Page 3 of Excitable Boy
Guess I really do have to shop for a car now.
* * * *
Tony Daniels’ Monday morning wasn’t going well and he hadn’t even dragged himself out of bed yet. He slept poorly after tweaking his back and left shoulder late yesterday during the install. This morning he could barely move.
But if he and Mike, one of his guys from the Sarasota data center who he’d brought out a few weeks ago to help him, could bust ass over the next couple of days, they could possibly be done by Friday.
Jeez, I just want to fucking go home.
He missed his bed, he missed his house—he missed Shayla most of all. It’d been six weeks since he’d last seen her, and that had been a hellish weekend neither of them had really been able to fully enjoy.
Although he’d been home three weeks ago for their anniversary…while Shayla had flown out here to Denver to surprise him.
He’d been surprised, all right.
I am not a young dog anymore. I’m getting too old for this shit.
Once upon a time, several months of back-breaking work like this would have left him tired but satisfied from a job well-done.
Now, he was about two sentences from telling his employer they could shove this data center up their shitters, sideways, without lube.
The only satisfaction he had was the VP who’d red-lined his extra help for this job in the first place, and diverted the money to a lobbying group, was now himself out of a job.
And Darren, his own boss, was bending over backward to make sure Tony and Mike had whatever they needed to finish the install and troubleshooting.
Yesterday, they’d finished reconnecting the last of the colocation servers they’d moved over to the new data center. Today would begin their final troubleshooting and, hopefully, being able to sign off on it. Four of the new crew hired to work here were already down in Sarasota and being trained on their systems there. They’d be flown back to Colorado tomorrow to work with Tony and Mike on these systems, and Mike would fly out several times over the next few weeks to help make sure everything was running smoothly.
Tony, however,neededto be home.
Desperately.
He winced as he stretched his hand over to the nightstand to retrieve his personal cell phone. He’d heard Shayla’s text come in a while ago and just hadn’t been able to move then.
Not that he was much better off right now.
He tapped out a reply.
Good morning, pet. Love you.
His phone rang seconds later, which was unusual. He thought she had a meeting to cover this morning.
“Good morning, pet.”
“Um, hey, so, listen, Sir. Please don’t freak out. I’m okay, but—”
“Pet,noconversation that starts like that is going to comfort me. Are you safe and uninjured, andwhathappened?”
He wasn’t sure whether or not to groan or feel relieved by the time she got the story out. “Well, I guess you’re definitely going car shopping now,” he said when she finished telling him the story. “Like it or not.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I’m glad no one’s hurt.”
She sighed. “Just my poor little car,” she muttered.
“Sweetheart, I know how much that car meant to you, and I’m sorry. This is for the best. Make sure to clear everything out of your car, including the glove box. Take an Uber home or something and get mine. Drive mine, start making up your mind about what you want, and once I’m home we’ll go shopping and buy you something. And make sure you call Ed today and give him a heads-up. I want him to handle the insurance claim. I’m sure they’ll try to low-ball us on the payout.”
She grumbled again. He couldn’t blame her. “Yes, Sir,” she finally said.
