Page 7 of Need Him
“You’ll be fine, Preston. I promise.”
Gareth rested his hand on his best friend’s back, hoping to give him a little comfort in the mess his world had become.
****
When Sunday rolled around, he was ready for work. He had spent the previous day with Preston and Victor, trying to cheer up the former. It hadn’t worked despite the number of films they’d sat and watched. They’d both left late in the night, and Gareth had fallen asleep almost instantly—and slept for eleven hours. His body had obviously needed it.
The heat of the summer was still lingering as he entered Market Foods at eight that evening to start his shift. The night hours were perfect for him because there were fewer people who could tell him what to do and how to do it. He truly could do things his own way, as long as the items were where they should be by the morning. There were also fewer customers during the night, making him wonder why the supermarket stayed open twenty-four hours a day. It wasn’t his business, though.
“Gareth, how are you doing?”
He pushed through the doors to the office so he could sign in and smile at his colleague. “I’m good, thanks. Did you have a good weekend?” He slid his employee card across the sensor and checked it flashed with his name before facing the woman.
Jane was a store assistant who spent most of her time at the checkouts or customer service desk. She was an older woman with greying hair that she said gave her the looks of a wise woman. Gareth couldn’t disagree. Even though Gareth had only been there a week, he thought she and the assistant manager, Felix, would do well as a couple. He wouldn’t mention it, though.
As she answered his question, footsteps sounded on the stairs, and he turned his head as Ben came into view. He immediately fixated back on Jane, nodding at her words, though he couldn’t have repeated what she told him. Ben’s shoes squeaked when he finished descending, and Gareth followed his progress across the floor, using that noise as an indicator of where he was. When it stopped too close for comfort, he clenched his jaw and interrupted Jane, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“Sorry, Jane. I need to get this.”
She waved him away and faced Ben with a smile. Gareth pivoted in the opposite direction of his boss and put the phone to his ear, pretending to answer it. He pushed through to the staff room and over to his lockers, throwing his phone, wallet and keys into his small metal locker. After checking his watch, he sat on a seat in the corner, crossing his ankle over his knee and stared out of the window. He still had ten minutes before he had to be in the warehouse, and he needed that time to decide how he was going to interact with Ben if he needed to.
He wasn’t sure why he was making such a big deal of it. It wasn’t the first time he’d been brushed off. Resting his elbow on the arm of the chair, he cupped his jaw and sighed. What was it about the guy that had his words hitting closer to home than normal?
He let his mind wander, going over their interactions, few as they were, with a fine toothcomb. The man was tired and grumpy, which usually went hand in hand, but there was also something else Gareth couldn’t put his finger on. It could just be that because Ben was his boss, he had to do what the man said and, as he knew better than anyone, having control was important to Gareth. While he worked at Market Foods, Ben had control over him in every aspect of his working environment. Maybe that was it.
Either way, he needed to get over it. Avoiding Ben would only work for so long, and it wasn’t professional, which was something Gareth prided himself on.
He rose, brushing down the front of his uniform. He needed to grow some balls.
****
Chapter 4
Ben
Ben scrunched his nose as Gareth made his escape. He hadn’t been able to speak to him properly since their last conversation the previous week. The apology he planned on giving the man was becoming harder and harder to deliver, and it meant he would have to do this in an official capacity. At least on the outside.
His conversation with Jane dragged on until she had to leave to start work, and he returned to his office. There was plenty of work still to be done, and after, he would call down to Felix and get him to send Gareth up. The man wouldn’t be able to avoid a direct order from his superior.
He barely finished his first task of writing up his summary of the staff appraisals that had taken place that week before his hand was on the phone and ringing.
“Felix.”
Ben cleared his throat. “Felix, could you send up Gareth, please?”
“Of course. Anything the matter?”
“No. I just want to speak about his first week.”
There was a second of silence before Felix agreed, and Ben knew why. He hadn’t asked to see any of the other employees when they’d been there for a week before. He didn’t care what people thought of him as long as their jobs got done. The rumours surrounding him were not far off the mark, but he was never mean to anyone unless they truly deserved it. His perfectionist nature ensured he needed things to be done in the right way, and if that meant he told someone how to do it, so be it. He knew much about this business, having been in every job position within the company, that he wanted to impart his knowledge so they did things properly. After all, the fate of this particular branch was in his hands.
He unlocked his bottom desk drawer and opened the cardboard box lid. The strawberry milkshake mixture waited for him, and he pulled it free, spinning his chair around to reach for the milk from the mini-fridge behind him. The milk glugged from the carton as he filled his travel mug, and he smiled. He had no idea when he’d received his first taste of the drink, but he’d been obsessed from the minute he’d tasted it. His parents refused to entertain his obsession and served him tea or wine during the required dinner meetings. But here, where no one could see him or tell what he was drinking, he could drink it all he liked.
He replaced the milk in the fridge, spooned some mixture into the cup and whisked it together. Most people enjoyed the thicker, creamier milkshakes they could get from restaurants, but he loved the more liquid kind. Once it was ready, he replaced the mixture, spoon and whisk after giving them a clean, closed the lid and locked the drawer again. He tightened the lid to the travel mug, sipped through the hole and closed his eyes as the strawberry flavour burst onto his taste buds.
The knock at the door came seconds later, and he double-checked the lid was in place and called for Gareth to enter.
“Gareth, good. Come on in and take a seat,” Ben said, scooting his chair closer to the desk and setting the mug next to his laptop.
