Chapter 19
Zander drives us to his workplace Monday morning with a covered plate of snickerdoodles.
He wants to show me the office and needs to do some paperwork.
We pull up to a one-level structure with a few parking spots out front and a larger parking lot on the left side.
It’s a red-brick building with a few shrubs in pots along the parking area.
The front looks like a typical office building with three large tinted glass windows and a glass door along the front facing the road.
There are two trees on either side of the door with empty flower beds surrounding the trunks.
Zander uses his thumbprint to open the door.
There’s an open entrance area in front of us with faux plants on either side of the door.
Wood looking tile flooring and a large industrial mat are underfoot. Soft grey walls surround us.
There are a few guys inside on various machines. Zander waves at them and leads me across the hall. It’s a large, open room with armchairs, a couch, and tv on the wall. A small kitchen is on the left side. “Son of a…” Zander mutters, shaking his head.
I turn to look where he’s staring and see a large framed print of Zander and his penguin hanging beside the tv. I can’t help but let out a laugh. “Troy told me he had plans for that picture.”
“He obviously needs more work to do,” Zander grumbles, but there’s a small smile on his face.
We move to a heavy-looking steel door at the end of the hallway between the lounge and gym.
“This is a room only Troy and I have access to,” he tells me as he uses a retinal scanner to open the door.
There’s a desk area on the left, a small fridge and a few servers.
Drones and laptops sit on shelves, and there’s a locked file cabinet.
Another heavy door is on our right. Zander enters a code on a keypad, and he opens the door to a small armory.
The armory contains organized guns, ammunition, bulletproof vests, tasers, and handcuffs. “Wow,” is all I can manage.
Zander grins at me as he closes the armory again, and we walk back down the hallway. “We also have a helicopter and small plane at the Mt. Pleasant airport.”
“Hence the transport part of Finn Enterprises,” I nod.
“Exactly,” he replies as we enter his office.
It’s spacious, with a large dark wood desk and two black leather armchairs facing the desk.
Typical padded business chairs line the right wall, and there’s a large indoor window facing the front door.
“Okay, so I have some paperwork to read through and sign. Want to hang out here?”
“Yeah, that works,” I nod. Setting the cookies on the desk, I take a seat in one of the side chairs in Zander’s office and pull up my email on my phone.
There's an email from the high school. Clicking on it, I read through the standard welcome letter and see an attachment containing a list of available classes and another with a list of extracurriculars.
Looking around the office, I see a printer on the far side of the room.
“Hey Zander. I got a list of classes from the school. Can I print it off on your printer?”
“Yeah, of course. We’ll connect you to the building’s Wi-Fi, and then you can search for the printer.
It’s listed as Zander’s office.” I do a Wi-Fi search and find Finn Enterprises.
Zander writes the password down and slips it to me covertly, as if we’re trading state secrets.
I shake my head at him. After I get the Wi-Fi setup, he takes the paper back and shreds it.
I raise an eyebrow at that. Smirking, he says, “Can’t be too careful around here. ”
“Aren’t most of the employees ex-military?”
“Most, but not all. I’m just messing with you. The room at the back is where we keep all top-secret information that only Troy and I can access.”
“Wow,” I say, raising my eyebrow.
“Don’t forget, we have government contracts and deal with the rich and famous around here. One reason we have such an excellent reputation is that we take great care to ensure confidentiality and discretion.”
“That makes sense,” I agree. Opening the documents, I select print and retrieve the sheets from the printer.
Zander informs me about the office supplies underneath.
I thank him and pull out a few drawers to find a pen, a highlighter, and grab a dark green clipboard from the stack below the printer.
Clipping on the sheets, I head back to my seat.
The classes listed are a wider selection than what we have in Virginia, so I grab my phone to bring up the school website to view the details of each class.
Highlighting those on the sheet that are the same or close to what I was already taking.
A short time later, there’s a knock on the door. I glance up to see Troy entering. “Hey Z. Summer,” he nods. “I’ve got the updated numbers for the wedding this weekend. Hey are those snickerdoodles?”
“Yes,” Zander responds, “but I’m debating keeping them after visiting the lounge.” He pulls the cookies closer to him with a mock scowl on his face.
“Worth it,” Troy smiles.
Zander rolls his eyes and hands him the plate of cookies.
I wave at Troy and am about to look back down at my phone when I hear another voice entering the office.
“Hey Z, welcome back, man.” This guy looks close to my age and has to be related to Troy.
They’re the same height and skin tone with the same black hair.
His hair is longer than Troy’s military cut, though.
Shorn close to his scalp around the ears but longer and floppy on top, parted to the side.
It’s straight but mussed, like he’s been running his hands through it repeatedly.
He has a light layer of scruff on his full jaw and startling light blue eyes.
With a tank top and shorts, the guy has muscles.
He must notice me in the corner because he looks over and breaks out into a huge smile, his eyes lighting up.
He walks over and takes the seat next to me, putting his elbow on the armrest closest to me, setting his chin in his palm, looking me over.
“Hello Sunshine. I’m Seb.” His low tenor voice is smooth and animated.
“Seb, man, rein it in,” Troy tells him, rolling his eyes.
A fresh start, I think to myself. Don’t be nervous. I can be me again. I quirk an eyebrow at him. “It’s Summer, actually.”
“Nope,” he shakes his head. “It’s Sunshine. Gotta get in first with your nickname before you meet everyone else.”
Tilting my head to the side, I observe his white teeth and mischievous smile. “Why Sunshine? And who is everyone else?”
“Well, your name is Summer, and that’s the time of year the sun shines the most, so,” he waves at me, “Sunshine. As for everyone else, we’re,” he gestures between us, “gonna be friends, so that makes you friends with the rest of the guys. And Gabs too. By the way, did you like your room? I promised Gabby I’d ask.
She was really hoping you liked everything.
The guys and Troy helped us paint and put all the furniture together.
Except for the desk. That came from Alex’s house.
You liked everything, right? We didn’t have anything to go by, but Gabs said it was neutral enough that you could add your own touches to it. ”
I sit there, stunned. This guy is a whirlwind, a hot whirlwind, but still. I look over at Zander and Troy. Zander is laughing quietly, looking at Seb as Troy looks at the ceiling. “Seb, you gotta slow it down. Let the girl breathe, man. You’re gonna overwhelm her.”
Seb looks back at me critically and shakes his head. “Nope. She’s fine. Don’t worry, big bro. I got this,” he waves.
Zander quirks an eyebrow at me, asking if I’m okay, so I nod. I think I am.
“I’m sorry, Summer. I should have warned you about Hurricane Seb. He can be a little…” Troy begins.
“Extra?” I supply. Zander and Troy both laugh at that.
“Hey now,” Seb pouts, jutting out his full lower lip. “I’m not extra. I’m friendly!”
I smile and shake my head. Seeing this tall, muscled, alluring guy pouting is something else. “So I’m guessing Gabby is your younger sister?” I ask Seb as Troy and Zander go back to discussing work details.
“Oh yeah, sorry, she is. So, do you like your room?”
“It’s beautiful. Please thank her for me. And thank you guys for helping.”
“Happy to do it. So what’cha working on there?” He points to my clipboard.
“Um, classes. Just picking out courses that match up with what I was taking in Virginia.”
He reaches across and gently picks up the clipboard from my lap, but doesn’t touch me. I watch him read through the sheets. “The highlights are what you’re gonna take?”
“Yeah, I think so. Those classes seem pretty similar to the Virginia classes I took.”
“You’re taking all AP classes, Sunshine?
Are you a smarty-pants? Alex is gonna love that.
He’s our resident genius and plans on becoming a doctor.
Although Elijah and Bay take some AP science courses, too.
E wants to be a chef. Not sure what Bay will end up doing though.
I’m more of a history poly sci guy myself.
Nick takes most classes I do, but he’s not a big fan of school.
He’s smart, but he prefers martial arts. ” He turns the clipboard towards me.
“Here, look, you’ve got two classes in the same period, AP Bio and AP History. You’re going to have to pick something else. I’ll text Alex to see what he recommends.”
Seb is going to take some getting used to with all the rapid talking. I filter through everything he said while he pulls out his phone, before I have a chance to comment. “The school didn’t give me a timetable, only a list of available classes.”
“I’m not surprised. The office isn’t the most organized with stuff like this. I’ve got you, Sunshine.” He shows me his phone. “Here, look, Alex says, to try AP Psychology or AP Computer Science.”