Page 91 of Good Vibes Only
Was he serious right now? His line of questioning had me rolling my eyes. I didn’t have time for this.
“Myproject, Rust. BarDown Brewery.”
“That’s right. He manages your project.” He jabbed his finger into my chest to emphasize the words: “Yourproject.”
Just like that, it dawned on me what Rust was getting at all along.
“Mike’s job is to deliver whatyouwant. That’s why you’re paying him. If he doesn’t understand that? If he can’t bemadeto understand that?” Rust drew a thumb across his throat. “Then he’s a goner.”
As tempting as that sounded, it wasn’t exactly easy to cut ties with a guy I hired based on a recommendation.
“But my money guy—”
“If he’s got a problem with you canning Mike, then you need a new money guy, too. I can put you in touch with mine. Mine’s good.” He folded his arms. “Frankly, after this whole experience, you should probably get a new money guy regardless. He recommended you hire a snake. It’s a bad sign, Brett. A real bad sign.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. “You’re right.”
I stared into my locker, my gaze distant.
“So what are you gonna do?” he asked.
I picked up my phone. “I’m going to give Mike a call and see if he understands who he’s working for.”
Rust clapped me on the shoulder. “Good.”
* * *
My teammates slowly trickled onto the team bus, idling outside the arena. Before I hopped on board, I paced around outside, my phone held to my ear as it rang.
He answered. “Hello?”
“Hey, Mike. It’s me again,” I said.
“Brett, how’s it going?” he asked cheerily.
“Not great. We’ve got a problem at the brewery today.”
“Oh no. What’s wrong?” he asked, though I couldn’t detect any actual concern in his voice.
I reminded him of our conversation last night about the soundproofing and cut to the chase. “So did you tell the crew to put the soundproofing panels up first thing in the morning like I asked you to?”
“I passed along your request, yes,” he bristled.
My eyes narrowed. I could already tell where this was going.
“I thought I made it pretty clear that this was more than just a ‘request,’” I said. “The store owner next door, McKayla, has been complaining about the noise for weeks. And she’s right, it’s awful. I went next door and verified it for myself. Which is why I took time out of my day yesterday to drive all over the city looking for those panels. When I talked to you yesterday, I thought we had an understanding that the crew would put those panels up so they could actually getused.Yet I got a text from McKayla just now telling me that the sound is worse than it’s ever been, and they still haven’t put the panels up yet.”
“McKayla? Is she the girl that owns the sex store?” he asked, and I swear, I could almost hear him sneering through the phone.
“The adult boutique, yeah.”
“Oh—the adult boutique—yes, of course,” he said, in a haughty and mocking tone. “Brett, with all due respect, your heart is in the right place, but this woman has you running around in circles, wasting your time and money for no reason. The noise is unfortunate, yes, but it’s alsoherproblem, not yours. We have the necessary work permits. The work is being done within the allotted work hours, anddecibels, I assume, or else I’msurewe would have received a citation by now, given how much she’s been complaining.”
I gritted my teeth. “We probably would have gotten a citation if she’d called the cops. Only reason we haven’t is because she tried to do the good neighbor thing andtalkto us about a problem we are causing. And I respect that.”
“Brett,” he sighed, “I did as you asked and told the crew that you wanted those panels put up. It’s in their hands. If they haven’t done it yet, I’m not sure what you want me to do about it.”
“You could drive over there right now and tell them you have one pissed-off client who is dead serious about this getting done,” I snarled. “I don’t care how you do it, I just want you to do your job andmanagethe fuckingproject,like you’re supposed to do. Like I’mpayingyou to do.”
