4. Jackson
JACKSON
The next day, after I deliver a game-winning serve in a beach volleyball game, my buddy Terrence and I high-five under the bright blue sky.
We thank the other guys, then walk through the sand, sunglasses on, enjoying the late-afternoon rays in Los Angeles.
Out of habit, I check for my phone in the front pocket of my shorts but decide against looking for an email from Edgely Kane.
Best to be patient.
A job offer, if it’s even coming, won’t come quickly.
“Admit it. We kick ass at any sport,” I say to my friend, focusing on that rather than on the ticking clock of job hope.
“Hell yeah. Badass to the bone,” he says.
“That can be our mantra.”
“Let’s make jackets with that saying when you get the job with Stone,” he says with a wriggle of his brows.
“ If ,” I emphasize. “If.”
“Positive thinking, bro. I’m all about the positive thinking for you. Your interview went well yesterday?”
“It was solid,” I say, since I don’t want to jinx my chances.
He arches a skeptical brow. “Solid? It was solid? Sounds like an understatement.”
Feels like one too, but I know where overconfidence can take a man. Where cockiness can lead you.
To trouble. To pain. To loss.
No need to start nurturing that trait in myself. Best to keep my expectations on the level, though I left that interview on a high.
We all hit it off, no questions asked.
Not only Stone and me, but the team and me. Candi, Veronica, and I had a great conversation, and they were stoked about my suggestions.
Stone, too, seemed like he enjoyed the hell out of our convo, in the hall and out of the hall.
Still, that doesn’t mean an offer is coming my way. He’s a charismatic guy—he probably has that spark with everyone he meets.
“It was a decent interview,” I say evenly.
“I know you’re playing it down,” Terrence says, laughing, since he knows me well, and has since I met him at a barbecue his barbecue-loving wife hosted a few years ago.
Terrence made the intro for me for this gig, since he’s worked the day shift for Stone for a few years.
He put in a good word after my last gig ended when the actor I was working for no longer needed security detail.
“But I have a good feeling about this one. I just know the call is coming, and I have no secret intel. It’s just a good feeling,” he adds.
“Don’t jinx me, man.”
He shakes his head, dismissing that notion. “With you, it could never be a jinx. Because you’re all about doing the work and putting in the time.”
“I am indeed.”
Work has become everything to me in the last year and a half. As my life has changed, when the future I thought I was going to have with a certain someone ended, work became my solace.
My constant.
I’m grateful to have a career I love, a career I intend to keep growing.
Terrence knows all the details. Hell, that’s how I became buds with him, because his wife was best friends with the guy I used to share a life with.
A guy who’s no longer here.
But I am.
When we reach the sidewalk, my phone rings. Grabbing it at the speed of sound, I check the screen.
Edgely Kane Talent Management.
I tap the answer button in a split second.
“Jackson Pearce here,” I say.
“It’s Candi Kane. We loved meeting you, and we’d love to offer you the job. We were all impressed with your credentials, your plan, and your personality. Stone included.”
I smile, big and wide. “Sounds great.”
She shares the details, and when she’s done, I tell her I accept.
After I end the call, Terrence gives me his best I told you so look.
“You were right,” I say, thrilled to be able to serve up those words to him.
“Knew it. You’re gonna love it,” he adds. “And you’re going to be awesome at this gig.”
What I’ll really need to excel at, though, is ignoring the hell out of my preexisting attraction to the guy who’s my new boss.