Chapter 17
Chad woke up on the floor with a massive hangover and missing both his socks. Since his boots were lying haphazardly by the door a few feet to his left, he wasn’t too worried about their loss.
Grinning through the pounding pain of his hangover, he wondered if maybe he’d missed out on more than he’d thought by skipping college. Pulling himself to his feet, he stumbled his way to the sink where he downed a glass of water and three Advil.
It felt great to have made new friends. His colleagues at Tank Security were decent guys, but they were anything but laid back. Chad had no problem working with them, but he never really relaxed. He always felt like he had to be on his guard or they’d see him as weak.
With Topher and his friends he’d felt free to let loose and have fun, which was something he’d been missing.
Stripping out of his clothes and throwing them in the laundry bin, Chad made his way to the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stepped under the hot spray, letting the scalding water beat down on his back.
It felt amazing.
Showered and dressed in a fresh set of clothes, Chad made himself a bowl of instant oatmeal and ate it standing by the microwave. As he spooned the tasteless gruel into his mouth, he wondered how he was going to pass the day.
Or rather, he tried to gather the courage to do what he should, which was to head into the Tank Security training facility and sign up for some of the classes they offered.
It wasn’t mandatory, but Chad’s new colleagues had advised him that anyone who wanted to stay with the company was expected to take at least a few classes to keep their skills varied and up to date.
Cleaning out his bowl, Chad gave himself a mental shake.
He needed to get his act together and stop worrying that he might run into Peter Tank and just head in.
The whole reason he was living on this side of the country and not near his parents was that he needed to take advantage of everything Tank Security offered.
Before he could give himself any more time to worry about it, Chad packed his workout gear and grabbed his Tank Security ID badge and headed out.
***