’m doing and with whom. “My friend needed some time with me the other day, and you could have mentioned this to me any of the eight hours of every day I see you.”

“There’s no need to explain yourself.”

“Well, I think
you
should explain. I’m part of this, too, and should be involved in every step. You did this on purpose.”

“I swear, I didn’t.” He pulls at his collar. A sure tell. He knew very well what he was doing.

“What happened during this meeting?” I’ll bypass his sneaky method of this secret meeting, but I need every single detail.

“I presented my idea to Terrence —”

“You what? I thought I told you not to do that.”

“I did anyway. Sue me. This project needs to get moving. He loved it. We start next week.”

Next week? How does this reflect on me? I’ve been working on coming up with a solution for months; Lucas is here a mere month and he not only has a solution already, but we start implementing it in seven days. “Okay. What can I do?” My involvement is necessary.
 

“I can handle all the technical stuff.”

I close my mouth and inhale deeply, sure he can see the steam rising from my head. Of course he’ll handle the technical stuff because
I
am not technical at all. What a jackass. I want to be involved in that. I’m sure, though, that he already went over all of this with Terrence. All during his
private
meeting. It makes sense that Terrence’s
nephew
is lead on the project. “Great,” I respond through gritted teeth.

“We need an electrician to run the wires. Can you handle that?”

“You need me to call an electrician?”

He stares at me. “Is that a problem?”

Am I a 1950s housewife? I’m supposed to call the electrician like a good wife does. What else can I do for you, dear husband? This guy really corks me. Unfortunately, if I want to stay up-to-date and have a say at all in this project, I need to do this. “Fine.”
 

“Thanks! Let me know as soon as you have it lined up.” He taps his fingers on my desk and a weird sensation works through my body as I take note of their size. I lick my lips, my frustration turning to curiosity. He shuts the door behind him, pulling me out of my trance.

Lucas leaves the room and once the goosebumps erase from my skin, the anger finds its way back in. An electrician. Like I have nothing better to do than spend my time searching for an electrician.
 

I sit back at my desk, open Google, and type “Electricians in Milwaukee, WI.” A map pops up with a few listings. The first one has a rating of four out of five stars, but only six reviews. The second has a few reviews, but no rating. The third is one we’ve used in the past, and I’d prefer not to do business with again. I click to see more and a larger map appears on the right with a bunch of listings on the left. I scroll past most until one catches my eye. KLM Electric. Isn’t that the name of Keith’s business?

I have his business card in my purse. Sure enough, that’s him. He has a four and a half star rating. I read through the reviews.
 

Fast and resourceful.

Trustworthy.

Reasonably priced.

Knowledgeable, on time, and a pleasure to work with.

Should I call this guy? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I tossed some work his way. The reviews are great, and if I went with him, we could get moving on the project instead of sitting around another month while I gather quotes. Will he even remember who I am?
 

I crease the business card as I contemplate this. Ugh. Why is this a struggle? Fine.
Fine.
I’ll call.
 

He picks up on the second ring. “Keith here.”

His voice is deeper than I remember. “Keith? Hi. I’m not sure if you remember me. This is Cassie.”

“Oh! From the
ladies only
group.”

I deserve that. “Yeah, about that —”

“It’s fine. I understand, I guess. What can I do for you?”

“Well, I’m in need of an electrician. Do you think you could help me out?”

“What kind of project?”

“At my work. We’re going to be building server space, and I need someone to come in and run the electrical. I don’t know how long it will take, but I need you to start in a few weeks.” The previous tenants should be out in a few days, giving us some time to clean up and tear down what we need to before he comes in.

“Do you want me to come out and give you a quote?”

I probably should, but I want to get the project moving and done with, and maybe then Lucas will be out of my hair. I think the reviews speak for themselves and he’s in good standing with the Better Business Bureau. “No, it’s fine. I’ll pay you what you bill.”

“What if I bill five hundred thousand dollars?”

“I know you won’t do that. You’ll charge me what’s fair.”

“Do you know what’s fair?”

“What?” I can’t wait to hear what this guy thinks is fair.

“You letting me join your group. Just because I’m a man doesn’t mean I don’t need a support group.”

How is he still on this? He came to us over a month ago. We haven’t seen him since. “I thought you let that go. You never came back.”

“Was I supposed to? You kicked me out. It seems to me I’m not welcome.”

I never want to come across as an unwelcoming person. He has to consider the circumstances, though. And he caught me at a really bad time. Lucas, my mom, it all was blowing up in my face.
He
was not what I needed at that moment.

“I never said that. I think you’d be better off in a group with only men, though.”
 

“Men don’t know anything. I need a woman’s insight.”

He knows what he’s talking about there. Of course, bringing a man into the group would also help with
us
gaining a man’s opinion on things. Maybe it’s
not
a bad idea. I don’t know, though. He’d be working with me
and
part of the group. My personal and professional life don’t cross unlike my boss and his nephew.

“I’ll think about it.”

I hang up the phone, a little irked at him. I could have just as easily called somebody else, but I called
him
. His points are valid. I’m sure the group will not be upset if I agree to let Keith in, but I’m still not sure how I feel about it.

Now it’s my turn to stop in at Lucas’s office. I haven’t been in there yet. I know he’s on the same side as his uncle, so he probably has an awesome view of the lake as well. Of course, I get the small office. Put the big man in the big office.

I peek in through the window slot next to his door. He’s on the phone and looks a little agitated. So I guess he’s not always sunshine and rainbows. People who are happy all the time frustrate me. I’m sure they aren’t and are only putting on a front. No one is happy 100% of the time. It’s like those Facebook statuses I hear about. Shannon tells me that people on there are constantly writing the super happy status updates when everyone knows that’s not the truth. Another reason why I avoid that place.
 

I knock before turning the knob and walking in. He puts his finger up to his lips to tell me he’ll be with me in a minute. It’s then I take note of how thick and soft they look.

“I’m sorry, but that’s just not acceptable.” Lucas shakes his head as he says goodbye and hangs up the phone. “Well, you’ve finally entered into my territory. Is it as bad as you imagined? Or did you hope for something worse?”

“I’m not sure what I expected.” He has the window, and the desk, but there are boxes throughout the whole room not leaving him a lot of space. “I guess I thought you have something similar to your uncle’s.”

“You mean Terrence, remember?”

“Ah, yes. I forget you don’t want me to refer to him as your uncle while at work.”

“I only want to be able to prove myself, and I can. Anyway, what brings you in here?”

“May I have a seat?”

“So you plan on staying awhile?” He smiles at me. Does he want me to stay?

“My feet are starting to hurt.” I wanted these shoes so badly and had to go down a half size to get them. A mistake on my part but they look spectacular.
 

“That’s why I never wear my heels.”

Quite a funny guy, that Lucas. “Anyway, I called an electrician, and he’ll be able to start in a few weeks like you want.”

He folds his hands and puts them on his desk. “That was fast. You’re not bringing in a couple of electricians to give a quote?”

I cross my legs and I notice his eyes move with them. “It’s someone I know.” I won’t tell him that I use the term loosely because I only met him once. Should I have called multiple companies? Probably. But, I don’t have time to waste on this. And I consider myself a pretty good judge of character. Even though I don’t think he’s right for the group, I have a good feeling about Keith and his work abilities.

“Okay, if you’re comfortable using someone that you know personally, I have no problem with that.”

He shouldn’t have a problem with it. He works for his uncle! Besides, he’s the one who told me to pick the electrician, so he really doesn’t have a say in the matter. If I don’t have a say in the technical portion of anything, then he doesn’t have a say in the job I’m assigned.

“So, I’ll need you to supervise this guy as well. Does he have a name?”

“Yes, it’s Keith. And that’s fine. He’s a grown-up, so I don’t think he’ll need much supervision.” Yes, an adult, which Lucas barely is. All I need to make sure of is that Keith does his job. I don’t know anything about being an electrician, so I’ll need to trust he knows what he’s doing.

“Look,” he leans in toward me. “I know you’re upset about me coming in here and at a management level.”

I let out a small “Pfft” by mistake. I swear it slipped out.

“Please trust Terrence in his decision. I may be right out of college, but I grew up on computers. This is my generation.”

I think I feel older now than I did when I found those chin hairs, which, by the way, I’ve been plucking at least once a week. As far as my grays, thank God for hair dye.

“Please.”

His eyes are locked on mine. Wow. They’re quite amazing. I noticed them before, but not like this. They’re small, but distinct, and dark. His lashes extend lengths most women pay lots of money for. He’s pulling me in. I can’t be attracted to him. No. He’s cute, but he’s a
boy
. Twenty-two at best. He’s ... oh my God ...
seventeen
years younger than me. Seventeen! I own jeans older than him.