“Just make sure she gets these docs done,” he says.
I nod.
“Don’t disappoint me, Nathaniel. There’s too much riding on the line. We have to be better.”
We?I don’t remember him being here with the team late each night.
The team is already working too much. I haven’t been home at a reasonable hour in weeks. If Lincoln comes by, I don’t even know because by the time I get home it’s so late I pass out into bed.
“Testing started this past weekend,” I say. “The results are very good. As soon as testing of the prototype is done, we can start production. That’s where we can make up the slack.”
“I’m counting on you for this. This is your chance to show you’re more than a toy tinkerer, and a real leader.”
Internally I wince. This program is the first major government contract my small startup has won. If we nail this contract—by delivering the product on time and within budget—we will earn more opportunities, more business, more security. I think about a future of running contract after contract. I’m good at it, but I’d rather just “tinker” with my toys in my labs. But that’s not going to bring my team the success they deserve.
“Thank you,” I finally manage.
Ken leaves and I don’t have another minute alone until almost seven p.m. when the last engineer finally leaves for the day. I catch up on a hundred different things: proposals, tech specs for the current contract, bids for new projects—because there always needs to be another project in the works—and a hundred miscellaneous emails that I’ve been neglecting. It’s important I’m the first to arrive and the last to leave. The team need to see I’m serious.
It’s almost ten when I look up again.Shit.Tilting my head from side to side to release some of the tension, I pick up the landline and dial Lincoln.
“New phone. Who dis?” he answers.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “The hours slipped away.”
“Don’t worry. I’m just sitting here eating all your cereal.”
“If all my Fruity Pebbles are gone, I will make you pay.”
He chomps and slurps loudly. “Mm, sugary goodness.”
“Get in okay?” I ask.
“Always.”
Lincoln is a smaller, lighter, more refined version of myself. Younger by twelve years. We both favor our father even though we have different mothers. He seemed to get a healthy dose of good looks from his gorgeous mother. My mother was beautiful, but she passed on her optimism and her willingness to fight for life to me.
What remains unsaid hangs in the air.Is he angry tonight? Is that why you’re at my house?
Instead, I say, “You better not watch that new James Roe movie without me.”
“Too late.”
“You shit.” I soften my words with a smile he can’t see. He likely didn’t watch it.
“If you were home more this wouldn’t be an issue.” His voice is high and innocent.
“I know. Soon. This contract is going to take Shemesh-Tek to the next level.”
“You keep saying that,” he says.
“Because it’s true.”
“I’m looking out for you, man. Your house smells stale. You’re never going to get a lady if you live at work.”
Weirdly, an image of Julia flashes in my brain. Her fluffing the pillows of my couch, shooting a smile at me over her shoulder as I watch her bend over. I push the idea away quickly. I haven’t gotten where I am in this business by looking at people as anything but peers. Sure, she’s quirky and beautiful and funny and smart. She literally seems to glow with life, but I won’t treat her as anything other than a valuable asset to the team. Eventually, she’ll have to leave anyway, even if she stays a few more weeks for us.
Why was I even thinking about Julia? Hoping to block out such useless thoughts, I grab a magnetic toy from my desk and fidget.
