“No. Seriously. My mom would be disappointed if she thought you felt that way. Go see her. Maybe when you go get breakfast with your dad or something, okay?”
“Fine…if you insist,” I tease, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Chuckling, Levi picks up the chocolate croissant and shoves a giant bite into his mouth. Talking around the barely chewed croissant, he mumbles, “Good girl. See ya later.”
Chapter Four
Levi
“Gentlemen, if you’ll take a seat.” Mr. Morris, my boss, motions to a set of office chairs across from his desk. Glancing to my right, I see a very anxious Conner step forward. I do the same.
Once we’re both seated, Mr. Morris dives right in. “As you know, Montague Enterprises prides itself on being a professional environment as well as innovative and forward-thinking. Both of you have proven, time and time again, that you’re great candidates for a long-term position. Unfortunately, we’ll only have one opening available in the upcoming months, and once this internship is over, one of you will be let go.”
My jaw tightens as he continues.
“That being said, whoever ends up in the less than optimal position, you’ll be sent with a letter of recommendation signed by Mr. Truitt and myself. I have no doubt you’ll be able to find an opening with one of the other thriving companies in the area with ease. Now, unless either of you is willing to drop out, I’m going to be honest with you. It’s a tight competition. You’re both very qualified, and I’m confident that either of you would thrive if given the opportunity. We have an interesting pair of projects you’ll both be working on that require a great deal of research in the upcoming weeks. Once you’ve presented your data to a few key players here at Montague Enterprises, we’ll make a decision. As far as the project goes, we need you to look for––”
It takes everything inside of me to ignore the buzz in my ears and focus on Greg’s instructions.
Once he’s finished delving into the specifics, he stands from his chair. “That’ll be all, gentlemen. I look forward to seeing how you both apply yourselves.”
Dismissed, Conner and I exit Greg’s office then make our way to the break room.
“Shit, man,” Conner mumbles once we’re out of earshot. “I don’t know how I’m going to get all this done on top of my current workload.”
“Neither do I,” I admit before grabbing a black mug from the cupboard and filling it with some dark, rich coffee. It might be later in the afternoon, but I have a feeling I’m going to be here for a while, and I’ll need the caffeine.
It scalds my tongue as I suck down a quick gulp, but I don’t really care right now. There’s too much to do, and I can’t think through the cloud of discouragement that accompanied the previous conversation.
“I’m gonna get back to work. I’ll see ya later.” Conner slaps me on the back then leaves me alone with my shitty cup of coffee and the overwhelming fear that I won’t be able to take care of my mom if this falls through.
I can’t let her down.
“Hey, Mom!” I call from the doorway. I might have a key to my childhood home, but I know how much it freaks her out to hear someone in her house if she doesn’t know who it is.
“Levi?” her quiet voice echoes through the hall. I follow it to see her lounging on the couch with her knitting needles and a ball of yarn in her lap.
“What are you doing here so late?” she asks. The soft glow of the TV bounces off her pale skin.
“Just wanted to check in.”
“You checked in yesterday.”
“Yeah. And that was yesterday. What? Is there a problem with your only son wanting to come see you?” I razz before plopping down onto the couch next to her while resting the Get Baked box from Charlie on my lap.
She smiles. “I guess not. There are some leftovers in the fridge if you want to heat them up.”
“Alright, I’ll grab some in a minute. But first, I wanted to see how you’re doing?”
“I’m doing good. Charlie stopped by earlier—”
“Which reminds me,” I cut her off before I can forget and give her the pink box from Get Baked. “She wanted me to give you this.”
“She mentioned I’d be getting a treat tonight.” Bouncing her brows up and down, she takes the box from me, lifts the lid, and grins. “My favorite. One of these days, you’ll have to ask her how to make these.”
I cover my amusement with a closed fist to my lips and a fake cough. “Charlie doesn’t know how to do anything but ring up the orders and frost the cookies, Mom. But I’ll let her know you have a hell of a lot more faith in her than I do.”
The sound of her light laughter makes my chest ache. The question of how much longer I’ll be able to hear it forces its way to the front of my mind, but I shove it aside.