“Well, then I think you need to pray that it works out. Because at the end of the day, she is Noah’s daughter. You can’t have one without the other.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Noah
Tuesday morning arrived before I was ready for it. I barely got any sleep the night before since I was jet-lagged worse than I ever had been before. The American flight attendants were less concerned with my sleep than the Australian attendants had been on the way down. Even though Gina, Jess, and I were in good spirits. That last leg of our journey dragged on much longer than it needed to. And after dropping Jess at her apartment, Gina and I went home and passed out.
It was a good thing I’d set my alarm for work because when it went off, my body and mind were in different time zones and I had no clue what day it was. Checking my phone, I realized it was Tuesday already, and I had to get ready for work.
I lingered in the shower for longer than normal, turning the water cold so that I could wake up. I promised myself I would get right to work when I returned from Australia. That was easier said than done.
It appeared to be the first day I’d ever gotten dressed since I put my pants on backward and went through two pairs of socks before I managed to match them.
By the time I got downstairs, I was a little more grounded in my schedule. I made a strong pot of coffee and guzzled two cups before Jess arrived.
“Good morning,” Jess said cheerfully from the doorway.
I glanced at the clock. I needed to leave now.
“Hey, Jess,” I said and pecked her on the cheek. “I gotta go.”
“Have a good day,” she said as I headed out the door to start what was going to be what I knew would be a rough first day back at work.
The coffee kicked in halfway to work, and by the time I got there, my hands were shaking. At least my brain worked again.
Even though Allison rarely came in before eight-thirty, she was at my door when I arrived at the office.
“Give me everything in order of importance,” I said, opening my office door.
“Everything is important today, Noah,” Allison said. “Last week was a bit busy for everyone.” I tried not to hear the twinge of attitude in her tone of voice. I seemed to recall her taking every single vacation day since she’d come to work for me. Yes, I was the boss, but I deserved some time off too. Even if it meant I’d regret it soon after when dealing with people like her.
I tried to calm my declining mood. It was only because of my lack of sleep. Allison had done nothing wrong.
She showed me a stack of paperwork on my desk. The sight of it was alarming as I generally worked through each day’s contracts and proposals and other miscellaneous things to sign on a daily basis. I’d never seen this much work on my plate before. For a brief moment, I regretted going on vacation at all. But as Jess said yesterday on the way home, everyone needed a vacation.
I wished Jess could understand why I never went on them. I didn’t regret going to Australia, but I should have expected this workload. It was easy for her since, at the end of the day, she didn’t have to take work home with her, or deal with employees’ livelihoods in her hands.
Yet the time I spent with Gina last week was priceless.
I hated that I constantly battled between my personal and professional life. The daily war waged harder today, and the only way I could deal with it was to bury myself in my job.
By noon, I’d barely dented the pile, but I’d fallen into my routine much quicker than I’d anticipated. Allison held off on any meetings or phone calls for me, so I was able to lock myself in my office and get caught up.
A little after noon, I received a photo from Jess. She and Gina were at the park on the swings. I took a satisfying breath and looked at their smiling faces. How I wanted to get back home to them and extend our vacation just a little longer.
Seeing the stack on my desk propelled me to work harder so I’d be able to get home to Jess sooner.
My phone buzzed. I groaned and picked up. “I thought I said I needed time to catch up.”
“I know, Noah, but the warehouse just called, and one of the trucks is out of commission, affecting three deliveries today.”
I hung my head. “Get me in touch with them now, please.”
As Allison connected me to the warehouse, I closed my eyes and tried to remember the calming crash of water on the shore from my many trips to the beach last week. I was already fired up and needed to calm down before someone else was about to be.
It was seven o’clock by the time I got home from work. I’d texted Jess to let her know she’d have to stay late that night. Guilt snaked through me at the fact that I wouldn’t be able to see Gina until tomorrow night, but it wasn’t something I could help. Once I got back on track, I’d be able to get home earlier, but I had no idea when that would be. We were backlogged an entire week, and with my stress levels, no one was going to have a good week. My company hadn’t been this off track since we’d first started.
“Hey,” Jess said to me when I got home.