Page 12 of Watch Over Me

James grimaced. "I'll go talk to him and apologize."

"Let him cool off first," Todd spoke up. "He was already in a shitty mood, and this certainly didn't help. Trust me, let him cool off a bit, and then apologize. He won't see reason for at least another half an hour or so."

It didn't feel right, letting it drag on like this, but James had already misstepped today, so he needed to listen to somebody else.

Glancing towards the door Eddie had disappeared through, he replayed the whole exchange one more time.

Fuck.

He'd really made a mess of things, hadn't he?

CHAPTER SIX

While Eddie's Sunday afternoon had not been pleasant, Monday was already so much worse, and it wasn't even noon.

First, he snoozed his alarm one too many times and had to scramble out the door. Not only did he burn his fingers as he was pouring coffee into his travel mug, but he also left his phone at home.

Without it, the ride to work seemed endless. He tried to busy himself with people watching, but a group of men in Air Force uniforms reminded him of his father and the family visit yesterday, which sullied his mood even more.

He really should learn to say no to those invitations. Facing his family's disappointment over the phone was much better than facing it in person, after all.

Once he arrived at work, he barely had time to leave things at his desk and grab another coffee before the company meeting. As he sat down in the auditorium, though, his mood improved right away at the sight of James. The man walked into the room like he'd never overslept in his life, and he was looking way too good for a Monday morning.

They barely exchanged a few words, but by the time the meeting started, Eddie was ready to be a fully-fledged human being again.

As the discussion about CyberMode started, he leaped at the chance to stretch his wings and go out onto the field. It was something new and potentially interesting—take that, Rebecca—and he liked working with Jeremy and Martinez, so it sounded like a perfect opportunity for him.

Then James had to go and ruin the whole thing.

"Are you sure you should be the one to do it?"

Eddie's whole body tensed.

How dare you?The question was right there, but he managed to swallow it down somehow. And even though he told James off and left the room with his head held high, the sick feeling in his stomach remained.

James doubted him. He doubted Eddie so much that he challenged him in front of everyone. There was no telling how many people had heard it, but it didn't matter, because with the gossip mill around here, everyone would hear it before lunch.

Eddie could already picture it.

"Did you hear that James doesn't think Eddie can cut it?"

"What was Kalei thinking, letting Eddie do something like that? He should know better."

"Eddie's good with computers, not out there, with people."

He swallowed hard, wishing he could slam the door to the comm center, but the last thing he needed was to draw more attention to himself, so he closed it quietly and took his seat without a word.

Thankfully, Jasmine was talking to someone through her headset, and there was no one else in here yet, so he had a moment to collect himself.

Maybe he was exaggerating. Maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought—

"Are you sure you should be the one to do it?"

The words cut straight through him in a familiar way. "Are you sure?" questions were polite versions of "I think you're wrong", and he'd heard them enough times over the years from his parents, his siblings, his entire damn family. What usually followed were ideas on what they thought he should do instead.

Eddie definitely wasn't going to stick around to listen to what someone else thought he should do. Even James.

He'd humiliated Eddie and that was not okay. If hehad doubts, he should've spoken with Eddie in private. Yes, it would've still hurt to be questioned like this, but at least it would have been between the two of them instead of out there, for other people to see.

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