I liked making Jameson feel that way. How badass was it that I could do that to him? That he could do it to me, when I was the one with all the experience.
“You okay, son?” Leon’s voice and his hand on my shoulder jerked me out of my Jameson obsession.
“Sorry. I was spacing off.” Well, this was embarrassing. Last I knew, he wasn’t in the office, but he’d come in and apparently stood right beside me, and I hadn’t noticed.
“No problem. Can you come into my office for a moment?”
My heart dropped at his request. He hadn’t said it as if something was wrong, but all I could think was I’d screwed up somehow, he called me into his office to fire me, and I’d lose the most important job I’d ever had. “Of course.”
“Bring your laptop with you,” he instructed, and yeah, that helped me breathe a little easier. He wouldn’t ask me to bring my laptop if I was getting canned, right?
Leon sat at his desk, and I took the chair across from it, opening my laptop. He asked me to access some files and got some information from me, all of which made my stress level begin to lower.
“Did you book my travel for this weekend?” he asked.
“I did, yeah. I can send you the itinerary right now.”
“Perfect. I didn’t expect to have to head to LA this weekend. My queen isn’t happy. We had to cancel plans with friends and our kids. She’s been a little worried about our son lately.” He gave me a smile. He wasn’t mocking or angry with his wife. You could tell he was crazy in love with her. When he called her his queen, he did so out of adoration.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
“No, nothing major. Just parent stuff. You never stop worrying about your kids. Brianna just… She tries to fix things for him, and he doesn’t want that. I get it. Things aren’t always easy for him, but I’ve learned a long time ago that he is who he is. I love the kid with all my heart, but sometimes I wish… We’re not close. We’re so different. I worry about him in ways I probably shouldn’t and—” He shook his head. “Never mind. You don’t want to hear all this. I do want to talk to you about something else, though.”
For the second time, my heart fell. This was it. Now he was going to fire me after he made sure I booked his travel. “Sure, anything.”
“There’s an event coming up in a few weeks. It’s early in your employment with Crane, and I wouldn’t typically bring a PA with me to something like this, but I have a good feeling about you. You’re a real go-getter, and I’d like you to attend. I can introduce you to some important people. Some of the staff from the LA office will be there, and there might be a few things I’ll need your help with.”
I was so giddy excited, I damn near jumped up and broke into dance. That wouldn’t have been very professional, so I made myself hold back. At some point, I hoped I’d get to do some work in LA too. “Wow…of course. I’d be honored, sir—Leon. Thank you, and yeah, whatever you need, I’ll take care of it. Just let me know, and it’s done.”
“Thanks, son. I’m proud of you. Now, I’m going to get flowers for my woman and suck up to her, even though I know it won’t work.”
I laughed. “At least you’re trying.”
“Hopefully, I’ll get points for the effort. You can head out whenever you’re ready.”
I nodded and left his office to go back to my desk. I’d honestly been hoping he needed something more from me so I’d have an excuse not to go home. I was supposed to have dinner with my mom and brothers tonight, and that was always…well, let’s just say it wasn’t ever the most fun way to spend an evening. It usually left me feeling like I’d done something wrong, or I was wrong, or that I didn’t fit. When had my own family told me they were proud of me the way Leon just had? Instead, they made me feel like I thought I was better than them, when that was never the case. Different didn’t mean better.
With a sigh, I finished up a couple of things before shutting down my computer. Because of traffic, it would be almost an hour’s drive to Holder, where I grew up. It was a small, blue-collar town, filled with people who’d lived on the same blocks together their whole lives, whose kids lived in town like my brothers did, and they spent the weekends together with grandkids running around the same streets their parents grew up on.