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Jason looked down at his desk, and Hannah quickly slid the completed evaluations across the desk toward him. The stack bumped his fingers, and he glared at her.
“Sorry,” she said, biting her lip.
His face softened a bit, and he nodded once. Then he picked up the stack of papers, straightened them on the desk a few times, and headed for the door. “I’ll be in the conference room. Give me about twenty minutes to prepare.”
“Actually . . .” Rueben started.
Jason’s jaw clenched as he put his hands to his sides. His hand holding the papers started to fold into a fist, but he must’ve been worried about the papers crumpling because he opened it nearly as fast and re-flattened the performance reviews . “What is it?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“We have the small meeting room. There’s a meeting already being held in the conference room.”
Jason looked up at the ceiling and then straight ahead. “Fine.”
“And all the chairs are being used, so there are only three chairs in the meeting room. Right, Hannah?”
“I’ll be in there too,” she added quickly. “If you need me.”
His face showed hints of betrayal, and then his expression hardened. “I think I’ll be fine alone. I guess I’ll just have to trust that everything will be okay.”
His words punched her in the gut, and she felt immediate guilt. She could only hope this hadn’t broken his trust altogether.
13
Jason
Jason laid his head on the desk and sighed. A break. Finally.
He’d never realized what a blessing it had been to be alone until that moment. Just as he was starting to crave a relationship, doubt had crept in, especially the longer he stayed at Hannah’s. Maybe being in a relationship wasn’t something he wanted. He couldn’t even hack a few meetings, a work birthday party, or a coordination meeting with doctors. It had been the most he’d been touched in years—all in one week.
He groaned and pulled his arms over his face to block out any light.
A soft knock sounded on the door, but it felt like nails scraping against a chalkboard. He lifted his head an inch and called, “Enter.”
When he saw it was Hannah, he dropped his head to his desk and groaned. She flicked on the light and hummed as she pulled something out from a drawer. “Jason, there’s something we need to do.”
“No,” he moaned, covering his face with his arms again. “The evaluations are done. The coordinating is finished. No more!”
“I promise you’ll like this part of your day.”
“Lunchtime is meant to be my break. My break! I can’t keep going like this. You tell Rueben I’m not sleeping; I’m not eating well, and I’ve barely had time to check my emails. Was this all part of his plan, because what kind of grandpa is that?”
She nodded. “I know. I put my foot down with Rueben, which is why I’ve cleared your schedule for the day. And tomorrow, the staff is planning his retirement party, so you’ll get a break then too.”
He cringed. “All those people.”
“I know, but we don’t have to stay long. There’s just one thing we have to do today.”
“Just one?” he asked, almost pleadingly.
“Only the one.” She laughed and held her hand out to him, palm up. Without any hesitation, he took it, feeling instant relief. Touching her was like a soothing balm after hours of unexpectedly touching, bumping, and brushing against others. She tightened her grip around his hand and pulled him to his feet. Then she let go of his hand and grabbed a bag from under her desk. “Let’s go.”
She headed away from his office and toward the staircase. “No elevator today?” he asked. She’d challenged him to ride it every day that week, and despite his frustration, he had promised not to give up.
“Only if you want.”
He shook his head. “No way. Stairs for life.” As soon as they made it to the staircase and found it empty, he gave a happy sigh. “Isn’t this lovely?”
She laughed and shook her head. “I’m glad you think so. After this week, I’m surprised you’re smiling and talking to me at all.”
