I had been staring out of the window, imagining what it must be like getting to work every morning to a view like this when he said it. I felt my eyes stretch open and my eyebrows raise. “Excuse me? I thought I heard you say this was mine.”
“Seems like your ears are fine then, because that’s exactly what I said,” he said cheerfully, watching me transition through several stages of shock, awe, surprise and finally, glee. This is fucking awesome.
I couldn’t wait to send Tiana pictures of my office. I owed her big time for pushing me into making that call when I was so close to passing on this opportunity. This was a real office. Not a desk, not a workstation, but an office. And it was all mine.
Drinks were going to have to be on me for the next year.
“Ready for the last part of your orientation before you get thrown into the deep end by yourself?” Jeremiah asked after giving me a minute to process that this was really mine.
“Absolutely.” I was nervous about the work before, but now I knew where I would be doing it, excitement was quickly replacing the nerves. “Lead the way, boss.”
He reached for the door he was leaning in the doorway of and twisted the knob. I recognized the office adjacent to mine immediately. It was his. My office was attached to his. Well, that was… a potential disaster. Which somehow, I was okay with.
I was floating on air, finally feeling like I’d achieved something with my degree. After all I went through to get the damn thing. Nothing was going to bring me down right now.
“Your login passwords and your credentials,” Jeremiah said, bringing my attention back to him.
He was standing behind his massive desk holding out an embossed, heavy envelope. I took it from him, my eyes catching on a picture of his brother on his desk.
It was hidden from view by his computer screen from the side of his office I was on for the interview, but I could see it clearly now. He followed my gaze.
“That’s Jack.” His voice got quieter. “My late brother. A snowboarding accident, three years ago.”
“I know.” It was all over the place back when it happened. In papers, in the news, on the internet. You couldn’t escape Jack Williams’ death if you tried.
For the first time since meeting him, I felt like he was human. The way he cut his eyes away from the picture so quickly, staring out his own expansive windows instead. His posture had changed. He was tense now, his spine stiff. The column of his throat moved up and down like he was trying to swallow down bitter memories of a difficult time.
When it happened, I remembered the entire city mourning a man some had seen grow before their very eyes in newspapers and in the tabloids. Others mourned for the eligible bachelor the city lost, while many speculated about whether bad boy Jeremiah was ready to start training to accept the keys to the castle when the time came.
I never thought much about Jack as a brother, a son. People sent condolences to the family on social media, in interviews with journalists and by placing flowers and cards outside Jack’s brownstone, but how many people really thought of him as a person? Thought of his family as human, people who hurt.
Looking at Jeremiah now, I realized he was very much human. Just like I was. He just happened to be dripping in money.