4. You Get An Office
YOU GET AN OFFICE
AIDEN
Waking up in an empty bed on Sunday morning definitely wasn’t on my bingo card for the day before I start a new job. Not when I’d fallen asleep next to a beautiful woman the night before.
We’d had a really good time on Saturday night, but it wasn’t until Tara stood up to head to bed that the alcohol hit her, and she slumped to the floor.
I hadn’t wanted to leave her alone in the hotel bar while I found one of her friends, so I’d sent the bartender in, but the wedding had cleared out.
Seems we’d been talking far longer than either of us had realised.
I gave the bartender my details and let her know I was going to get her sobered up upstairs.
But as soon as we’d gotten into my room, she woke up and started stripping off her clothes, seemingly unaware of my presence, even though I’d carried her up here.
My solution? Pull one of my shirts over her head and put her to bed with a glass of water and the bin beside her.
When I’d woken up to find her gone, the lonely feeling I’d been struggling with for the past two days had sunk in again.
The first person I’d gotten to know in this new city, and she ghosted me.
I’d hoped to get to know her a bit better.
Maybe get her number and see if she’d be interested in catching up once I’m more settled here.
Instead, I’m alone once more in this luxury hotel room, a constant reminder that I don’t know anyone aside from my father in this town.
“Aiden, come in.” My step-mother, Lisa, stands aside to let me in the door when I arrive at the home she shares with my father and younger half-siblings.
“Hi Lisa. It’s nice to meet you.”
She’s two decades younger than my father.
Closer to my age than his. And my half-siblings are three-year-old twins, Daisy and Mitchell.
Weird being twenty-nine with siblings who are young enough to be your own children.
But that’s how my old man rolls. After his brief relationship with my mother, all the women afterwards were younger.
I wonder if Lisa realises she’ll probably be traded in for a younger model in a few years?
Best not to mention anything to her.
This is my first time meeting her and the twins. Dad had invited me over for dinner. An olive branch, I guess. Or maybe it was Lisa’s idea, and he thought he better make it look like we were one big, happy family. Either way, it’s awkward as hell.
“Come on in. Your father is in the lounge room with the kids.” Lisa leads the way through their house, and I try not to stare at everything while I follow behind.
Much like the hotel, it’s obvious, just from the hallway alone, that my father isn’t afraid to splash the cash around.
The house is huge, and it’s hard not to feel resentful when I look at this and compare it to the two-bedroom flat I lived in with Mum in Clapham growing up.
While it was her choice to move us back to her home in London, he certainly didn’t bother to send her much money to raise his eldest child .
“Ah, Aiden. There you are.” David Sanderson, aka dear old dad, rises to his feet from where he was sitting on the couch, watching what looks like some Disney movie, with two tiny versions of himself sitting on either side.
“Hi Dad.” I nod, sliding my hands into my pockets, not sure what else to do with them.
He comes to stand in front of me, his arms outstretched, and for a moment, I have no idea what he’s expecting from me. Hugging him just seems strange, as I haven’t seen him in person in almost fifteen years.
“I’m glad you could come. How’s the hotel?” he asks, letting his arms drop when it’s obvious I’m not onboard with the hug thing.
I shrug. “Fine. I’ll start looking for a place this week.”
“However long it takes, that’s not a problem. Stay there as long as you need.” He heads into the kitchen with Lisa and grabs some wine glasses. “Let’s go out to the deck and chat for a bit til dinner.”
Nothing sounds less appealing than idle chit-chat with a man I barely know.
I follow him out and watch quietly while he pours us both a glass of red wine. The fact that he didn’t even ask if I drink wine, or red wine, at that, speaks volumes to the type of man he is. And I’m not the slightest bit surprised.
Why did I come here again? Right, because I am not qualified for anything and I need a job.
“Are you looking forward to starting tomorrow?” he asks.
I take a seat across from him. “Yeah. I’ve been doing the reading for the course, and I had my exam last Friday, so it’ll be good to get some on the ground knowledge.”
I decide not to tell him that I needed to refer to the books far more than I probably should have. Insurance seems unnecessarily complicated.
“Oh good. Well, you’re in good hands with your assistant. She’s been with the company for years and knows all the clients, so it should be a smooth transition. She knows her stuff, too, and she’ll be able to fill in any blanks you have while you learn the industry more.”
“If she’s so good, how come she’s my assistant? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” I ask, trying not to let my dislike of the wine show on my face when I take a sip.
“Well… To be honest, the thought never occurred to me. The role was open, and it seemed like the perfect time to bring you onboard, now that things have changed for you,” he replies, glossing over the reason things have changed for me.
We lapse into silence, and I can tell this is just as uncomfortable for him as it is for me.
Eventually, Lisa calls out that dinner is ready, and it’s a relief to have the twins as a distraction.
Getting them fed is clearly a two person job, and I have to keep reminding myself that they are my brother and sister.
I’d been an only child for twenty-six years, and suddenly having toddlers as siblings is a rather large adjustment.
When Mitchell dumps his dinner bowl on top of Daisy’s head, I take that as my queue to start clearing the table.
Lisa smiles at me, the relief in her eyes obvious, when I take her plate and head into the kitchen.
“I’m going to head back to the hotel and have an early night. Big day tomorrow, and all,” I say after I’ve loaded the dishwasher and head back out onto the deck.
The tiny terrorists are running in circles, chasing the dog, and it’s all a bit too chaotic for my jetlagged brain at this point.
“Oh, of course. Well, we should try to make this a regular thing.” Dad looks a little put out, but I don’t particularly care.
“Sure.” I try to make my reply sound enthusiastic, but it’s hard to override years of resentment in just one evening.
I order an Uber and feel a wave of relief once I slide into the backseat and am on the way back to the hotel. I’d thought I’d be okay with my father, but it’s becoming painfully obvious that the issues I’ve been running from for years are well and truly still present .
Grabbing a beer from the mini-bar in my room, I pull out my phone and message my best friend.
Aiden
Hey, are you around?
Sarah
I’m just out at brunch with Simon and his friends. Is everything okay? I can call you in a few hours?
Fighting off the wave of loneliness that has overtaken me, I try not to feel resentful that she’s out with her new boyfriend while I’m stuck on the other side of the world feeling miserable.
Aiden
No, it’s okay, just wanted to say hi. Have fun at brunch.
I toss my phone on the other side of the bed, face down, and drain the rest of my beer.
Guess I’ll just go to bed then.
After a night of barely any sleep because of a combination of jetlag and nerves about starting a new job, I impulsively shave off my beard, deciding I need a fresh start.
Afterwards, I get dressed in my suit and walk the few blocks to my new office.
Sanderson and Chambers Insurance Brokers is apparently one of the largest brokerages in Australia, with offices in every capital city.
Two of Dad’s brothers work out of the Sydney office, where he worked when he met my mother, but for over a decade, he’s been the Sanderson in the Brisbane office. And now, I guess I am, too.
It’s my first time working in an office, or working anywhere important, really, so the stop for a coffee is required. Not just to acquire caffeine, but also as an excuse to delay the inevitable a little longer .
The fear that I’m going to completely choke when it comes to this new job is causing my stomach to twist into knots, and, not for the first time, I wonder what the hell I’m doing here. I don’t even care about insurance, but I need an income.
Steeling myself, I catch one of the many lifts up to the top floor and step out, making my way to the reception desk.
“Hi. I’m Aiden Sanderson.”
The young blonde woman behind the desk blinks at me a few times, as if in a trance, before jumping to her feet.
“Oh, of course! Mr Sanderson said to expect you and to bring you right back as soon as you arrived.” She bustles off down the corridor, turning to beckon me to follow when I stay where I am.
He makes his staff call him Mr Sanderson? Yeah, that tracks.
It’s like my feet don’t want to move, and I have to force myself to trail after her.
Once we go through the wood panelled corridor, I step out into a sea of desks.
Even though it’s not yet nine am, most desks are already occupied, and the sound of multiple people talking on the phone fills my ears.
We weave our way through to the glassed offices along the back wall, and the woman knocks on the office door that has my father’s name written on it.
Through the glass door, he looks up from his notebook, nodding when he sees me.
“Go on in,” she says, looking me up and down before turning back and returning to where we’d come from.
Thrown by the blatant ogling from the receptionist, I stand outside the door for a beat longer before shaking my head and heading inside.
“You made it.” Dad rises to his feet, and I nod.
“Yes, sir.”
“Let’s get you settled in your office. Your assistant is away today, apparently. I hadn’t realised she had put in for leave, but I’ll get one of the others to get you sorted with everything. Won’t be much for you to do until you get all the IT stuff sorted, anyway.”
He leads the way back out into the sea of desks, and I notice a few people watching us with interest. Guess it’s pretty rare for the boss to be showing the new hire around.
Once we enter the empty office two doors down, I look around with interest. “Wait… I get my own office? I assumed I’d be out there with everyone else.”
“No. You’re a Sanderson. You get an office.”
I’m not entirely sure this is such a good idea. The last thing I want to do is walk into this place and make it seem like I’m being jetted in over the heads of more qualified people just because I’m the boss’s son. But then again… that’s exactly what’s happening.
This is going to be a long day.