Isabel nods rapidly, her demeanor completely changing. “Yes, yes, of course. She shouldn’t have been fired in the first place. I think it was just a high-stress day, and none of us knew quite how to get back on our feet after having to abandon a very important meeting.”
It was a meeting about paper plates, I think to myself, but there’s no need to make tensions any higher than they are right now.
“She’s welcome to start back today,” Isabel adds.
Nash shakes his head. “She’ll be starting back in another two weeks. I’m sure she has some paid vacation time she can take.”
Fred pipes up, “Yes, she does. She’s never taken her paid leave, and it accumulates.”
I smile at him, and he smiles back.
“I look forward to seeing you in two weeks, Magnolia,” Fred says with a warm smile. He hobbles back to his office.
Good grief, he’s older than I thought when I first started working here.
“Okay, thank you for clearing that up,” Nash says to Isabel. “I just wanted to make sure you knew it wasn’t Magnolia’s fault. I ran into her on the stairs and had my own papers with me, which caused the mix-up—which is why I brought you the other ones immediately the next day.”
Isabel nods quickly. “Yes, of course. I would never place the blame on Magnolia.”
I manage not to roll my eyes at that—by some miracle.
“Come on, sweetie. We’ve got to get home in time for dinner tonight,” Nash tells me as he turns and drags me toward the door. I have to take two steps for every one of his.
We make it to the elevator, walk inside, and he hits the ground floor button before I speak.
“You own this building,” I accuse him.
He has the good grace to look sheepish.
“You told me you were in infrastructure.”
He holds up his hands in awhat can you dogesture. “Iam…deeply invested in the infrastructure of this building.”
This time, I walk over and poke him in the chest with my pointer finger. “You’re very sly—you know that?” I accuse.
“And I just got your job back,” he says with a smile.
He’s right; he did just get me my job back. And like I told him earlier, I don’t have any pride to spare. I need this job. I reach up, wrap my arms around his neck, and hug him.
“Thank you,” I tell him.
Slowly, his arms come around me, hugging me back. “Of course. I’m sorry the mix-up happened in the first place, but I’m not sorry that you’re helping me with Grandpa.”
He pats my back awkwardly, and I finally let him go.
“Well, I’m glad I met you—and Grandpa.”
“You might not be glad you met my family after tonight.”
“Oh? What does that mean?”
“Well, the thing is, Grandpa and my dad had a big argument, and they were estranged for a lot of years. My grandpa only came back into our lives when I was about eight years old. Now some of the other family members are upset that he brought me back into the family. They view me as an interloper.”
“But you’re his grandson, right?”
“Yes, but I wasn’t raised like the other grandkids.”
“Now you have me really curious.”
