Twenty-Two
Evan
“Ev, what time is it?”Jack put his face in his hands and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Ten,” I answered.
He grunted out a curse as he leaned back in his chair.
“Want to know what time I went to bed last night? Seven o’clock. I only worked two hours a day over the last week. It’s pointless to come in at all, isn’t it?”
Jack was never one to show his emotions, but if I were him, I’d be frustrated as fuck to not have any kind of energy—especially knowing the active guy he’d always been.
“No, Jack. Never pointless, so stop saying that shit. Hopefully, this girl works out and makes things easier for both of us.”
We desperately needed extra help. I couldn’t keep a good handle on all our jobs, plus make sure the billing was done and our bills were paid. I was good with my hands, but awful with a checkbook. I marveled at how Jack had been able to accomplish this by himself for so long.
Ellie had a friend who was looking for a job, and had great experience as both a bookkeeper and office manager. Jack was determined to get himself into the office so we could both talk to her, even though he’d already met her. These days he could barely keep his eyes open, but he still wanted to feel involved and I would never take that away from him. As long as Jack was still here, he still ran this company with me, even if just with his presence.
“I told you we could have had her come to your house.” It was heartbreaking how every move Jack made took so much damn effort. Even crossing his legs made him wince. His shirt and jeans hung from his gaunt frame, and the swelling of his ankles made it hard for him to walk.
“Stop fussing, I’m fine. After we see her I’m gonna go for a run. Want to come with?” Jack smirked as I rolled my eyes. Always the wise guy.
“Why don’t you get another transfusion? It helped last time, right?” Jack didn’t look up as he shook his head.
“Transfusions are for the living, bro.” He shrugged with an unnervingly peaceful smile.
I didn’t want him to be so at ease with this. I wanted him to fight until the end, squeeze every single second out of his life, even if it just delayed the inevitable. Jack acted as though he’d check out of life like a hotel, and that set off a rage in me.
“You’re living until you stop breathing, asshole.” I wasn’t ready to lose him. None of us were.
“That’s deep. Beatles?”
I was about to get in his face when the doorbell rang. I glared at Jack as I traipsed over to answer. There was a tall and slender brunette on the other side of the glass, huffing and tapping her foot as though she had been waiting forever, not two whole fucking minutes.
“Jessica?”
She let out a deep breath and nodded. There was a hint of a smile on her face. “Jessica Hunter. You must be . . . Evan?”
“Yes, come in. Sorry to keep you waiting.” Actually, I wasn’t sorry because I hadn’t left her standing in the cold, but if this woman could file and knew QuickBooks she could huff at me all she wanted.
“You didn’t, I have another appointment later on today and didn’t want to be late. I’m a little OCD about punctuality.” Jessica strolled into our tiny back office in stilettos and sat down in front of Jack’s desk. The heels made her easily six feet tall.
“Hi Jack. How are you feeling?” She put her hand on his and he shrugged.
“Still here. Thanks for coming in. Ellie said you were between jobs and might be interested. We need someone in the office maintaining the job schedules, billing and all the other extra shit that we’ve been trying to do ourselves but fucking up royally. How do you feel about that?”
“Sounds just fine to me. I can use any accounting software you have and I have an obsession with organization. You guys wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. How many days would you need me?” Jack looked at me.
“Five days, eight to four, sometimes a random Saturday or Sunday if we get extra jobs. Would that work for you?”
“Yes, that sounds perfect. Ellie told me the salary and that’s fine too. I can start immediately.”
After going through a slew of questions on accounting software, payroll, and past experience, Jack raised his eyebrows at me and I nodded.
“Tomorrow okay?”
Jessica answered me with a big nod. “Tomorrow at eight, it is. Thanks, guys!” She wasn’t bad looking when she smiled and showed teeth. That didn’t matter, though. My heart belonged to the blonde I’d left sleeping at the butt crack of dawn.
