Page 4 of Believing in You

I’d rather talk to the devil himself than talk to my mother.

Hours later, Nyla was still thinking about Harrison’s words. The admission didn’t fit the man she knew. Not that she knew him well, but despite his grumpiness, he was a really nice guy.

That wasn’t just her opinion, but it was also the opinion of the people who worked for and with him. Harrison wasn’t the most social supervisor, but he cared about his staff, and it showed in the things he did for them—like spring for lunch once a week. Or like when Melody’s husband had gotten sick at work, and she’d needed a ride to get to him. Harrison didn’t think twice about taking her to him.

The list of his kind deeds went on and on. So, hearing him speak of his mother that way had caught Nyla off guard. She couldn’t imagine feeling that way about her mother, who she talked to regularly. No, they got along great, as did everyone in their family. They were a lively bunch, and though they didn’t always agree with one another, family always came first with them.

But what had the woman done to Harrison to make him despise her? There had to be a story there, and Nyla was nosy enough to want to know.

“It’s none of my business,” she mumbled as she locked the desk drawer and started for the storage room.None of my business at all.

“Nyla!”

She had barely taken a few steps when she saw Wendy, one of the software developers, rushing toward her. Nyla leaned against her desk.

“I’m glad I caught you. I have something for you,” said the woman, who was at least ten years older than Nyla.

“For me?”

“Yes, for you.” Wendy brushed long, dark hair from her face as she dug through her messenger bag. “I wanted to thank you for your help yesterday, and I know how much you love these sweet treats. Which is why I picked one up for you. Hopefully, it’s not too squished.”

Nyla recognized the bag and grinned. If it was what she thought it was, she didn’t care if it was a crumbly mess. “Tell me this is a white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie.”

“It is!” Wendy said on a laugh. “That’s just my way of saying thanks for testing out that app yesterday.”

“Are you kidding? That was fun,” Nyla said, pinching off a piece of the cookie and deciding that she’d save the rest for later. “It amazes me the type of work you guys do around here. I can’t wait until that game hits the App Store. I don’t play many games on my phone, but that’s one I’m looking forward to.”

“Thanks. We’ve been working on it for awhile, and it’s getting closer to being done, but there are still a few bugs to work out.”

They talked a few minutes about a couple of other projects, and Nyla was in awe at how software developers came up withsome of their ideas. Wendy was highly educated and talked with such passion when discussing her work.

Nyla wondered if that’s how she sounded when she talked about her music and Moody Days. She played a few instruments, but the one she loved most was the piano, and she’d even written some music. Though they might never be heard out in the world, she could talk about them, and some of her musical adaptations of popular songs, all day.

As for Moody Days, that place was her heart, even though she didn’t own it yet. The way she could go on and on about what they were doing there, and the plans she had for the future, people were probably sick of hearing about the place. The club felt like home whenever she stepped through the doors, which was why she had to do whatever she could to purchase the business.

Those were her thoughts after she finished talking to Wendy and entered the storage room. She was going to spend a few minutes unpacking boxes of supplies that had been dropped off earlier. Thankfully, she had caught the delivery guy before he left everything in the receptionist area. He’d been kind enough to put the large boxes just inside the storage room.

Digging into her pants pocket, Nyla pulled out her earbuds. Instead of putting both into her ears, she only used one of them so she could hear the phone if it rang. A few minutes later, she was humming along to Jill Scott’s “Getting in the Way.”

Nyla made quick work of unpacking most of the boxes as she grooved to the music. Once she realized she was going to run out of room on the lower shelves, she started doing some rearranging. Hopefully, no one would mind, but even if they did, she wouldn’t be there much longer.

The administrative assistant she was filling in for was due back in a few days, and Nyla was going to miss everyone at Telecom Solutions. Normally, her job assignments were rarelymore than a week or two, which she preferred. But being at Telecom longer than usual had been great. Everyone had been so welcoming from day one, and there were some who she felt like she’d known all her life.

It was going to be hard to leave, and if she’d been looking for a full-time position, she would see if they were hiring, but she wasn’t. She had only decided to do temp work as a side hustle to help build her savings a bit quicker.

Nyla glanced at the last two boxes, one full of various computer hardware and the other containing a few routers.

Now, where to put this stuff?she thought as she glanced around the small room that was bigger than an average supply closet. She moved a box that was labeled cords, planning to put it on a higher shelf, but stopped when dust flew into her face.

“Ugh,” she groaned and coughed a few times while waving her hand back and forth to clear the air. Maybe she should be dusting while reorganizing.

After moving another box to the floor, she continued unpacking her last two boxes. Then she grabbed the folding ladder that was in the corner and opened it near where she was going to store the cords.

“I’m not your superwoman,” Nyla sang along with Karyn White, whose song “Superwoman” was blaring in her ear.

She made two trips up the ladder, and on the way back down the second time, she realized the desk phone was ringing. She’d been so caught up in singing and moving items around on the top shelf, Nyla wasn’t sure how long it had been ringing.

She hurried down the steps, but the tail of her sweater got caught on the edge of one of the rungs, causing her to stumble and the ladder to sway.

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