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CHAPTER TEN
Austin
“But you said threeweekstotal.” Austin cringed, dragging a hand through his hair as he peered into a hole in the ceiling.
“That was before we learned we had to rewire the entire suite.” The lead contractor, Mike, tugged at a discolored beige wire. He ran his finger over the casing and snorted. “This is original to the building, typical for an early nineties build but a total fire hazard today.” He raised his brow.
Austin sighed. “How long?”
“I’ll get my guys out here. Another week or two depending on availability.”
Austin nodded and inhaled a deep breath. “Look, I’m on a tight deadline. I’ll pay you double to be the priority.”
“I’ll call you Monday and work you into the schedule for next week.” He extended his hand, and Austin gripped it.
“I appreciate that.” His gaze shifted to the center of the room and the exposed 2x4s. “Walls?” he asked, pointing at the wood.
Mike grinned. “I can slap those up in a day.”
“Slap ’em up? I gotta have clients in here by August first.”
Mike shrugged. “It’s June.”
“I know.”I must sound like a whiny entitled asshat right now.“I’ve just got what feels like a million other things to do, staff to hire and clients to source. This space is just step one. And I can’t do anything without it.” Austin exhaled, mentally running through the growing to-do list as his stomach sank with the unexpected setback.
Mike readjusted the ball cap on his head, white paint flaking from the brim and falling to the carpet. “We’ll keep at it.” He bent forward and scooped up his leather toolbelt, slinging a screwdriver into a free loop. “Have a nice weekend, man.”
His work boots pounded away across the suite, disappearing down the hall.
“Yeah... nice weekend.” Austin sighed and slouched toward his office. With a groan, he dropped into his chair and opened the timeline he’d created, counting down to August.
His fingers tapped at the keyboard, pushing back every date by two full weeks. “Damn it,” he muttered, saving and closing the document with a grimace. “How the hell can a rewire take that long? That can’t be right.”
Am I getting screwed?
Austin yanked his phone from his pocket, instinctually dialing Mitch.
He answered immediately. “Is her phone broken?”
“What?” Austin wrinkled his nose. “Who?”
“Lauren. She won’t answer my calls or texts. Did she get there okay?”
What the hell?
“Umm, yeah, she’s fine. I just had lunch with her. She didn’t mention anything about her phone.”
She texted me when she landed.
He snorted. “Well, I guess she’s ignoring me then.”
Austin squinted, his gaze falling to the floor. “What’s going on with you guys?”
Mitch laughed. “Don’t worry, dude, I’m sure Lauren will give you an ear full this weekend.” A voice echoed in the background. “Hang on a second, will ya?”
“Yeah.”
