Seeing it laid out like this has highlighted something I wouldn't have noticed otherwise. Since Jason started a little over eighteen months ago, the projects I've got to work on are no longer for the agency's biggest clients.
Why hadn't I seen what was happening? Too busy wrapped up in my little bubble, happy to get on with my work, and avoid the all-consuming agency politics?
Only now do I realize that while I've been working from home, the politics had continued apace. The only difference is I've been unaware of them and thus able to avoid any fallout. And now, it's too late.
Hard to believe now that the women at the agency had been abuzz on hearing there was fresh blood arriving from the Sydney office.
Sadly, on an Aussie ranking of box jellyfish to Chris Hemsworth, Jason, being venomous and lacking any muscle tone, was at the invertebrate end of the scale.
Perhaps even more upsetting than letting a low-life like him ruin my career is the drop off in my own projects courtesy of this creative suffocation. I haven't picked up a paintbrush in months, let alone thought about starting a new painting.
ZAC
Despite telling myself that Kelly-Stuck-Up Sanderson is a lost cause, she still draws my gaze. Not that I see much of her over the following days with her sticking to her office at the front of the house.
She isn't even using the kitchen much, with the microwave having disappeared from atop the pile of cabinets. I guess I can't blame her for moving it. We're kicking up a heap of dust as we dismantle the back of the house.
With the deck rebuilt, we've moved onto framing out the opening for the doors into the large family room that looks over the backyard. We're close to fitting the sliders when Josh Kendrick, who's on site giving us a hand, glances in the kitchen window.
"What the hell, Zac? I thought Tyler said you weren't due to start demo in there until we sorted out the deck and all the new doors?"
I don't bother going into detail. "One of them fell off the wall, so I took the rest down. They were a freaking accident waiting to happen." There's no need to allude to earthquakes, with Mother Earth choosing that very moment to shimmy.
The site falls silent, but for the battered and paint-splattered radio that's tuned to the local station. As always, we wait to see if this is the big one that we keep hearing about. When we realize it's not, the banter and work kick off again.
Josh tips his head toward the kitchen. "I'll get Tyler to put a rush on those new cabinets. You know how Ethan is about leaving clients stuck like this. I'll go see if she's happy for us to move on that now, rather than wait until we've closed in the back."
There isn't a chance I want Josh Kendrick going anywhere near Kelly. While he might be a moody bastard on occasions, there's something guarded about him that has women all over him like a rash.
Instead of giving him a chance to move, I shove my drill at him, with him having no option but to grab hold of it. "I'll go."
Not giving him time to argue, I take off, with his grumbling dogging my steps. Despite wanting to see Kelly, I've also wanted a good excuse because nothing has a guy looking more pathetic than a fake reason for visiting.
Image is everything when you're chatting up women.
I've no sooner had this thought than shame spikes in my chest. However, I don't allow myself to examine it, rather knocking on the front door more forcefully than intended. As well as being quicker and easier than using the backdoor, it'll mean Josh, and the others can't hang on my every word.
I sense something is wrong as soon as Kelly opens the door. This makes no sense. As a Californian native, she should be used to earthquakes, especially mini shakes, like the one we've just had. And yet, she appears rattled.
"Are you alright?"
She looks ready to speak, instead she shakes her head, the action uncoordinated.
With the challenge that's often present in her eyes, missing in action, I don't think twice, stepping forward and pulling her in for a hug. It's as I had on the day that she'd come close to being taken out by that cabinet.
Despite this being the second time that I've had her in my arms, it still feels strange. The only other woman I've comforted like this is my mom.
All of that to one side. I'd have to be dead to ignore Kelly's body tight up against mine, her unique perfume filling my senses, my body reacting.
I step back, taking us both by surprise. It would have been so easy …
"Kelly, it wasn't a big earthquake. Everything is okay out the back." At her confusion, I press on. "Anyway, I just wanted to know if it's alright if we move ahead with the kitchen rebuild?"
She nods, with this as uncoordinated as her head shake had been earlier. I'm about to return to work, when I change my mind.
"Anything I can help with?"
It would appear not, although this doesn't stop her from hinting at the issues that she's facing at work. Her boss sounds like an asshole. And while she's right that I can't help there, this doesn't mean I don't have advice.
