16
STEVEN
“Jesus…” Becca grunts as she brings in one last box to add to the three others she toted into my office. “I hope this is the last of them.” Laughing, I walk over and open one of the five boxes that sit on the floor.
“Yeah, looks like the gang’s all here.”
It’s after hours, and the office building is now empty, excluding Becca and me. Her grandmother came to bring Damian home, and Becca decided to stay late to make up for some of the work that wasn’t done last week.
And I, seeing an opportunity to spend some alone time with her, volunteered to stay. It was either this or go home and do nothing.
I stand back, admiring her as she rests on the floor with her shoes off and her legs tucked to the side of her. Seeing her hard at work, but also relaxed and comfortable, does something to me.
Papers scatter in front of her while she sorts them into piles of filing urgency. “You know,” she chimes up, still looking down at the papers. “You should’ve hired someone sooner. Some of these date back to when you first opened, and they were just shoved into boxes.”
Laughing, I sit down on the floor beside her. If I’m here, I can’t just let her do all the work alone. Once these are all sorted, the urgent ones will still need to be logged into the computer system. It’s a lot of work, and I appreciate all the hard work she’s already done since starting.
“I don’t disagree, but I’m glad to have you on board. I guess I didn’t trust anyone else to do this job.” She smiles at me, and her hand grazes mine as I speak. “I thought I could do it on my own, but with the stress of running my own business and the employees, it became too much for me to handle.”
The first paper I pick up is one of the first clients I had when I started up fifteen years ago. Back then, I was working by myself out of a rundown warehouse. Back when I never thought I would be anything other than an amateur.
Nothing like how it is today. I’ve put in all my time, effort, and money to get where it is now. But it was all worth it. Now, I’m able to live comfortably without the help of my parents. I wish I could say the same about my brother…
The only reason he works with me is because my parents lectured me until I gave in.
Becca giggles beside me and hands me another paper. “Do you remember this date?”
Boy, do I…“How could I forget?” I say as the memories flood back to me. “That was the night that we snuck out to the lake and fell asleep. Your dad tracked your phone and almost caught us.”
That was a fantastic night, and I had planned to tell her that I was falling in love with her. I had brought a picnic basket with champagne and little finger foods. It was going great, and things even got hot and steamy, but before I could spill my true feelings to her, we both fell asleep on the blanket.
We were woken up when she jumped up and shoved me hard, telling me she heard someone coming. As the person grew closer, I recognized Russell’s voice, and panic set in.
We went from lying on the dock in each other’s arms to scrambling around to find a place to hide.
Funny enough, I slipped into the water and hid under the slatted wood while she tried to explain to Russ that she came out to watch the sunset and ended up falling asleep. It was the most thrilling and terrifying moment of my entire life.
I remember thinking that if I had just let him catch us, maybe she wouldn’t have run away for five years. Maybe we could’ve been together without fear.
Maybe Damian could’ve been mine…
Just being in his life is enough for me, no matter who his father may be, but I can’t help but wonder how things would’ve been so different if I weren’t such a coward.
It feels nice now that she finally knows that I’ve loved her all this time, though. I just hope that when the time comes and the truth is finally revealed, Russ doesn’t try to kill me. Although his feelings would be valid.
“I still can’t believe he didn’t hear you in the water,” she adds. “But it all worked out, I guess.”
It really did …
“You know, I was planning on telling you that I was falling in love with you that night,” I start, feeling suddenly embarrassed. “But we ended up falling asleep instead.”
Her eyes drop to the floor as sadness washes over her features. “I’m so sorry, Steven,” she manages to say. “I never meant for things to end the way they did. I loved you back then too. I was just scared…”
Smiling, I rest my hand on her shoulder for just a second. “I know.”
Shifting my position closer to her, I drop the subject and continue sorting papers, adjusting so my legs don’t fall asleep. “You know, I still can’t believe that I was able to build this company from the ground up. I would’ve never imagined that I’d be here. I started after college. I was just a dumb kid with big dreams.”
With us too busy sneaking around, there was little time for us to talk about my starter company or even what she saw for her own future.
