Chapter 29 Working Late
It’s almost home time on Friday night and the department is quietening down as everyone leaves, excited about their weekend. I’m in no hurry though. I don’t have plans for the weekend and strangely enough, I quite enjoy this job.
Any minute now though, Noah is going to come out of his office and tell me to go home. He never works late on Fridays. Unlike me, he must always have plans.
I begin collating the department’s weekly complaint log even though I know it’s a long winded task. There’s no way I’ll have it finished by the time Noah finishes for the night. I might just stay late. It’s not like I have anything better to do.
Perhaps I should have taken Stacey and Rob up on their offer of going out for a drink but I hadn’t really felt in the mood for socialising. I’d also had an offer to go back to my grandma’s house for dinner but I’d told her that I wasn’t sure when I’d be finished at the company.
I’m not sure why I feel so deflated at the idea of spending the weekend away from the company. It’s only two days and this is only a job. ‘Perhaps, it’s the people,’ I tell myself. ‘Perhaps, it’s Noah.’ That thought almost has me laughing aloud.
Noah steps out of his office, his coat folded over his arm.
“Time to go home, Eden,” he says with an excitement he seems to reserve for Fridays.
Looking up at him, I consider asking him if he has a hot date. He’s far too happy about something.
“I’m not finished,” I tell him. “You go. I’ll leave when I’m done.”
A frown crosses his face as he snatches the sheet of paper I’m currently highlighting.
“What’s this?” he asks, looking down at it.
“This week’s complaints.”
“And it couldn’t wait until Monday?” He eyes me before returning his attention to the list.
“I wanted to get ahead of things.”
“On a Friday?” He chuckles. “No one in their right mind works late on a Friday.”
“Haven’t got anything better to do,” I mutter more to myself than him.
“I thought I heard Stacey and Rob invite you out.”
“Yeah… I just didn’t feel like…” My voice dies off.
“There’s been three complaints this week about the walnut coffee table?” he asks, his eyes on the list.
“Yeah,” I tell him, “but I’ll go through it all and run it by you on Monday.”
“No, bring this all into my office,” he says, turning back.
“Don’t you have plans?” I ask him, following after him with several sheets of paper in my hands.
“Yeah,” he replies, glancing at his watch, “but this shouldn’t take too long.”
“I can do it myself.”
He looks up at me, smiling widely. “I know.”
“Then go have fun. It’s Friday night.”
He shakes his head. “I can just go later.”
“You shouldn’t keep people waiting,” I tell him. I feel guilty. I might not have wanted to go home but I hadn’t intended to keep him here too.
“She doesn’t know she’s waiting for me anyway,” he mutters.
I want to ask him what he means but I don’t want to be nosy. It’s none of my business. We’re not friends. He’s my boss and not even one I get on with most of the time.
“My gran,” he says. “I visit my gran on Friday evenings.”
“Oh… Is she…?”
“She’s in a care home. She has Alzheimer’s.” He says it bluntly but there’s something about the pained look on his face that makes me want to wrap him up and hug him tightly. “She doesn’t recognise me but I like to visit.”
I can understand that. If my grandma was sick like that, I’d still want to spend as much time with her as possible.
“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine…”
“I love my gran,” he says with a boyish grin. “She practically raised me.”
There’s something adorable about the look on his face. This is a side of him I didn’t know even existed, and I can’t believe he’s opening up to me. We’re practically strangers.
“I wasn’t exactly the easiest kid to raise,” he tells me, his expression slightly cheeky. “My parents didn’t know what to do with me so granny took me under her wing.”
“Did she straighten you out?” I ask teasingly.
“Something like that,” he says, rolling up his sleeves and sitting back down behind his desk.
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