He pretended not to hear, speedily typing notes into the StreamTrainer proprietary software. A program he created from scratch and fine-tuned every day for the past two years. His gaze moved to his second monitor, scanning the screen, watching the activity from their social users. Their moderators were good at their jobs, promoting their community standards throughout the entire platform. His fingers flew over the keyboard, knowing all the command prompts by heart to pull his calendar up and adding a reminder to let them know what a good job they were doing.
“He’s back to what he really wants to do,” Skye added. The quirk of the corner of Ducky’s lip showed he’d heard her. “You can change a man, lead him to the promised land, but can’t make him bite.”
“I feel like you mixed several unrelated metaphors to form that sentence,” Ducky said, never breaking from work.
“I signed Texas Health Resources this morning. They’ll go into effect in ninety days. They have twenty-four thousand employees, estimating about seven thousand units will be sold through their benefits package,” Dallas said, placing his key fob and cell phone on his desk. A file folder followed, then a squeak sounded when Dallas took his chair.
“Type up the specifics as soon as you can so we can get them in the system. I’ll review the charges and implementation when I get back,” Ducky said distractedly over his shoulder.
When he spoke, the beep in his ear drew his gaze down to the open chat box in the corner of the screen. He gave an almost silent laugh when Chad posted a picture of his heavy ski coat, suggesting it as an appropriate wardrobe choice for their sun and sand vacation, on which they were leaving tomorrow.
That message came after Ducky explained he hadn’t even considered clothing options for the trip. Outside of his workout gear, he didn’t have anything suitable to wear except the shorts and T-shirts he’d owned forever. He was going to have to do a Target run when he left tonight to gather what he needed to pack for the flight tomorrow.
With a click of the mouse, he pulled the chat box to the center of the screen and typed, “I haven’t been to Hawaii, but I feel like that’s a solid choice.”
The three drumming dots appeared again, and Ducky lifted his fingers from his keyboard, his gaze focused only on the impending message. He didn’t have to wait long. “Great. I have snow pants that match the jacket.” That message came with another immediately after. “I feel like I should be paying my way.”
Yeah, Chad couldn’t let that go. From the moment they had agreed on taking the trip, Chad had started insisting he pay his half. No amount of explaining seemed to penetrate Chad’s single-minded focus. He typed again. “This is on Dallas. Besides, he needs to pay for what he did to me.”
Ducky held back his grumble about the ad campaign, his annoyance still very real.
As if he’d read Ducky’s unrelenting aggravation with his brother in those words, Chad replied, “Yeah, yeah. Did you find out when the ad starts running? I need to see what’s got you so bent,” Chad replied.
He just shook his head as if Chad could see him. “No, you don’t. I keep telling you that too. No one needs to see the ad campaign. I’m pissed about it. I think I was fine looking in the before pictures.”
“I do too.” Chad one hundred percent had his back about this advertising campaign since the first moment he’d mentioned it. Having Chad voice his support helped strengthen Ducky’s resolve that he’d been the wronged party on their executive team.
He’d always had Dallas’s back. Always. Maybe their bond wasn’t as solid as he thought.
Ducky drew in a breath, recalibrating his thoughts. Dallas was right. Ducky needed to lose the salty attitude. He should consider StreamTrainer above all else.
“He’s not listening again. Is the music cranked up?” Dallas asked, his raised voice drawing Ducky back into the room.
“I don’t think so.” Skye rose in her chair to get a closer look at Ducky. He caught her move in his peripheral vision. “He’s been on chat a lot today.”
“Y’all mind your business,” Ducky said.
They weren’t wrong though. He still had a ton of work to do before leaving in the morning. With that reminder, he quickly typed, “I gotta bounce. I’ll meet you at the airport in the morning.”
The drumming dots wiggled across the screen, and Ducky was shit to do anything more than wait. “You sure you don’t want a ride?”
Another cool thing about Chad was that he never questioned Ducky’s reason for choosing not to drive himself. So many times, the people in his life condensed his complete existence to the fact he couldn’t drive, but Chad accepted his decision and moved on. He always had. “Nah, I have a car picking me up first thing in the morning. Thanks tho.”
“If it changes, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll probably end up texting you later. You seem to be the only person I want to talk to right now.”
His heart smiled at the words on the screen. His lips most likely followed suit. “Same,” Ducky typed. Maybe this vacation was exactly what he needed. To get away meant a chance to rejuvenate. Something he desperately craved.
The Uber driver did little more than pop the trunk from his driver’s side seat. “Safe travels.”
Of course, Chad would get his own bag. He only had a duffle and computer bag, but the guy didn’t even pretend to exit the car to help. Much like when the driver had first arrived to pick him up from his condo.
“Thanks,” Chad muttered, reaching for the door handle. His cell phone rang before his feet were firmly planted on the pavement. He tapped his earpiece, shutting the car’s door and answered blindly, assuming it was Ducky. Chad was only about five minutes behind schedule, but Ducky did everything dependably on time.
“I’m at the airport. Coming inside now,” Chad said, taking the straps to both bags and throwing them over his shoulder before closing the trunk. He glanced toward the airport, looking for the entrance and had one foot up the curb when Tristan’s voice threw him off balance.
“Are you expecting to pick me up from the airport?” Tristan’s voice held a hint of confusion as Chad’s foot slid off the curb, sending him pitching forward. He barely stayed on his feet.
“No. No, no. I thought you were someone else. I’m headed to Hawaii. I thought I told y’all,” Chad said, all forward movement coming to a complete stop. He stared inside the arrival entrance windows while rooted to his spot. Chad cringed. Maybe he hadn’t told his fathers about this trip. Things had turned awkward with Tristan. He had no idea if Tristan kept his secret or not. Which meant he hadn’t talked to his dad in over a week. His mind started ticking off backward, trying to remember their last conversation.
