Chapter 14 Nate
NATE
My company broke ground on a new project last week, and excavators and other equipment were now there to clear the land.
I met Greg Johnson, the lead engineer, on site to make sure everyone was on the same page as work began.
This building was going to be a strip mall in a suburb and would include a parking lot.
Proper drainage was a key element to this build, and having changed it more than I’d like during the planning stage, I was here to ensure the correct plan was implemented.
Greg was across the site, waving me over as he spoke to one of the equipment operators, so I jogged over to them to see what was up. “Greg. What’s going on?”
He huffed. “You have to triple-check everything, Nate.” He stuck his hand out. “Even though we confirmed it yesterday, they still showed up with the wrong plans.”
“That’s an easy enough fix given it’s only day one.”
“Easy enough, but it has to get cleared with their foreman, which will take time, and they should already be moving dirt by now.”
I patted Greg on the shoulder. One of the reasons I liked working with him was because of his passion for the projects.
He was a huge help in keeping things on time and on budget.
We worked together making all the necessary phone calls, and got the problem solved, then I left him to handle the site walk with the project managers.
Gilly’s problems came to mind as it struck me how easily we’d just solved ours, and I wondered how he was dealing with everything.
I hated the situation he was in, and it sounded like his uncle may be an underlying problem.
Technically, if it got worse, Gilly could walk away; it wasn’t his company.
He’d taken the responsibilities on himself, and his dedication was commendable.
He loved what he did, and if his company was successful, he’d love it even more.
If that happened, how would it all play out for our relationship?
With Gilly’s issue hanging over his head, I didn’t think he had the bandwidth to think that far ahead, not with everything he had on his plate right now.
More conversations would have to be had, but the last thing I wanted to do was push too hard, especially during his time of need.
“Nate. Come look at this.” Greg waved me over. As much as I wanted to think about Gilly and solve his problems, I had my own to deal with.
“What’s up?”
Great pointed to the back of the lot. “That water. It’s encroaching.”
“Did this not show up on the survey?”
“No. But it could be a problem.”
“I’ll get someone out here.” We were falling behind faster than things were moving forward. This job should have been a quick in-and-out, but rarely did things go as planned. Didn’t matter if it was work or personal life, and I should’ve known that by now.