Page 2 of Havoc and Humor
I had stopped going, though—because I couldn’t bear to see Sawyer with his boyfriend, Jeremiah. His boyfriend who did not like me even a little bit. Probably because I had kept Sawyer working late one too many times.
“I’m serious,” Gregory said. “Is everything all right?”
I shrugged. “It has to be. He has a boyfriend. I am his boss. He has never given me any indication that he’s interested. And even if he did, what could I do about it?”
Gregory shrugged, mimicking my gesture from a moment ago. “The same thing I did when Evan showed interest in me.”
I shook my head. “That was different. He was not your subordinate. You and Evan didn’t have any issues with HR because you aren’t in the same department. Sawyer reports directly to me. It would never work. I am his manager. And he is damn good at his job. This department can’t lose him.”
Me, on the other hand? I wasn’t the type who thought the VP was some be-all, end-all. I knew who did the real work around here, and it was not me. Sure, I could steer the ship, but I was not rowing.
“Maybe it’s time for a change,” Gregory said. “You’ve been in this position… what, ten years?”
“Twelve,” I corrected. “And if I leave and he’s not interested? Now I don’t get to see him at all.”
“You’re torturing yourself.”
“No shit,” I muttered.
I plopped down in my chair.
It was going to be another long night for me.
I had zero desire to go home, even though it was just across the street, to be alone in my misery. I think I had slept in my office more in the past month than I ever had before. All because this crush was becoming uncontrollable.
“Why don’t you come out with Evan and me? Let loose a little bit. Maybe you’ll meet someone else.”
I shook my head. “I mean, maybe. But not tonight. I need to finish up this report. I was supposed to have it done yesterday.”
Gregory grimaced. “When is Claire going to split this department in half so you guys have someone else doing the work? You’ve been pulling double duty for a long time. You burn yourself out with these kinds of late nights.”
“I know. She and I have talked about it. We have some ideas. It’s not the right time for a re-org.”
“It’s always time for a re-org. Let’s talk about it next week. I don’t want to think about work for the rest of the night. We’ll talk soon, okay?”
Easy for him not to think about work all weekend. He had the love of his life on his arm. They two lived together now and were blissfully in love. Lucky bastards.
A discussion about our workload would be good, though. My department had taken on a dual role slowly over the years, and we were drowning in work some weeks. In the meantime, I tried to pull as much weight as I could so that the work didn’t land on my employees’ shoulders.
A knock sounded at the door, and it pushed open.
Sawyer stuck his head in. “Hey, I just remembered that the Simps report is due tomorrow morning. Do you need me to stay and help with that?”
God, he was gorgeous.
And helpful.
And amazing.
I cleared my throat. “No, I have it well in hand. Thank you. Go ahead and go. You did a great job getting the information I needed.”
Sawyer’s eyes lit up, and a light blush swept over his cheeks at the praise. I’d noticed it months ago, that anytime I gave him a compliment, he positively shone. “You sure?”
“Absolutely,” I said.
“All right. Hey, Gregory.” Sawyer gave an awkward wave. Then he was closing the door behind him.
Gregory looked back at me, shaking his head. “Dude, you’ve got itbad.”
