AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ve since retrieved them.”
“That wasn’t what I . . . never mind.” He twisted, carefully rounding Hunter’s chair. “See you around.”
He stormed back to his corner of the office, and Hunter and I shared a stumped look. Then he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Get to the chief—and if it comes up, slip in a good word for me, yeah?”
Hannah’s phone rang and she hurriedly answered as I clipped my way to Chief Benedict.
He sat in his office chair, reading off some crinkled sheets of letter paper. “Sit.”
I sat.
“I don’t think it’s going to give you everything you’re searching for, Liam.”
I gripped the metal frame of the seat, palms pushing on the vinyl upholstery. “Excuse me, sir?”
He whisked the paper he’d been reading toward me. “You’ve got the features editor position. This was brilliant.”
Frowning, I picked up the sheets and glanced over them. This was my article. My draft had been shaped up and edited. I blinked down at my words, tweaked in places for flow and impact.
I glanced over my shoulder and through the chief’s open door, but I couldn’t see Jill’s desk. I read over the opening paragraph again, and then the Dating the Differently-Abled title, and my name underneath.
My fingers smoothed the paper and I set it down. “Thank you, chief.”
“Thank you, Liam, for embracing my challenge to you for the semester. You’ve grown in leaps and bounds.” He stroked his beard thoughtfully, his mouth a worried line. “You wanted this really badly—dare I say, desperately—and I’m concerned you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.”
He shifted in his seat so I was looking at his profile and the cathedral behind him. He got up and came around to my side, stretching out a hand for me to shake. I took it. His squeeze was warm, comforting. “Whatever you decide to do once you’re done here, you’ll do splendidly.”
“But?”
“But I’m not a fool, Liam. I know who your father is. Everyone knows who he is. I also know that for the last four years you’ve spent every Thanksgiving in the office.”
Except for this year, I wanted to add. Except that wasn’t his point and I knew it.
I let go of his hand with an acknowledging nod and slipped my glasses higher. “I’m not going to be disappointed,” I said. “I’m still aiming for the moon, but even if I don’t get it . . .” I thought of Hannah, Shannon, Hunter, and especially Quinn.
I didn’t finish the sentence; I didn’t need to.
I stood from the chair, nodded once more to the chief, and headed back out to my friends.
The END
