Chapter 7 #3
“I just worry about you, Benji. I worried when you were little, and I worried again when your mom died. Hell, you know, when I think about it, I used to worry about you like I worried about Anson when we were kids. You’re so smart, and I know that sometimes that was hard for you, like it was hard for him.
I just don’t want anyone to take advantage of you because of your skill and knowledge. That’s your work and your project.”
“Dad, you don’t have to worry about me. I promise.
Small-town Arizona might not have been the best place for kids like Anson and me, but I found my people here at school, and heck, Anson must have found his people with Beck when they created New Day.
You don’t have to be concerned about him either.
When we were working together, I could just tell he’s doing what he loves.
Creating amazing tech that helps people.
Sure, it’s also tech that makes him and Beck lots of money, or whatever.
“And now I get to do that too! I mean, the creative part. The money, that’s just a bonus that will help keep me from being distracted while I’m working. I’m being treated fairly, Dad. I promise. More than fairly.” I shared my salary.
“Shit, kid, that’s way more than a year’s worth of really good renovation projects would net.”
“You can’t tell anyone, Dad. I signed some kind of nondisclosure agreement. I don’t think I’m allowed to share details.”
Dad’s hmm sounded very heavy, like I hadn’t at all convinced him that my new job was the best thing to ever happen to me. He’d just have to see for himself when he came for graduation.
“So you’re taking the job?”
“Duh, Dad. I already did.”
“Duh. Is that a scientific term?”
“You know it.” I chuckled at his joke and as I did, tried to ignore that we both sounded forced.
“And you’re going to live in Boston?”
“Yes!”
“Massachusetts? With the snow and the crowds and the sports and the lack of parking?”
“And the home offices of New Day Technologies!”
Dad sighed, then his demeanor finally changed.
“It’s not going to snow at graduation, is it?
” I was glad our serious talk was over, and that we could go back to planning his trip to Boston.
I hoped Dad making a joke meant that I didn’t have to further justify my decision, and that whatever his concerns were, he was over them, but I wasn’t so sure.
I decided then and there that the best way to convince Dad he didn’t have to worry about Anson was to introduce Dad to his old friend.
His uncommonly handsome, smart, rich, and not-at-all age-appropriate childhood friend. Also known as my boss, Anson Day.
“Dad!” I laughed.
“I’m so proud of you, kiddo. Your mom would be too.”
“I know, Dad.” We often went from laughing to choking back tears when Mom came up in the conversation. I’m sure Dad could hear it in my voice. Not really how I wanted the conversation to go, so I got us back on track.
With travel plans finalized and picked over, we said goodbye.
Dad would be coming alone, as my grandparents had booked a months-long cruise a while back and wouldn’t be there.
I had spoken to my grandmother over the holidays and practically got yelled at for the fact that my studies had been accelerated to the point where I was graduating ahead of schedule.
They would have lost money to reschedule their cruise, but this wasn’t my first graduation.
I’d insisted that they not cancel and promised to come for a visit when they returned.
What my dad had said really hit me after our conversation.
I would be living far away from home, permanently.
I was excited that Dad was coming to Boston.
Since my mom died, Dad had dived into his work as a general contractor, growing his business in our small town.
He spent a lot of his free time in the shed he’d built behind our house.
He called it his workshop, and he built custom furniture when he wasn’t using the space to build cabinets or other home components for his customers.
Dad had been alone in that house since I’d moved away for college eight years earlier. He’d never said anything about me leaving before, but it had been difficult for me to go to college as a freshman, knowing he’d be all alone.
I’d grown up in the very same house as he had.
My mom and dad lived in an apartment when they were first married, but my grandparents had moved shortly thereafter, and mom and dad moved right back into his childhood home, raising me there.
Here I was building a life clear across the country, and my dad had barely ever left the house he’d been born in, never living anywhere but his hometown.
I knew my dad would never make me feel guilty about any of that, which made his reaction to my new job so confusing.
But I did sometimes feel guilty anyway, and that morning, my excitement was tinged with some sadness when I thought about him and how it was finally official that I wouldn’t be returning to Arizona after my final graduation ceremony.
Maybe that was why he was so hesitant to share my enthusiasm about New Day Tech? I wished I knew for sure.
With my initial excitement behind me, I took the time to reread the information Erin had sent before sending her an email that I knew was unnecessary since everything was handled through the portal, but which still felt like both an essential and appropriate touch.
“I have reviewed and completed the agreements in the portal. I am happy to accept your offer, and I very much look forward to starting my new job at NDT upon my graduation in three weeks.”
My phone buzzed as I was composing the email to Erin and completing some human resource forms at the portal. I ignored the phone in favor of finishing paperwork that signified the start of my future.
“And send,” I said out loud after completing my review of the last form I needed to finish the “onboarding” process. My phone buzzed again, and my notifications showed that I’d had a missed phone call and a text, both from an unknown number.
Figure it out yet? was all the text said, but I knew exactly who it was from and exactly what he meant.
My heart rate began to accelerate as I hit the phone icon and watched as my cell connected and began to ring.
“Benji!” he said, and before I could even blurt out an excited “hello” he started right in.
“I’m sharing some files with you. Check your email for the access codes.
They wouldn’t give me your contact information until Erin got your paperwork back.
Said it wouldn’t be appropriate or something.
” He sounded almost as excited as I was, and I wondered if his heart was racing as well.
It had felt like our minds were in sync almost from the moment we’d met. Were our hearts beating in sync too?
Thank fuck the ping of his email sounded, helping me put a stop to my ridiculous musings. While he was talking, I logged into the secure server Anson had shared.
“Look at the joint connection right here …”
I pulled up the shared file, and it was like no time had passed since leaving him the day before, except that he wasn’t sitting right next to me as we got back to work.
I could still imagine his scent, which, like everything else about him, was contradictorily pungent and soft at the same time, a rich but not overpowering sandalwood that had elevated my senses and continued to do so even as I sat miles away from him.
The remembrance of that scent and the subtle heat between our arms as they rested so close together flooded my mind.
My entire body tensed in a way I had never experienced before, a very pleasurable way.
I ignored it as best I could even as I imagined excitement vibrating off him while he talked me through his latest discovery.
As we continued to work, I realized that I could even tell when his quiet meant that he was thinking and when it meant that he expected me to respond.
We collaborated effortlessly with no regard for the time.
My stomach may have rumbled at some point. The sun may have set and the temperature decreased. My roommate, Jake, may have walked past me, earbuds in place, giving me a quick up nod before heading to his room. Still, we worked.
At one point, I was pacing the living room, trying to remember to keep my voice down for my roommate’s sake. I failed as I growled out, “Ahh! I wish I could just build it!”
Anson’s voice was soft when he replied, “Benji. You can. We can as soon as you start.”
I sat on our crappy secondhand couch, trying to contain my nervous energy.
“I haven’t even thanked you yet, Anson. I can’t believe I’m going to be working for New Day. Working with you,” I added. He was quiet, and I thought about what I had said.
“I mean for you. For your company. You have to know it’s a dream come true for someone like me.
I’ve been following your career since I was twelve years old.
The great Anson Day.” God, should I have said that?
I was working for a man, not a legend. I’m sure I sounded like some obsessed teenager.
An obsessed twenty-something, my snarky inner voice observed.
Anson laughed nervously at my stupid comment. “Ah, but you must have known about little Ani Day, the kid who used to follow after your father.”
“Actually …”
“What?”
“Well,” I started. “Dad doesn’t really talk all that much about the past. You guys grew up with my mom, right? Ashley Andersen?”
“I’d heard your dad married Ashley.”