Nate balanced the two coffee cups in one hand, the peppermint tea in the other and started what felt like an excruciatingly long walk back to Laurel’s office. He’d left them alone long enough and Alex could be… irritating? Annoying? Vindictive? All of the above?
That wasn’t fair. Alex had always been a good friend, even if his tendency to be a bit of a pompous dick hadn’t diminished over the years.
He was five paces away when the door swung open and Laurel bustled out, arms brimming with papers.
‘Woah,’ he said, as she nearly careened into him. ‘You alright? Where are you going?’
She was flustered, pale-faced and a little shaken. She was not calm, collected Manager Laurel. What the fuck had happened?
‘Uh, I’ve got to, um,’ she started, eyes flicking down the corridor.
‘What’s going on? Are you okay?’ He took a step towards her.
She tucked her hair behind her ears. ‘Nothing. I’m fine.’
The smile she had plastered on her face was not convincing.
‘Laurel, what—’ he started, but she held her hand up to interrupt him.
‘Look, I’ve told Alex I’ll show him around. Give him whatever he needs.’ She sighed and her shoulders dropped in defeat. ‘I need this funding, Nate.’
‘Yeah, okay,’ he said, still confused. ‘I’ll do what I can.’
Laurel nodded and hugged her papers to her chest before hurrying along the corridor.
‘Do you want your tea?’ he called, but her heels clattered as she headed down the stairs. What the hell was that?
Alex was playing some childishly loud, colourful game on his phone when Nate lowered the cups to the conference table.
‘So, old man, let’s see what you’ve got,’ Alex said, putting his phone on the table. Nate looked at him carefully, considering his friend.
‘What did you say to Laurel?’ he asked neutrally.
‘Nothing, you know how women can get.’ Alex waved his hand dismissively. ‘They’re sensitive, take things all the wrong way.’
Nate scratched his forehead in disbelief. How could Alex possibly have offended her in the five minutes Nate had been out of the office? How was Alex not able to be left alone with a woman without pissing her off?
‘She’s alright looking. I’d bang her, but—’
‘Alex! Come on man, don’t talk like that,’ Nate interrupted.
Alex scoffed. ‘Like what?’
‘Like women are a piece of meat there for your pleasure. It’s not thelads lads ladsculture of the nineties anymore, mate. I’ve got to work here, be around Laurel all the time. Don’t piss her off. And for god’s sake, grow up a little bit. Be a professional.’
Alex rolled his eyes and swung his head like a toddler who hadn’t got their own way.
‘Alright, whatever, Nate,’ he said. ‘But, and don’t take offense here, she’s not very…’ he cast around for the right word, ‘exciting, is she? I mean, she’s a bit drab.’
Nate flinched. Laurel wasn’t drab. She was beautiful. Sure, she was highly strung and had an awful lot on her plate. In fact, he admired her for what she’d built at the farm and for the saving of Lower Houghton, especially because she was up against literally everybody.
‘You’ve got her wrong, Alex.’ Nate shuffled his papers.
‘What? You want to shag her?’
Nate placed his hands flat on the table. His jaw clenched and he narrowed his eyes at Alex. Had he not heard a word he said? They were too old for this shit. There was silence in the office as they looked at each other, some kind of power shift happening. Alex must have got the hint, because he pulled his chair closer to the desk and reached for some papers.
‘Do you want to show me what you’ve got then, old man?’
