“To do the filing.”
“Young man, I keep this place afloat. Have been for thirty-five years, thank you very much.”
“But Jon doesn’t do this stuff.”
Zac jolted as a chorus of laughter shook the room. Even Lucy giggled as she washed the remaining sauce off her hands and face at the sink in the kitchenette. She dried her hands and waddled over to gather her things. “Do you know how many stacks of files we have at home? I’ve been trying to get this guy to slow down since we met.”
“When I’m not running an excursion, I spend my time here filing invoices, filling out whatever forms need filling out, and generally being Janet’s errand boy,” Jonathan said as he took Lucy’s purse, water bottle, and lunch cooler from her and ushered her toward the door. “We’re a team, man. No job is too small for any of us.”
“Ok fine. I’ll file papers and jump when Janet says to. Let me handle things while you’re on leave.”
Zac tried to ignore the snort coming from the office manager as she resumed typing at light speed. He’d never been Janet’s favorite, but her opinion wasn’t what mattered here.
Jonathan’s expression darkened as he shook his head. “I’m going to be blunt with you, man. I don’t trust you with this. You haven’t exactly been Mister Dependable. Since . . . well . . . ever.”
The words stung, there was no other way to put it. Heat swept over Zac’s ears and cheeks, and he was happy that he’d let his russet beard grow long to hide the flush. He desperately wanted his friend and closest thing to a brother to take him seriously. To believe that he was capable of being a serious adult. “I’m working on that.”
“Sure, but this is not the time to practice your newfound sense of responsibility.” Jonathan supported Lucy’s elbow and guided her to the door. “Maybe when I get back, we can have you take on a little more of the duties around here. So you can prove yourself.”
“Yeah. Sure.” Zac shrugged, casting his eyes down at the stack of papers, but not before he caught a scheming glint in Lucy’s eye.
“Thanks again for closing up, Janet. See you both in the morning,” Jonathan said as the Millers exited the building.
Over the past nine months, Zac had spent countless hours mulling over when he became such a fuck up. Arguably, embracing the role of devil-may-care-playboy might have been fun in the short term, but the long-term ramifications slammed into him last December at Jon and Lucy’s wedding. The sickening realization that his friends didn’t trust or rely on him struck him like a boulder. He’d taken time to sit with his actions for a while and figure out how to contribute rather than piss his life away in pursuit of pure pleasure.
For the longest time he thought of himself as the playful, fun guy of the group. Always ready to meet up at the bar, or for any other shenanigan he was called to participate in. But those youthful shenanigans became less and less frequent as they all entered their thirties and began living responsible adult lives. Between buying homes, getting married, and having kids, his friends all seemed to move forward in their lives while he remained steadfast.
He didn’t need what they needed out of life. Property. A career. A wife.Kids.
No. Hell no. Those were all responsibilities that were far beyond what Zac cared to entertain. Besides, his life was great.
Pretty good, at least.
He had a sweet van set up. He’d bought a junker for cheap and spent the better part of a year tricking it out to be the perfect home on wheels. The best part about it was that he could cut out of town at the drop of a hat whenever the flight of fancy took hold. And since he had little to no responsibility, he could drop all that and hit the road.
Which was probably one of the reasons Jon thought he couldn’t rely on Zac.
Huh.
“Earth to Zachariah.” The perturbed crackle of Janet’s voice cut through the static gumming up Zac’s thoughts. “You going to stand there like a filing cabinet or put those papers in one?”
He looked down at the stack he still held. He could take the hour to file them away, be helpful for once. Help Janet with something mundane and time consuming. Actually contribute in some way beyond his usual duties of guiding.
You haven’t exactly been Mister Dependable.
Janet let out an unsurprised grunt as Zac deposited the files back on her desk and returned down the hallway from where he originally entered the building. He neared the door but stopped to retrieve a slip of paper from the wastebin and then pulled out his phone.
Zac:
It’s Zac from OTB. My evening just opened up. Drink?
Maggi:
I figured it’d only be a matter of time.
Name the time and place.
He strode from the rear exit out into the warm summer evening as he secured a meeting spot then pocketed his phone.
