“You’re right. I’m on edge, but… why would he come in here like that? As it is, he’s been like that ever since he tried to remove me from the account.”
He had a point, and maybe it was just his boss’s way of trying to find more excuses to do it. It didn’t help that I refused towork with anyone else. My threat to take my business elsewhere entirely must not have been taken seriously enough.
Since Mr. Thomas was one of the owners of the company, we had little ground to stand on. Shame washed through me. I’d made Malcolm’s life a little more difficult by being here, but he deserved to be happy. His employers shouldn’t make him feel bad about that. No one had the right to make him feel bad about that.
Instead of continuing to dwell on it, he turned to face his desk and powered on his computer. It took a few minutes to update, and in the meantime, I stood and sat across from him. I liked watching Malcolm in his natural element. He was always so professional at work and got business done.
“So we’ve decided on the slogan, then?” he asked, peering over at me.
I gave him a gentle smile and nodded. “We take the guesswork out of tech work. Yes, I think that’s what we’ve decided on.”
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Malcolm was able to build a few more things out for me now that we’d settled on the main slogan. We had banners and had even started designing the main advertisement page for the website. Everything was vibrant, but easy on the eyes. It laid a clear foundation for everything I wanted to do with the site. By the time Mr. Thomas popped his head in the office again at the end of the day, with me leaning over Malcolm’s shoulder to look at his computer, I was feeling ten feet tall and didn’t give a shit what the old geezer had to say.
“Gentlemen?” He cleared his throat. A clear look of displeasure crossed his face when I made no move to step away from his employee.
“Good evening, Mr. Thomas. We’ve had a very productive day. I think you’ll be very impressed by Mr. Fisher’s work today.”
Malcolm shifted next to me, turning to stare at my face. Was I talking him up to make him look good for his boss? Yeah. He deserved it. What I was looking at on his computer further proved that I’d picked the right person. I wouldn’t have gotten these results had I gone somewhere else.
“Is that so?” Mr. Thomas stood up straighter, pulling on his tie to center it.
Malcolm grinned before looking at his boss. “Yes. In fact, I think we’re just about done.”
Mr. Thomas’s eyes widened like he hadn’t expected that at all. Sure, Malcolm had struggled with the account initially, but he was talented. Sometimes you just have to give people the chance to sparkle. And Malcolm glittered.
“Then we should celebrate. How about dinner? My treat?”
Malcolm’s shoulders tensed under my hand, but I couldn’t figure out a good way to discourage what his boss was implying. He was probably testing us to see if we would slip up at all.
“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, wouldn’t you say, Malcolm?”
Malcolm sighed before giving me a tight smile. “Sure. Let’s go celebrate then.”
I backed away from him, allowing him to get up from the computer and shut everything down. Mr. Thomas waited for us in the hall while we gathered everything before joining him. Malcolm was wound tighter than a tightrope as we made our way down the hallway. His shoulders bunched to his ears, and I wanted to reach over and push them down, massaging the muscles until he was pliable.
The elevator ride to the ground floor was no better. Malcolm kept casting quick glances at me as we stood behind Mr. Thomas, as if he were begging me to change my mind. It would be more suspicious if we turned the man down. We could handle a meal out.
“How about we head over to Marietta’s?” Mr. Thomas suggested as we arrived in the lobby.
Malcolm’s eyes widened again. “That’s quite generous of you, sir.”
Mr. Thomas waved him off dismissively. “Nonsense. This is one of your biggest accounts yet. We need to celebrate in style.”
With that, the older man disappeared around the corner, leaving us to make our way to the restaurant on our own.
“There’s no way we’re getting out of there without him spending a couple of hundred dollars,” Malcolm mumbled as he led me to the parking garage. We loaded into his SUV and started our drive. His knuckles were white against the steering wheel as he drove. At least while we were alone in the car, I could reach across and gently squeeze some of the tension from his shoulders.
“Are you okay?” It felt right to ask it.
Malcolm huffed. “Maybe? I don’t know. After this morning, I sort of just wanted to go home and not deal with him. I get why you agreed to go. I’m just tired of being under a microscope for one day.”
I nodded. “I get it. We can get through this meal, and then maybe you can take me back to your place and show me the rest of it?”
Heat rose up his neck, but it got a smile out of him. I took it for the win it was. Any time I could make him smile that way, it felt like I was doing something right.
“That—that could possibly be arranged.”
The rest of the ride was uneventful, and when we pulled up outside of a brick building with a red awning, there was a man in a vest standing there who quickly rushed to the driver’s side of the car and helped Malcolm out. He took the keys and handed a ticket over to Malcolm. Once I was on the sidewalk, the man drove off with the car. Valet service was familiar to me, but I wasstill surprised by how readily you were expected to give your car to a stranger.
