Chapter Three
“You’re late,” was the first thing Justin said as William walked in.
“It’s only seven ten.” William rolled his eyes. “No one else gets here until eight.”
“I’m not everyone else.” Justin made sure his voice had a hard edge to it. He was pissed off even being in this situation. But he’d told Maddox that he could handle it, so he would, somehow.
“Just chill out,” William told him.
“Chill out?” Justin shook his head. “I don’t know why I expected anything more from you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” William asked, sounding as angry as he felt.
“This is not a game, William.”
“It was ten minutes,” William all but yelled.
It’s gonna be a long day if we’ve already started fighting. “I told you yesterday that I’m a very busy man, especially since Maddox and Issac are both on vacation. Training you is interrupting enough. I will not have my schedule thrown off too.” Justin turned, walking toward his office, expecting William to follow him. He sat at his desk, taking several deep breaths, trying to push down his frustration. “You do remember where my office is, right?” Justin’s voice rang out through the empty building when William failed to appear in a timely manner.
“Alright, what’s so important that we have to be here an hour early?” He sounded like a brat, and it grated on Justin’s nerves.
“Forty-five minutes, thanks to you.” He struggled for a professional tone.
“Whatever, man.” William took the chair in front of the desk Justin was sitting behind.
Justin stared at William for a minute, collecting himself. He could do this. Please let me make it through this day, he silently prayed to anyone who might be listening. Finally, he let out a resigned sigh and shook his head. “You’re going to be responsible for assigning crews to job sites. We weren’t able to cover that yesterday, which, to answer your question, is why we have to be here so early. At the end of every day, you go through the service slips the guys turn in. Completed jobs go into billing, and you send out invoices to our customers. Unfinished jobs get assigned to the same crew. New jobs that are already bid are assigned by the qualifications of each employee. Any new bid requests go on either Maddox’s schedule or mine.” Justin picked up a stack of papers then stared at William again and shook his head. “You’re going to need to come around.” William seemed reluctant to join him, and when he did, he brought nothing. “It would be really helpful if you grabbed your laptop and a chair.” Justin was trying incredibly hard not to lose his patience.
“Of course.” He watched a blush spread across William’s cheeks as he got his stuff and sat next to him.
Justin sorted the papers into neat stacks. “Do you remember how to use the billing program?”
“I think I’ve got it.” William didn’t sound convincing in the least.
Justin blew out a harsh breath. “We’ll go over it again later.” He checked the time then turned to his computer and quickly printed out a couple of pages. “We need to get the crews assigned. Pull up your employee certification program, the in-progress job list, and the new contracts.”
William did as he was told. “What now?”
Justin handed him one of the pages he had printed. “This is the employee roster. You need to cross off anyone already on a job.” William made quick work of the task. “Good,” Justin told him after double-checking. “Now we match the rest of the guys to the jobs they’re best suited for.” He picked up the stack of new job forms. “This one is going to need a plumber, an electrician, and at least two carpenters.”
William looked at the classification file. “How about Albert Perkins, Roy Tobar, Albert Ortiz, and David Cerna?”
Justin, who was looking at the same file, nodded. “That works. Cross all their names off the list.” He wrote the names William had chosen on the work order then picked up the next page.
They had just finished when Justin’s phone rang. “Jerry, how’s it going, man?”
“Hey, Justin.” Jerry sounded panicked.
“What’s wrong?”
“Kelly slipped off the porch this morning. She can’t move her arm without screaming.”
“Oh no, that poor baby. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“We’re in the emergency room. They gave her some pain medicine, and she’s resting right now. But I’m not going to make it in, and we’re starting the Peter’s job today.”
“That’s not something you need to be worrying about. Focus on your daughter. I’ll handle the rest,” Justin assured the man. “Keep me posted, okay?”
“Sure will, Justin.”
He hung up then looked over at William. “There’s been a change of plans, we’re starting construction of an add-on and the lead just called in. Are you ready for some physical activity?”
“Yeah, sure,” William answered.
Justin looked him up and down. He was in slacks and an expensive-looking green silk button-down. “That outfit sure isn’t.”
William looked down at himself and nodded in agreement. “You’re right about that.”
“Do you own jeans?”
“Yes.”
“There are company shirts in the breakroom. Go home and change. I need to get familiar with this project anyway.”
Justin rubbed his forehead as soon as William was out the door. He could already feel the headache forming. The universe hated him. That was the only logical explanation for what was happening. “Fuck,” he said aloud to his empty office. What a horrible day for this to happen. The Peter’s project was just a bedroom add-on, which usually wouldn’t be a problem, but he had William to deal with, and he was definitely not looking forward to taking him. He briefly thought about leaving him in the office with some pointless busy work, or sending him home for the day, but Isaac had asked him to let William shadow him. Why did he have to be so damn loyal? He shook his head.
Just today and tomorrow, he told himself. Maddox and Isaac will be back on Monday. Then William will no longer be my problem. With a heavy sigh, he turned to his computer, printing out everything associated with the Peter’s account.
He had a good understanding of what needed to be done by the time William knocked on the open door. Justin looked up at him. “That’s much better. Let’s get it going,” he said, hearing the front door open. “Time to meet all the guys.” William followed Justin into the break room. Most of the employees had already arrived for their morning meeting and were laughing and talking amongst themselves. It made work go a lot more smoothly when everyone got along fairly well. Sure, there were disagreements every once in a while, but honestly not many. In his opinion, that was pretty good for a twenty-five-man operation. He went up to the front of the room, while William hung back by the door. “Alright, guys,” Justin called order to the noisy room. “Before I hand out assignments, I’d like to introduce you to our new office manager, William Harper.” He motioned for William to join him. “He’ll be taking over scheduling, billing, payroll, and that kind of stuff. He’s new, so remember to cut him some slack. Until he completes his training, everything will still go through me and Maddox. Now let’s get to work.” Justin formed the crews, gave them their orders. “Does anyone have any questions or concerns?” he asked, like he did every morning.
Heads shook, and Max called out, “I think we’re all good, boss.”
“Jerry is out with an emergency, so I’ll be taking his place. Like always, I’m on my cell if you need anything. Let’s have a good one, guys.”
Everyone exited the break room, some stopping by Janie’s desk for keys, while others filed out of the building. Justin grabbed his own keys, motioning for William to follow him out. Mark and Allen joined them. Together, they went over the plans then loaded two trucks with the supplies they would need. William was quiet the entire ride, which was just fine with him. He wasn’t really in the mood to try to make meaningless small talk. When they arrived, he got out and went to the door. An older man answered.
“Good morning, sir. I’m Justin Ashton with S the digging was done. William was standing next to him, while Mark and Allen stood next to the back patio. Justin checked his watch. “Let’s take five and break for lunch.”
Damn, it had been a long day. Manual labor in the scorching sun was incredibly draining. But in his opinion, it was quite rewarding as well. They had gotten a lot done and given the crew a good start. “We’re all done for today, guys,” Justin told his men. “Go ahead and pack up our gear.” He wiped the dirt from his pants then dusted his hands before walking over to Mr. Peter. The man had come out with a coffee cup to watch them work. He’d been laughing, joking, and storytelling for the last few hours.
“You boys heading out?” Mr. Peter asked.
“Yes, sir.” Justin sat down in the white wicker chair next to him. “I wanted to let you know that tomorrow, a man named Jerry will be here as the lead instead of me. This is actually his crew. I was just covering for him today.” Justin smiled. “But I’m glad I was because it certainly was a pleasure to meet you.” Justin rose then held out his hand to the other man.
“It was good to have you here,” Mr. Peter said, shaking the hand that had been extended to him.
“Jerry will be here tomorrow between eight thirty and nine.” Mr. Peter stood. “Don’t worry, he’s just as fantastic as the rest of our guys. I can guarantee you will be wowed by the finished product.” Justin patted the man’s upper arm.
“I’ll walk you out, Justin.” Mr. Peter smiled and walked toward the gate with Justin at his side. “See you tomorrow, guys,” he said to Mark and Allen as they were getting into their truck. They both waved to him before going on their way.
William, who had been leaning against the driver’s side door, straightened as they walked over. “It was nice to meet you, sir.”
“You too, son.” Mr. Peter shook his hand. “I look forward to meeting Jerry tomorrow.”
“He’s a great guy. You are in good hands,” William brightly assured him.
Justin nodded. “You will be well taken care of.” Another handshake. “I’ll come check on you when the guys are done. If you have any problems, give me a call.” Justin handed him his business card. Mr. Peter nodded, taking the card. Justin watched as the man went into the backyard through the open gate, which closed once he’d disappeared. He got into the truck, turning the key then setting the air conditioner to full blast. William got in on the other side. “You did good today,” Justin told William as they pulled away from Mr. Peter’s house.
“All I really did was dig.” William shrugged. “But thanks.”
“I know it’s been a really long day, and you’re probably completely wiped out, but we still haven’t set up your office or finished your training.”
“I’m okay doing it tonight.” William shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything else to do.”
Justin wasn’t sure he was supposed to hear the last part, but a reply slipped out anyway. “Yeah, me either.”
Nothing else was said between the two of them. They pulled into the S&H parking lot and went inside among the employees who were on their way home. Goodbyes followed them down the hall to where the offices were located. “I was thinking about the one next to your dad’s. It’s not as big as the other three, but not too bad.” Justin opened the door then turned on the light.
William looked around the room, distaste showing on his face. “Well, it’s an office I guess.”
Justin ignored the comment. “I got this furniture for—”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” William said, implying that Justin had no taste. “I’ll get something more acceptable.”
“Whatever.” Justin was taken aback. What the hell had caused William’s attitude to completely flip? For a few minutes at Mr. Peter’s house, he found himself not hating the guy. But here he was, acting like king of the fucking world again. It was true, the furniture wasn’t great. The black-and-silver curved desk was as inexpensive as it looked. It was never meant to be permanent. It had been put together for the trial run with an office manager last year. Damn, that woman had been a piece of work. One week in, she decided to switch the accounts payable and receivable to a program she created. Not only did it not work, she had failed to consult with either Maddox or Isaac before she did it. She had been fired immediately, and it had taken weeks to untangle the mess she had made. I guess S&H just has shitty luck with office managers. “You can get the company card from your dad.”
“I will,” William said tightly.
Justin shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment. He didn’t need this crap. He couldn’t wait until Monday when Isaac and Maddox were back, and this was no longer his problem. “Log in while I get some stuff from my office.” Without a word, he left to grab some files off his desk and a chair from the break room.
“I pulled up all the programs that we need,” William told him when he reentered the office.
Justin put the chair he was holding next to the one William was sitting in, putting the files on the desk as he sat. As they went over all the office duties, Justin was thankful that at least William’s attention to detail had done a complete one-eighty from the first day. I guess he was being serious when he said he would respect his father’s company. He put all his old feelings aside for the moment and treated him like any other new employee.
“That’s it, man,” Justin told William. They had actually gotten done a lot sooner than he expected. “I’m going to close down my office and take off. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Justin stood up and walked toward the door.
“Thanks, Justin,” William called as he neared the door.
“No problem.”
TGIF, was Justin’s first thought as he pulled into the S&H parking lot and found a shiny red BMW in his parking spot. Fucking William. Justin parked right next to him. The man was sitting in his car with the music blasting so loudly that he could hear it clearly the second he stepped out of his truck. Through the car window, he saw that William was really jamming to the song, completely oblivious to anything around him. His lips moved as he recited the words, his head bobbed, and his fingers drummed the steering wheel in time with the beat. And wouldn’t you know it, the song was one of Justin’s favorites as well, despite it being pretty old and a little obscure. Fuck. He did not want to have anything in common with William. Ignoring the song that usually decreased his stress levels, he stepped up to the driver’s side window and tapped loudly.
“This is my spot,” he said when William opened the door.
William rolled his eyes. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “But at least I’m on time.” Justin shook his head before walking away to unlock the front door. William followed him into his office. “What’s on the agenda for today?” he asked as he sat.
“I have a couple of bids to take care of today, one of which takes a while to get to. Then I have to do a final inspection on a renovation all the way across town.” Justin made quick work of the morning meeting then turned to William. “You ready?” he asked, and William nodded. “I’ll grab my stuff and you can meet me at my truck. Number twenty-two eighty-seven.”