“How long have you worked for him?” I asked.
Ben didn’t answer immediately, but his expression in the mirror softened in a way that made me think I’d picked a question he liked.
“Coming up on six years.”
“Six years?” I repeated, more surprised than I meant to sound.
“That’s the reaction I usually get.”
“I just—sorry. That’s not bad. I mean, that’s good. That’s a long time.”
“It is.”
“You must like the job then,” I said, because that felt like the obvious conclusion. “I mean, enough to stay that long.”
“I have a great boss.”
I looked at him again.
There was no hesitation in the way he said it. No polite little employee script hidden under the words. He sounded like he meant it, which was interesting, because Tobias didn’t exactly seem like the kind of person people described as great unless they had either been paid very well or had come to understand something about him I hadn’t yet.
Probably both, in Ben’s case.
“He seems…” I started, then stopped because I had no idea which adjective wouldn’t sound rude.
Ben laughed quietly. “Careful there, mate.”
“I was just going to say particular,” I murmured, my face hot.
“That’s generous of you.”
I smiled despite myself, then looked down at my hands, where they were folded too tightly around the strap of my bag.
“He can be intimidating,” I admitted.
“Yes,” Ben said, not sounding offended by that at all. “He knows.”
“He does?”
“Oh, he knows people find him intimidating. I’m not always sure he understandswhy.”
That made sense in a way that was almost funny.
“He’s stiff when you first meet him,” Ben continued. “Formal. Direct. Not always great at making people comfortable in the usual ways.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“But that isn’t all he is.”
Something in his tone changed enough that I paid closer attention.
Ben wasn’t looking at me in the mirror anymore. His focus had returned to the road, but his expression had lost some of that easy humor. Not in a bad way. More like he was choosing his words with care.
“Tobias takes things seriously,” he said. “Responsibilities. Promises. People he decides matter.”
I swallowed. “That sounds intense.”
“It can be.” Ben’s smile returned, smaller this time. “But it also means that when you’re one of his people, you’re taken care of.”
