Page 39 of Nathan
I rolled my eyes. “Mindy and everyone else at this shop has nothing to worry about from my side.”
“Calvin and I already told them that, but maybe havin’ a staff meetin’ where ye explain yerself would help.”
“Let’s not make this bigger than it already is. I’m still the same guy that I was yesterday. It’s ridiculous that I should be a danger to anyone, especially people working for me. You and Calvin are welcome to have a staff meeting if you want, but I’m not going to stand up and defend myself like a naughty boy. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Roxy wrinkled her nose up and tightened her brow. “According to the news, ye were convicted for assault, and went to prison. Why didn’t ye tell us?”
“I don’t need to tell you everything from my past. Why would I? It has nothing to do with the work we do here. I have a right to privacy.”
“That’s a little late. Everyone knows about yer time in jail now.” Roxy looked to Calvin for support and he nodded.
“Aye, we all know.”
My chest rose and fell in a noisy exhalation.
“Ye can’t hide yer head in the sand, and what about all the journalists callin’ here to reach ye? Calvin and I haven’t gotten any work done all mornin’. Young Neal is outside scrubbing down walls, and half an hour ago, we pulled Lilly from the shop to screen all calls and take messages. She’s in the meeting room, but the press don’t just call, Nathan, they show up askin’ for ye, and there was even a TV crew interviewin’ customers about what they thought of the situation.”
I leaned my head back, exhaling while looking up at the ceiling. “I have them at my home too and some ball-bag scratched my car. It’s insane.”
Roxy and Calvin didn’t say anything at first, but then Calvin spoke in a softer voice. “Obviously, Roxy and I can’t tell ye what to do. Ye’re the owner, but as yer business partners we feel that it’s our place to advise ye to…” His eyes flickered to Roxy, who nodded for him to continue.
“If ye don’t want to appease the employees in person, then staying away for a while might be the best solution until we can settle things down here.”
Roxy hurried to add, “Ye know that we run this place as if it were our own shop. We take pride in the shop and the quality we stand for. Ye can trust us, Nathan, and we’ll keep ye informed via phone and email.”
“I do trust you.”
“Then why not get away for a while?”
The idea was appealing. “I wouldn’t mind a few weeks in a forest somewhere, running and clearing my head.”
“Good.” Roxy pressed down on the armrests and stood up. “Then we’ll take it from here.”
I took that as my cue and stood up as well. Roxy placed her hand on my forearm.
“I’m sorry, Nathan, that all of this is happenin’ to ye. I knew ye’d been in the army, but I still can’t believe ye’d hurt a fly. Did ye really try to kill that man they keep showing on the news?”
“No, I was defending myself and my comrades.”
“Hmm.” Roxy and Calvin were distracted when there was a knock on the door and Lilly popped her head in.
“Oh, hi,” she said as her eyes met mine.
“Hi, Lilly.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have someone from Nike on the phone. They have people contacting them about us. Someone is trying to get them to stop working with our shop.”
“Oh, Jaysus.” Calvin shot up from his chair. “I need to take this one.”
Roxy and I quickly left Calvin’s office and after a few words of encouragement from Roxy, I drove away, thinking about what a mess my life had become in the span of a few days. Not even my playlist with my favorite music could lift my mood. I drove out of the city, parked my car at the Ninja Institute, and put on training gear from the bag I always kept in the back of my car.
The Ninja Institute was an old warehouse with a challenging agility course that demanded core strength, balance, and timing. There weren’t many in the gym at this time of day, which suited me fine as I’d reached my limit of scowls for the day.
I stayed for hours, pushing my body further than I should have, using the gym to numb myself to the anger and despair I felt. I was a skilled fighter, but none of the techniques I’d ever learned would help me defend myself against the media. It would be like fighting a monster with a thousand heads. All I knew how to do was focus all my energy on getting through each challenge of this agility course to get a break from the outside stress.
When I returned to my car, it was almost two in the afternoon. Sadly, all the dopamine my body had produced while working out didn’t leave me in a calm state of mind for long. Once I got back in the driver’s seat and picked up my phone, stress returned at the sight of all the unanswered calls and text messages.
As I scrolled down the unknown numbers in my inbox, River called.
