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I let out a sigh and rub the bridge of my nose, hoping to stave off the headache that’s been lurking at the edges of my consciousness all day. “I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. We’re only running two crews right now, but between that and keeping up with all of my rental properties, the paperwork is just getting a little... out of hand.”
“You don’t say?” He laughs, stretching his long legs out in front of him and leaning back in his chair. I’m not a huge guy but with both of us in my home office it makes the place feel positively claustrophobic.
Jake came to work for me when I was getting my own firm off the ground. He was just out of high school and had a work ethic of someone twice his age. Ten years later and he’s not only my most trusted employee but one of my closest friends. He’s asked me about Bianca a few times but I know him well enough to keep him far, far away from my daughter. He’s a good-looking kid and when we go out to the bar together, he rarely goes home alone. I’ve never seen him with the same woman twice, so he can stay far away from my girl.
“What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be at the Kamber Street job?”
“That would be correct. Except, the shipment of tile for the kitchen and bathrooms didn’t show up this morning. I called Dimitri and he said that he emailed you.”
“Fuck,” I mutter before pulling up my emails. We have a tight timeline on that job and can’t afford any delays. “I don’t remember seeing anything from Dimitri,” I say just as I spot the email that came in two days ago. “Fuck.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much the general sentiment.” Jake laughs.
I scan the email quickly before slamming the laptop closed a little harder than necessary and wince. I hope I didn’t break it.
“He says that the shipment won’t be here until Monday. Considering it’s Friday, that means we’re fucked for the weekend. I was hoping on getting in there and doing some work tomorrow to get us ahead. Now I’ll have to do it just to keep us on track.”
“Boss, you’ve got to stop working on the weekends so much.”
“With all of this shit”—I wave my hand, indicating the mess that is my office—“I’m hardly ever out on the job site anymore. I miss it.”
“You miss being hot and dirty all day? Why don’t you go out and have some fun for once instead?”
“I have fun,” I say defensively.
“All right, let me clarify. Meet someone. Girl, guy, whatever your preference. In all the time I’ve known you I’ve never seen you date anyone.”
He’s right, he hasn’t seen me date anyone. I realized years ago that casual dating wasn’t for me. I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy and simply not built for the culture of dating multiple people at once and one-night stands. After a while, I just gave up. It has always been easier to focus on my career and my daughter. That focus hasn’t been misplaced. Moreno Construction has been growing by leaps and bounds the past few years, I have over a dozen properties that I own and rent out, and my daughter has graduated from college with zero debt, ready to take the art world by storm. If all of that comes at the sacrifice of my romantic life, then so be it.
“You worry about your own love life, Jake. I’m just fine.”
“Yeah, yeah. Well, just remember, if you change your mind, I’m sure I can find someone to set you up with. We could even go out and find you some fun for just an evening.”
“Not interested, but thanks anyway.”
“Okay, I’m dropping it.” He holds his hands up to me in surrender. “So since we don’t have the tile, I figured we’d start working on installing the cabinets in the kitchen.”
“I guess that’s all we can do. I can’t believe I missed that email.”
“Are you really surprised?” he asks looking around the chaos in the room again.
I let out a sigh and go back to rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Maybe it’s time to get some help. Just with some light filing and organization. Maybe someone to go through emails so that this shit doesn’t happen again.”
“It’s about time.”
“Andyoushould get back to work before I fire your ass.”
Jake just laughs and pulls his oversized frame up out of my guest chair and heads toward the door. “You got it, boss.” We both know there’s no way I’m firing him. I have a great team of guys working for me but none I trust more than Jake. With him running one of my crews and another trusted team member running the other, there really isn’t much reason for me to be on-site and not right here trying to manage the minutia that comes with running my own business.
Jake’s departure leaves me in silence once again, and I decide that it’s best to start combing through the two hundred emails in my inbox so I don’t miss anything else important. Ten minutes in and I’m bored to tears. I’m just not cut out for office work. It’s one of the reasons I got into construction. Not only do I love getting to work at different sites and getting to do different things every day, but I can’t deny the physical perks as well. As a young man I never stepped foot in a gym and regardless, I was always in great shape. No, I never had a six-pack, but I was definitely a solid wall of muscle. I may not have dated many women but they certainly noticed me. I got my fair share of phone numbers and salacious offers.
However, I’ve been spending less and less time in the field the past few years and it’s showing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still in pretty good shape for a man about to hit forty but there’s a softness to my middle that I don’t remember being there before. Maybe it’s time to actually make use of that home gym that’s just been gathering dust.
My phone buzzes once again but this time I smile and hit accept before bringing the device up to my ear.
“Hey, pumpkin. How’s it going?”
“Hi, Daddy! What are you up to?” Talking to my little girl always puts a smile on my face but I know she’s up to something any time she calls me Daddy. She officially grew out of that at about ten years old. Now, any time I hear it, I know that I’m about to get rolled.
