"I'm in the killing mood again," Rico announced in a dark voice as he glared at something over Julian shoulder.
Turning in the direction of Rico's glare, Julian saw that Rob was on his way back in the company of Wyatt and Mitch.
"You two blond bookends get away from my man," Rico demanded.
"Did he just call us blond bookends?" Rob asked Wyatt, but he was busy throwing his arm over Mitch's shoulder to mess with Rico.
Rico scoffed at him. "Nice try. Mitch would never cheat on me. You hussies don't stand a chance."
"Now he's calling us hussies," Rob said while Wyatt and Sam kissed hello.
"Let's go get our assignments. It looks like Lara is getting ready to leave," Mitch told Rico after quieting him with a kiss.
Lara didn't have the clipboard she always carried, but she told the guys what was left to be done. "If you need anything else, ask Mr. Florez. My sister, Stella, took my car to go shopping. I'm waiting for her to pick me up. My family all got scattered and I got stuck with her for Thanksgiving."
"Stella. Yay." Rico said sarcastically.
"He's not a fan. They tussled a bit over Mitch," Lara said to Julian and Rob.
"And who won?" Rico asked her. "Come on. Don't keep us in suspense."
Lara only laughed.
Julian and Rob were done for the day and ready to pick up Danny. Julian heard his phone chime and saw that it was Mr. Upton, who wanted to FaceTime for some reason. "Sorry. I have to take this," he said to Rob and stepped away.
The way Mr. Upton was calling him made Julian wonder if he was about to be fired. "You look well, sir," he said to Upton when he showed up on his phone screen.
"I'm almost a hundred percent, and you look well too, Brenner. That's a relief."
"It is?" Julian said, a little bit confused.
"Talk was going around that you weren't doing well," Mr. Upton told him.
"I'm fine. I was just volunteering for the local Thanksgiving festival, actually," Julian told him as if that was proof of his fitness.
"Is that so? Hmm. It looks inviting. I wouldn't mind dropping by for that," Mr. Upton said unexpectedly, making Julian wonder if he wanted to check up on him.
"You're more than welcome to," he said.
"Don't worry," Mr. Upton assured him. "I won't interfere with your Thanksgiving dinner plans. I'll be there probably around noon."
"I'll be looking forward to seeing you, sir," Julian told him.
"Likewise. Take care of yourself, Brenner."
Setting his phone aside, Julian couldn't help but frown. Then Rob was at his side, looking at him questioningly.
"That was Mr. Upton. It sounds like Thayer has been maneuvering against me with him. Upton thought there might be something wrong with me. God knows what Thayer told him. I was relieved not to get fired, but I still think it might happen. Mr. Upton is coming here for the festival."
Rob was surprised. "You think that's a bad sign?"
"I think he might be coming to check up on me or fire me in person," Julian said gloomily.
"What did he say exactly?" Rob wanted to know.
"That I looked surprisingly well and that this place looked 'inviting'." Julian looked around. "Maybe he caught sight of the hill."
"Or maybe that's what he saw." Rob pointed directly behind Julian, where Lara and a very attractive blonde just happen to be standing. "Could that be the view that has your boss running over here?"
"Oh, I wasn't thinking like a heterosexual. Lara said her sister was picking her up. That must be her," Julian said seeing the curvy blonde who was standing by Lara's car. He didn't recognize her from his younger days, but maybe she didn't used to be a blonde. "That view might be to his liking, but it's not his only reason for coming here. This is because of Thayer's backstabbing. Word from the office is that he's finding fault with my work, and of course I'm not there to correct the record."
"This will be your chance. It's better to do that when you're face to face with Upton," Rob said, looking on the bright side.
Julian smiled. "I'll do that. If he gives me a chance. Then there's your sister's visit. I want to make a good impression on her too."
"Leave that to Danny and Lenny. She already loves those guys," Rob told him and threw an arm around him.
Julian couldn't be easygoing about it though. There was so much happening, but the biggest thing to him was the date he had to arrange on short notice and everything he wanted to say to Rob.
