Taking the Leap (River Rain 3)

He wanted to be excited that he’d be making more money than he ever had in his life, that he had the kickass title Director of Programs (Judge was Executive Director, Alex was Director of Outreach, and their new guy, Kevin was CFO).

He wanted to be excited that his job would not be confined to one building in one town, but he’d be all over, not just the US but eventually the world.

And he wanted to be excited when he hit downtown and drove to the back of the building, the entire top floor their organization now occupied, and he found a parking spot that said, Rix Hendrix, Director of Programs, Trail Blazer, which he knew was the real reason Judge wanted them there that morning.

The signs were a surprise, they were awesome AF, and Judge, Alex and Kevin, as well as Rix, all had one.

But he wasn’t excited.

His mind was filled with Peri’s bullshit, the color of Alex’s eyes, and what the fuck Alex’s deal was that they were finally connecting, then she stands up in the middle of it and walks off, doing this before she ditches the bar (and him) altogether.

In other words, he wasn’t in the greatest of moods when, carrying his coffee and thinking he should have probably gotten them all one (but he only knew Judge’s order, though he wondered what Alex drank, and that was whacked too) he finished climbing the four floors to the top, something that put him right in Trail Blazer’s new space.

It was a good find, being right off the square and having windows all around. Great views. Brick walls. Kickass columns cutting through the space.

It was gonna be fantastic working there.

In front of the elevator that was between the sets of stairs that came up on both sides at the back of the building, there was an area where a receptionist desk would be when they decided on furniture. A wide panel behind it made of rough but attractive wood that Rix knew would eventually have the Trail Blazer logo on it, once they’d decided what that would look like. And beyond that was a sea of open space that would soon hold furniture, office equipment and staff. All around the edges there were offices, with Judge and Kevin getting corner ones and Alex and Rix sandwiched between them, side by side.

The renos were done, they just needed the tech stuff to happen (and that was gonna happen imminently) and to fill the space with furniture.

And bodies.

His mood didn’t get any better when he rounded the panel, saw the rest of them already there, standing outside what was going to be Alex’s office (the one that would be between Judge and Rix’s), and it was only Kevin who called, “Hey, man.”

Alex, as usual, barely glanced at him, which answered the question that whatever breakthrough they had last night had more to do with her downing mules like they were Kool-Aid than them actually finding a connection.

But it was Judge that surprised him. His closest friend, and now boss, looked right at Rix and didn’t hide he was pissed, and Rix knew him well enough to know who he was pissed at was Rix.

Rix glanced down at his watch.

He wasn’t late so what the hell?

He returned his attention to Judge and lifted his brows.

Rix doubted Judge would get into it then, whatever it was, but he didn’t get a chance when Kevin asked, “Did you see the signs for our parking spaces?”

He turned to Kevin. “Yeah, I saw ’em.”

Kevin smiled.

It was forced, but Rix smiled back.

Kevin’s smile faded because he knew Rix’s wasn’t real.

Rix had met Kevin first as a customer at River Rain stores, the local one that Rix managed until yesterday.

Kevin was a big-time trail runner and kayaker, so he was in the store a lot. They’d struck up a friendship, which meant he’d been out both running and kayaking with Kevin, also hiking. He’d further been in with Kevin, watching football or basketball in some bar or at one or the other’s houses, shooting the shit, eating wings and drinking beer.

The guy was a CPA, had a Master’s of Economics from Howard University, loved the outdoors but didn’t so much like his job working as the top finance guy for a huge HVAC company that serviced Yavapai, Coconino, Gila and Mohave counties.

Rix and Judge were so tight, a friend of Rix’s was a friend of Judge’s, and Kevin was the first person who sprang to mind when they were divvying up duties and deciding which positions needed to get filled first.

They all agreed, since Wheeler was endowing the program with half a billion dollars, a finance guy was kind of important.

They were at one with poaching him, and fortunately, Kevin was at one with jumping ship and coming onboard Trail Blazer.