CHAPTER SEVEN
Lula
“I don’t understand why you keep apologizing,” Cillian said, frowning up at me from behind his desk.
“I know I was just on vacation—”
“That you’re entitled to and that you’ve hardly taken in years. You’ve got half a year of vacation time built up.”
“But I was never supposed to take so much of it all at once.”
“Lu, you’re not eventakinga vacation. You’re working remotely. Like I have told you, have been entitled to do since I first hired you. We really don’t need to be discussing this at all.”
“It’s adding inconvenience to you.”
“Not really. You’re inconveniencing Rian.”
“Why Rian?”
“He pissed me off this week. So he gets to pick up any slack there might be.”
“Perks of being the big brother and the boss. I don’t have an exact date for—”
“Lula. Stop. The work will get done. I’m not worried about from where. Just do me a favor and use this.” He opened a desk drawer and dug around until he produced two small,chunky rectangles. “Mobile hotspots. Don’t want you connecting to sketchy-ass WiFi somewhere. Stick with these. Each one is one hundred twenty hours of browsing for the month. Should be more than enough. But if you run out, just let me know. I will add more.”
“Oh, this is great. Thanks.”
“The password is on the bottom. Now stop apologizing and start packing.”
“I really appreciate this.”
“Stop. Stop. Everyone needs to get away sometimes.”
“Says the man who has literally never taken a vacation ever.”
“This is one of those ‘do as I say, not as I do’ kind of things. I don’t want you burning out. If you need to work on a sandy beach somewhere, so be it. I want you fresh and focused. By whatever means necessary.” He shuffled some papers. “A weekly massage should have been a part of your benefits package from the beginning. Maybe I’ll get on that while you’re away.”
That sounded amazing.
“That’s not necessary. Do you want me to check in when—”
“When have I ever needed you to check in? Work when it fits around your schedule. I trust you.”
He did, too.
Implicitly.
I really landed the best boss in the world.
“Now get out of my office and go have some fun.”
“Okay. Okay. I’m going.” I paused at the door. “Hey, Cillian?”
“Yeah?”
“Promise me something.”
“Babe, don’t make it sound like you’re not coming back.”
