Page 42 of Nutcracker with Benefits
“You can leave the chair. I’ll take care of it,” he tells me with a wave while holding the phone out to me.
“Thanks, Marco.” I grab the phone and press it to my ear. I haven’t held a phone this big in decades. It’s like I’ve been transported back to the 90s. “Hello?”
“Nash!” It’s Uncle D.
“Is everything okay?”
“Completely fine. Jeb has been keeping me up to date while you’ve been gone. He’s quiet but a heck of a smart guy. Doesn’t let me do anything fun but god damn if he doesn’t always have a good reason. I like him.”
“What did you want to do this time?”
“I just thought it would be better to default the sort order of the timeline feature.”
“And how much time did Jeb think that would take for his team to code?”
“Two months!” Uncle D grumbles. That sounds about right. He does, however, launch into a lecture on why he thinks it would be better. Marco’s still hanging around me, so I gesture for us to move over to the bar where it’s shaded, and I can give the phone back to the barkeep when I’m done.
“Well, you got me off track,” Uncle D says. “The whole reason I was calling is to ask you to meet with someone for me.”
I chew on my lip, wishing I had my phone with me so I could look at my schedule. I hold the receiver away from my mouth and ask the bartender for pen and paper. “When and where? I’ll have to see about changing my flight.”
“Right now, and in the business center.”
Right now? I look down at myself. I’m wearing board shorts. That’s it. That’s all: no shoes, no shirt, no problem at the resort. “The business center is closed.” This was part of the welcome spiel at the front desk for the disconnected weekend.
“Trust me, it’s not.”
“Who am I meeting with?”
“Oh, good question. Unfortunately, I gotta go. Nash, it’s imperative you get to the business center right now. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. Going through a tunnel, goodb—”
Uncle D, who is most definitely in his office and not going through a tunnel, hangs up on me.
I sigh. I suppose I’m getting dragged back into work. Marco’s been hovering nearby, so I ask him where the business center is.
“I can show you the way.”
I follow Marco, wondering what crisis I’ll find when I get there. I wonder if I should go back to my room first to grab a shirt, but the business center is closer than I expected, and Uncle D said to hurry. I’ll duck in, assure whoever it is that I’m here and I’ll be back and appropriately dressed in a few minutes. Marco opens the door for me as I come around the corner.
“Thanks, man.”
“Enjoy your day, sir.”
There’s a little hallway, doors on either side, but straight ahead, I can see a slice of a conference room table, and beyond that, a lush jungle view out of big, floor-to-ceiling windows.
I walk into the space and freeze. There, on my right-hand side, is Clara, eyes wide and her body frozen, too.
“Clara?”
“Hey. Um, hi.” She smooths her hand down her floral sundress, her gaze flicking down my bare chest and then back up. A smile flits across her face. “I guess I was worried about being underdressed for nothing.”
“What are you doing here?” My surprise doesn’t overshadow my joy at seeing her—it never does. I expected that the next time I saw her would be months from now, at some family event where we would be awkwardly avoiding each other. This is a good surprise.
She nods at the far side of the room. I follow her gaze and find a glossy folder placed at the head of the table, and I recognize her logo on the cover.
“Have a seat,” she says. “Can I get you anything? Water or coffee?” She’s deadpanning, but the corners of her lips twitch up in amusement.
“I’ve just drank a cocktail, so I may not be in the right mindset for a business meeting,” I warn her.
