Chapter 6 #2
“I know. Maybe I was worried that I was the one who would get hurt. Maybe I was scared that when push came to shove, I’d be the one who was disposable.
I’ve been before, so why not again?” Forrest thought that maybe they were getting to the heart of the issue.
“I guess I thought that I was doing what was right for both of us. But… I tried to tell myself that all day, but it felt so wrong. Even as I was saying it, the words didn’t feel right. ”
Forrest let all of what Conrad had said sink in. “So what you need to tell me is exactly what you do want.”
Conrad swallowed hard. “I like seeing you, and I look forward to when we get together. It’s like I’ve had so much hurt that being with you makes me feel like someone who can be right again. But what if you get hurt? I don’t want that.”
“We can’t know what is going to happen. But no throwing ourselves on swords. Okay? They make a real mess.” He smiled. “Besides, we need to talk things over rather than assume what the other wants.”
“Okay. I promise.” Conrad smiled, and Forrest loved that look on him. “But what are you going to do about your job? I mean, keeping secrets suck.”
“I need to give it some thought, okay? But right now, we’re figuring things out and there’s no need to rush into anything.”
Conrad sighed. “Yeah, okay. I can live with that.” He smiled, and Forrest figured they were on the same page.
“Daddy, I’m hungry.” Lizzie hurried in, and Conrad checked the oven. He pulled out the baking pan, which was charred black. “Yucky.”
“Yeah, I’m afraid so. Pizza?”
“Chicken nuggets?” Lizzie asked. “I want McDonald’s.”
“Fine,” Conrad told her. “I’m too tired to argue with you. So come on. Get your shoes on and put on your jacket and we’ll go.” She raced away. “You don’t have to come with us. It’s her thing, but you don’t have to eat at McDonald's if you don’t want to.”
“I’m a Big Mac kind of guy,” Forrest said, and Conrad looked him over with a gaze filled with heat.
“I bet you are,” he teased and then laughed, which only made Forrest wonder how quickly he’d come to crave that sound.
Forrest lightly bumped Conrad’s shoulder as they waited for Lizzie to join them. “You need to tell me what happened to freak you out.” He knew something had touched Conrad off. “Was it that guy from work?”
Conrad bit his lower lip. “I found it it’s been Lester stirring up trouble at the office. He was talking to the assistants and office people and getting them spun up with rumors… but they aren’t rumors if they’re true, are they?”
“Spreading gossip is always pretty bad. There’s plenty of it where I work too. I stay away from those people and do my best not to take part. That way I hope I can stay under the radar.”
“Lester is really turning on his pain-in-the-assness.” Lizzie hurried in, and Conrad let the topic drop, which was probably best. There was no need to make a big deal out of Forrest being there and becoming friends with her daddy. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.” She jumped up and down.
“Okay, then we can go,” Conrad told her, and they went out to the car.
Once Lizzie was buckled into her car seat, they were on their way.
As they drove, Lizzie started singing the “Wheels on the Bus” song, and Forrest couldn’t help joining on.
Conrad did as well, and they were all laughing by the time they arrived.
“Crap…,” Conrad said as he pulled open the door.
“What?” Forrest asked, looking around. It took him a second to see Lester up at one of the kiosks with his back to them, placing his order.
“Don’t worry. I got this. Go get your food.
” He stepped back and went over to Lester and then cleared his throat.
“It’s Lester, isn’t it?” Forrest asked from the side.
“I think we met the other night.” He smiled.
“Oh, yeah,” he said without breaking a smile.
Then he turned back to the kiosk and hit the “To Go” button.
Forrest could see he was making the guy nervous, but he didn’t back off.
Instead, he stayed close to him. In the meantime, Conrad had placed his order and headed to a table with a number.
“You were with Conrad, if I remember.” Lester looked like he was about to look around the restaurant.
“And you were rude to him,” Forrest said roughly, pulling Lester’s attention back to him.
“You need to be less of a dick, especially to the people you work with. After all, you may need them someday and they aren’t going to be there for you.
” Lester stepped aside, and Conrad placed his order, watching Lester until he got his food and practically charged out of the building like the hounds of hell were after him…
which was exactly his intention. Keep Lester off balance enough that he forgot to look around to see if Conrad was there.
Make getting away from him more important.
Forrest took a seat across from Conrad with a smile. “All set.”
“What did you say to him?”
“That he needed to be nicer to people. We rehashed the last time we met, and Lester couldn’t get out of here fast enough.” He chuckled, and Conrad relaxed back in his seat.
“I really hate him. He’s such a jerk.”
“That will get him into trouble. No one likes working with a jerk, including those he works for, because they would have to deal with him every day.” He patted Conrad’s hand.
“Just keep doing what you are. You do good work and bring in new clients who stay for the long term, rather than clients who find out what he’s like to work with and leave again. ”
“How did you know what’s what Lester does?”
“I know the type. I worked with a number of people at various jobs before I got my teaching certificate and landed this job. I’ve dealt with a few Lesters in my time, and eventually people figure out who they are and that they don’t want to work with someone like that.”
“What did you do before you taught?” Conrad asked.
“Last year I worked at a warehouse outside of town. My boss was a Lester. He was always concerned with how things looked rather than just getting the work done and doing the right thing. I had a lot of coworkers over the year or so that I was there. No one wanted to work for him, and eventually he was let go and they brought in someone from one of the other facilities. Things got a lot better after that.” He leaned over the table.
“Don’t let a jerk like that make your decisions for you. ”
“Yeah, I get that. And I know I let him get under my skin.” Conrad met his gaze with warm, worried eyes.
“I’m sorry. I should have thought things through more clearly and not overreacted.
But if he could hurt me, he’d certainly do the same to you without thinking twice about it.
I wish there was a way to make him keep his nose to himself. ”
Forrest thought for a few seconds. “Maybe there is.”