Josh arrived at the top floor of the building, wiping unceremoniously at the side of his mouth. Kellie said he looked fine but Josh remembered the mortification he felt the last time someone asked “is that lipstick?”
It would have been triumphant to announce, “Yes, I’m into makeup these days,” when it happened last year. But the reality was that Josh snuck away from work to makeout with his girlfriend. And, having just done the same thing with his fiance probably didn’t make it better.
The elevator doors slid open and Josh halted in his cleaning efforts to find his boss, Hunter, standing right in front of him.
“Oh good, I was looking for you.”
Hunter spun back around and Josh caught the hint to follow. Josh stared at Hunter’s tan shoes, taking note of the man’s long strides. Strides so long that white socks appeared from behind his meticulously ironed pants. Josh entered the office last and the door had barely swung shut when Hunter blurted out,
“Did you know that some period cramps are more painful than a heart attack?”
To which Josh replied,
“Why the hell are you looking that stuff up?”
Josh went to sprawl on Hunter’s couch while the taller man headed for his desk. Hunter grabbed a single sheet of paper and handed it to the shorter black man.
“I was thinking about Melodie and then about how she’s a girl and then about how I know so little about women.”
Josh looked down at the paper and if he could have ‘gone pale’ he would have. There had to have been 29 bullets on this list.
“If I’m gonna keep watching her, I need to be able to answer her tough questions.”
Hunter snatched back the list and Josh watched in awe as he flipped it over and finished writing “heart attack” on the other side. Very low on that side. How many facts had he found?
“If this helps me do that, so be it.”
Josh was kind of amazed. This version of Hunter looked so different from the man who slept on his office couch most nights.
If Hunter thought about it too long, he might have thought so too. That morning, he was focused. His meetings went well and he took tons of good points of improvement after making his rounds. But the second he sat down to sift through emails, his mind strayed to last Sunday.
He was progressively spending more and more time with River which now meant more and more time with his daughter. A young girl with a single father who was now allowing another man into her life. The more Hunter thought about it, the more honored he felt. But what qualifications did he have to be a caregiver in this little girl’s life?
If Hunter watched Melodie even two more times, he wanted to have more prepared than just animation knowledge and the ability to draw a perfect circle. But what exactly did he need to know?
Fortunately or unfortunately, the first thing that came to mind when he thought about women was periods.
Now, two hours later, Hunter was in too deep. He now knew that most women were misinformed about the true formula behind bra sizes and were eternally poked by metal wires. He also discovered that–despite categorizing viagra as a necessity–21 American states still classified tampons as optional, or luxury items and taxed them as such. Which was a little unnecessary as a Canadian but interesting to note nonetheless.
Hunter’s mind swam with all the new knowledge and it almost hurt to think about how all of this could apply to Melodie one day. From his place on the couch, it was like watching a TV depiction of Einstein. The mad scientist vibes in Hunter’s high rise office were overwhelming. And somehow, the troubled genius had missed the simplest detail.
“Shouldn’t you be looking stuff up for little girls, not women in general?”
Judging by the slack-jawed expression Hunter sent Josh’s way, the answer was no.
“Alright, since I’ve helped my boss not get back to work, I’m going to work even harder to keep the balance.”
With those parting words, Josh lifted off the couch and let Hunter get back to his fixation. Josh’s ingenious tip helped Hunter narrow down his search and he created a new list specifically for “Young Girls.”
“‘Don’t just compliment her looks,'” Hunter read aloud, squinting at the screen. “‘Encourage her skills as much as you would a boy’s. She has value outside of her appearance.”
Hunter was sure to write that down.
All of this attention geared towards River’s little family must have willed the man to call him. It wasn’t even five minutes later that Hunter’s phone began to ring.
“Hi Hunter.”
Hunter slunk into his chair contentedly at the sound. River’s voice sounded extra deep that afternoon, hoarse and soft. Hunter wondered if the man was calling to catch up or invite him out for another date.
“I need a huge favor.”
—————
The impromptu afternoon meeting was totally unlike Hunter. He had a predictable schedule that all of the department heads knew. Meetings and rounds in the morning, emails and personal work in the afternoon. So why were all of the most important people at this company gathered in meeting room A?
Hunter was thankful to have worn a full suit this morning. Adjusting and tightening his tie while he walked up to the meeting room helped calm his nerves.
“Hunter, relax,” Josh whispered from behind the taller man, speaking over his black rimmed glasses. “You made this company a well-oiled machine. It can handle this.”
Hunter nodded–even if he didn’t believe him–and stepped into the room. Kellie stood up first, breaking off her conversation with Mr. Abbasi to stand and greet Hunter. Her tight coils were natural today, arranged in a simple short afro. Hunter imagined his PA drooling from behind him at how beautiful his fiance looked.
The 2D animation head, Mr. Abbasi began to rise from his seat on the right side of the room but Hunter softly shook his head. With that simple gesture, the man relaxed. Hunter knew the Pakistani man had suffered a fall the previous month. There was no need to move when he didn’t have to.
“Good afternoon, Hunter!” Cheryl, the finance manager, smiled. She walked up to the taller man for a hug and Hunter returned it earnestly. The black woman was a couple decades older than him and considerably shorter, but her hug felt like being cocooned. “Why the sudden meeting?”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Esther interjected, halting her rapid typing to stand and shake Hunter’s hand. “You usually hole up in your office the second it hits 12.”
The PR manager was still shaking his hand when her joke landed and Hunter heard an imaginary “buh dum, tss” as she laughed. Hunter was expecting the joke but still laughed in surprise when it came.
“I’ll explain in just a second,” he replied. Scanning the room, Hunter noticed one person missing. “Once Tim gets here, we can start.”
Josh sat down next to Esther Navarro who had him laughing within two seconds of him choosing the chair. The two loudly shared jokes back and forth, bringing a smile to Kellie’s face who eavesdropped on the exchange. Hunter found himself sandwiched between Josh and Cheryl who sent him another comforting smile before pulling out her own computer.
A few minutes and several jokes later, Tim Harvey ran into the room, computer bag slung over his shoulder. Tim was a lanky white fellow who’s years of working over computers gave him an irreparable slouch. Hunter always thought it added to his geeky look. It also gave him more authority over the other tech nerds in the IT department.
“Sorry, Mr. Dannings,” he sighed, unloading his stuff beside a startled Mr. Abbasi. Tim’s noisy way of doing things never meshed well with the older gentleman. Tim prepared to explain all the reasons why he was late, but Hunter was anxious to get to the purpose of the meeting. Tim’s panicked excuses could wait.
“I called you all here to talk about some task adjustments.”
Hunter could feel the people around him perk up and he clenched his hands together in anticipation. A particular stare seemed to burn into his head and Hunter looked to catch Mr. Abbasi’s eyes.
The older gentleman had met his father during university when his dad was a business major and Mr. Abbasi was studying architecture. Several years later, Dannings Sr. decided to start an animation studio and Mr. Abbasi was one of the first people he contacted. One work Visa and several years of immigration efforts later, Mr. Abbasi was a Canadian citizen and close friend of the family.
And now a man the same age of his father was waiting for his instructions. Hunter swallowed a lump.
“Long story short, I won’t be able to put in as much overtime as I have been for the past few years,” he explained gruffly. He meant to sound confident but the words died a little on his throat.
“Like two weeks ago?” Kellie clarified, scrolling on her tablet to what Hunter assumed was the exact day.
“Yes, but multiply that by two and keep it that way for the foreseeable future.”
The change was big but Hunter had just about as much choice as River did. The bar owner’s big favor was bigger than he’d expected. On the phone less than an hour earlier, River explained that his second manager quit–something about moving to be with his parents. That left River with no one to oversee 4 out of 7 evening shifts.
“Her babysitter agreed to watch Melodie on Tuesdays and Callie’s handling Saturdays but that’s still two days where Melodie would be alone.”
The request crystallized in Hunter’s mind without the words leaving River’s mouth.
“So you want me to watch her on Sundays and Thursdays?”
“Just until I get a new manager trained,” River rushed out. Hunter could imagine him raking his fingers through already tousled hair. The thought made his heart clench. “I just- I don’t want to throw a new babysitter on Melodie without us getting to know them first, you know? That would be a lot for her.”
“And for you.”
Hunter knew plenty of parents that wouldn’t be so picky. They could switch babysitters every week if needed. But River didn’t need to make that choice.
As long as Hunter agreed.
Hunter put River on hold and went through his own mental battle. Was he willing to do this? Change so much of his life to accommodate a 6-year-old child? Seeing her occasionally with River in the room was totally different from becoming a full-fledged babysitter. That was a lot of time. And investment. And chances for things to go wrong.
And what about his company? Would the department leads be okay shouldering the responsibilities Hunter had kept to himself for the past 2 years? The conflict seemed to pull Hunter in two separate directions.
Then, while pacing a hole through his office floor, Hunter saw that silly list. 73 itemized facts about women and girls for a child he barely knew. She was important to River and quickly becoming important to Hunter as well.
The CEO’s mind was made up.
Now, he just had to convince the people seated at this table that it could work.
Cheryl placed a small hand on Hunter’s shoulder, bringing his attention to her unwavering smile. Cheryl had been at this company much longer than Hunter, someone who’d worked closely with his dad in the early days of the company. She’d been to so many family dinner parties and graduations, it was hard to remove her from the ‘family’ category of his mind at work.
Now, it helped to see her so immediately okay with the news.
“The IT department’s good with that,” Tim announced with a crooked smile. “Our timeline shouldn’t change much for the next two quarters.”
“The 3D animation department’s fine since we got those new hires to help with the Illumination project,” Kellie said with a definitive nod.
“All good in Finance,” was Cheryl’s clear reply, exactly what Hunter hoped to hear.
The young CEO looked to Mr. Abbasi, his body tense. Unlike Cheryl, Yusuf Abbasi had to be convinced to get onboard with Hunter taking over.
Hunter was young and starry eyed. Too naive to lead a company, according to Mr. Abbasi. He’d come around after some office political drama but even now Hunter worried that the older Pakistani man was reporting all of his mistakes to his father.
And he’d made himself an easy target:
“Dannings, your son’s slacking off again. How dare a CEO give so much work to his subordinates?”
“Sounds good to me,” Yusuf agreed. He gave Hunter a single nod before rising to his feet. “About time you loosened the reins.”
Huh?
“As the PR manager, I second that,” Esther announced, closing her laptop with a definitive slam. “It will be a lesson to the other people here that overtime pay should not be abused.”
Esther laughed and followed Mr. Abbasi out of the meeting room. Hunter heard some words about emails and confirming schedules but they were background noise to the rushing in his ears. Hunter was–to put it simply–shocked.
Instead of staying by the side of his paralyzed boss, Josh left with Kellie. Hunter had no doubt those two would mess around some more in a closet to “celebrate their engagement.” Within seconds, everyone had left.
Well, almost everyone.
Cheryl rocked back in her chair, watching Hunter with a thoughtful expression. Hunter remembered the last time they sat like this. It was probably when he’d first gotten the company, overwhelmed and stressed out of his mind. And Cheryl saw, past his endless confidence and puffed out chest, the constant look of fear.
Hunter wondered what she saw now.
“You know,” she began, her words ringing loudly after the beat of silence. “Your dad would be proud.”
“That I’m giving my work to other people?” Hunter chuckled.
Cheryl stood up, once again placing a warm hand on his shoulder.
“That you know when to ask for help.”
———————————
Friendly reminder, Hunter’s father is alive! Just not in the room to give his opinion.
What do you guys think after meeting some of the coworkers?
And Hunter’s period googling? Too cute.
Anywhy,
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Vote, Comment, Share, Follow, or anything else you can do with this book and I will see you next Friday! Bye!!!
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