29. Treat On The Eyes
29
TREAT ON THE EYES
F ive days later, Tori was walking into a conference in town. Her Executive Director, Molly, had just walked away from her. Normally the two of them would have ridden together, but this was close to her boss’s house and they wouldn’t need to go into the office today.
She loved conferences and learning new things but rarely got to go to them all.
But this one was centered more around her programs.
She was moving around and talking to people she knew and walked to a group by a station with pamphlets.
A tall man was looking at her and then smiled and put his hand out. “Tori Miller, right?”
“That’s what it says on my nametag.” She glanced up at his. “Oh, Jax Hollister. Roni’s brother. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“That’s me,” Jax said, smiling. “Our six degrees of separation thing going on.”
Jax’s younger sister, Roni, was married to Raina’s older brother, Trent. She’d met Roni before in the Fierce building, since Roni was their property manager for their other buildings but had come into her building before too.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, shaking his hand.
“I wondered if you’d be here,” Jax said. “Roni has brought it up before what you did. You know, you probably love your job and everything, but I’ve heard some great things in the community about you.”
“Really?” she asked. Jax was the Executive Director of an agency about four times the size of hers. They had some of the same programs she ran too.
“I have,” Jax said. “I keep my ear to the ground. Some don’t like that I try to steal employees, but if I see an opportunity, I’ll take it.”
She smiled over his grin. “I love where I am, but I’d be crazy to never at least keep an open mind too. Things change for sure.”
Jax pulled his card out and handed it over. “Here. Reach out to me if you want. Even if you love it where you’re at. My program director in your field is retiring at the end of the year and I’m on the hunt.”
She laughed. “Did you only come to this conference to look for employees?”
She wouldn’t have thought to do that, but the truth was, it was kind of brilliant.
Jax had a fantastic reputation in the community for his programs, his agency, and the staff all seemed to enjoy their jobs.
“That might be part of the reason,” Jax said. Someone called his name and he moved away and she grabbed the brochures she was going to get.
“Is Jax trying to steal you away?” Molly asked her.
“What?” she asked. She had her hands full and was going to put them in her bag on her shoulder.
“I saw you talking to Jax Hollister. He thinks he’s so sly, but he’s got a reputation for snatching employees from people.”
Her boss was grinning. She didn’t want to lie but wasn’t going to address that either. “His sister, Roni, is married to Raina’s brother Trent.”
Molly knew Raina, as she’d met her before in the office. Tori liked her boss and they talked now and again about personal things.
“Oh,” Molly said. “I hadn’t realized that. If I didn’t know it was Jax I would have asked if that was your boyfriend, though he wouldn’t be here. When do I get to meet him? See, if you left you wouldn’t be in the same building as him.”
Tori smiled. She wouldn’t let that control any career decision she made.
“You haven’t been around the few times he’s stopped in. But next time I’ll come looking for you. I promise.”
“You do that,” Molly said. “I heard he’s a treat on the eyes.”
“He is,” she said.
Someone spoke so they made their way to the conference room and their table, Tori glad she didn’t have to talk about anything else.
When lunch rolled around, she grabbed her bagged lunch, and rather than find other people she knew to talk to, she went to her car. She hadn’t really talked to Raina much in a few days and the conversation with Hyde after her mother’s call was weighing on her mind.
Not that things seemed off with Hyde, but she hated she was even thinking that.
Then to run into Jax and Molly’s comment about leaving the building because Hyde was in it. Her first thought was never to make a career decision because of a man.
But was that wrong on her part to jump to that?
Was she so rigid and still locked up? Or was she overthinking this whole thing?
“Hi,” Raina said. “I thought you were out of the office today?”
“I am,” she said, taking a bite of her sandwich. “I’m eating the bagged lunch in my car and I wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh,” Raina said. “What’s going on?”
“I ran into Jax.”
“Did you notice him or did he come to you?” Raina asked.
“We were at the same table and then he called my name. He saw it on my nametag and gave me his card and asked me to call him. He said he’s heard a lot of good things about me and my work in the community.”
“That’s great to hear,” Raina said. “You’re wonderful at what you do.”
“I try,” she said. “I told him I love what I do and where I am, but I’d be crazy to not at least take the card in case something changes.”
“True,” Raina said. “Are you going to call him?”
“It won’t hurt, but then Molly came over and saw it. She asked in a joking way if Jax was trying to steal me. Guess he’s known for that. I didn’t answer her and just explained the relationship and she dropped it. Then she brought up wanting to meet Hyde and if I left I wouldn’t be able to see my boyfriend.”
“That would have annoyed you that someone assumed you’d decide on that,” Raina said.
“I’m so glad you said that. It did annoy me. Then it got me thinking…am I hard that way to always put my career first?”
“Don’t confuse the two,” Raina said. “We aren’t talking about you always putting your career first and working eighty hours a week and not having any time for Hyde. It’s about changing a job that might not have you in the same building. Would I hate the fact that I couldn’t have lunch with you once a week? Sure. But Jax is moving into the new building that Fierce has. It’s a mile away. Lots of places to meet for lunch between there and here.”
“Oh,” she said. “I had no idea. I mean, I’m not even thinking that. But it is nice to know. I’m not a horrible person because it didn’t cross my mind whether Hyde would be upset if I left the building. Not saying I’m even thinking about it. It’s almost too much to process right now anyway, but again, my first thought wasn’t him and I was annoyed Molly brought it up.”
“You’re not a horrible person at all,” Raina said. “I’m right there with you. You’ve been dating for a few months. A new boyfriend in my life wouldn’t have rated on a career decision. Where you want to work is your choice and no one else’s. I’m pretty sure Hyde would feel the same way. I mean, would you care if he went to work somewhere else and you didn’t get to see him in the building?”
“Not at all,” she said.
“Then not sure why you think that.”
She sighed. “Last week I think we hit a tiny bump.”
“Did you fight again?”
“No,” she said. “We didn’t.” She explained the conversation about her mother and how Hyde judged her a bit and said she took the easy way with her mother.
“He’s just being honest,” Raina said. “You want him to do that and you want to be that way with him. You said you talked about how neither of you are even close to moving in together because there are all these things you want to get out now, and that is part of it.”
“It is,” she said. “I hate that we might have these things all the time.”
Raina laughed. “Tori. No relationship is perfect. You know that. Cody and I butt heads on little things all the time. Even more now with Duke. He does things his way and I do them my way. It just is what it is.”
“You two never show that you are having issues,” she said, frowning. Why didn’t she know this about her best friend?
Was she so removed from how a genuine relationship actually worked because she hadn’t been in one or witnessed one up close?
“Because they aren’t issues,” Raina said. She could hear the humor in her best friend’s voice. “They are life conversations and decisions. You and I don’t always agree on things and we don’t have issues. We talk it out. You’re doing that with Hyde. Some might think you’ve got a leg up that you didn’t go months with a honeymoon period and then start to see negative things and fight and not know how to handle it.”
“Hmmm, that’s a good point. I feel in my profession I should know these things over you.”
“No, Tori,” Raina said. “You work with kids. Not married couples. You’ve never had a serious relationship before and now you are having one. It’s like you’re cutting your teeth on him when he’s probably not as worried about things as you. He’s been in relationships before. Not just flings, but relationships. So having experience isn’t a bad thing. You don’t have much.”
“I’ve had boyfriends,” she said. “You’re making me sound like I was a virgin or something.”
“You’ve had boyfriends and loose relationships by your own admission. They weren’t partners. You don’t let people in and you’re letting him in. Now that you’re doing it, you’re doubting yourself. Like I said, cutting your teeth on him. Why not cut yourself some slack instead.”
“Good advice,” she said. “And I need to finish up my lunch and run back into the conference. Thanks, Raina. I’m not sure how I could have navigated everything without you the past few months.”
“You would have found a way, but it might not have landed you where you are right now.”