Chapter 32
A Complication
Wednesday morning, Noah sat at his desk, composing a report for the team. After Thursday's planned movie night fell through in the best dating fail ever, he'd spent the weekend with Claire, touring Houston during the day and exploring her body at night. Monday and Tuesday had been a grind, with testing sessions that stretched late and bled into evening calls with the team. But now, with this last bit of documentation, they could finally make the needed changes and check another item off the project task list.
His desk phone buzzed, and he answered without looking at the caller. "Raines."
"Noah. Jackie here. I need a moment. Can you come 'round and see me?" The IT director's preference for in-person discussions was well-known. Simon had once suggested she didn't enjoy talking on phones where she couldn't see your face, and Noah agreed.
"Sure. Be there in a sec." He sent off the email and stood up, stretching his back as he did so. He'd been spending the nights at Claire's this past week and hadn't gotten in his usual workouts. Although—he smiled smugly—he had gotten in plenty of cardio. Speaking of, he needed to pick up more condoms soon.
He walked toward the management branch of the IT wing with a lightness in his step that hadn't been there for a long time. Things had been going his way lately. His time with Claire, the project… Hell, he'd even won at poker last night.
Claire had declined again, saying poker wasn't really her thing. He'd intended to cancel, but she'd encouraged him to go without her. His brow furrowed. Rick knew about his attraction to Claire, but no one else did. It felt like he was keeping secrets, which was far different from being private about your personal life.
His steps slowed. Was that what Jackie wanted to talk to him about? Had she somehow found out about him and Claire? Shit. Were they in trouble? He wiped his palms on his trousers as he approached her door.
She had her head down, reading what looked like a contract. He rapped on the door and she looked up, smiling.
"Come in. Have a seat."
His muscles loosened at her smile. If he were in trouble, she'd have greeted him with a stern face, not a happy-to-see-you look. Although he did a double take when she got up and shut her office door before sitting back down again. He slung an ankle over his knee to hide his nervousness and tried not to bounce his foot.
"What's up?" He raised an eyebrow and jerked his head toward the closed door.
"We talked before about how well you're doing on the MADS update project and I wanted to let you know several department heads have told me you specifically have been instrumental in getting their team's cooperation. And your communication about what's going on has made them less nervous with the upcoming changes to their system."
Noah's face flushed, and he shifted in his chair. The ticking of her wall clock filled the silence as he absorbed her words. "That's nice to hear, but I'm just doing my job."
"Simon said you're struggling to balance your workload between the project and your duties at the plant. Is that true?" she asked.
"Struggling?" He blew out a breath. "It's definitely a challenge. And now that the coding and testing phase is underway… yeah, it's becoming harder. The time difference doesn't help. I only get a few hours in the morning to communicate with England before they leave for the day, and I try to prioritize those emails first." His heart picked up at the thought of falling down on the job. "Has someone complained?"
"Not at all. If you recall, I told you a while back how you'd become quite the team leader and people looked up to you." Jackie fussed with the paper in her hands before abruptly moving it aside and looking straight at him.
"Ye-es?" The word dragged out of him, reluctant to hear what she had to say next. His ears warmed and he shifted in his chair.
She sipped her coffee, watching him over the brim of the cup.
"I'd like you to come onboard full-time to the project."
Time came to a standstill. Noah shook his head, thinking he'd misheard her.
"Wh-what?" he stammered. He straightened and uncrossed his legs. What did that mean? What exactly was she suggesting?
Jackie rushed on before he could ask. "You're a natural leader and people listen to you. In addition to being our operations liaison, you've unintentionally become an authority figure on this project, both to team members and the users we work with. Not only do you have years of institutional knowledge and operational know-how, you also have a way with people. You impart your knowledge in ways that don't step on their toes. In ways that empower them and make them feel like they have a say in the matter."
Noah flushed at the praise. His hand trembled as he ran it over his hair. He squirmed and focused on deciphering her words. He couldn't remember anyone ever calling him a natural leader before. His mind flashed back to the conversation with Tristan about him forging the way at every new place they moved to, before going back to her opening salvo. "What does full-time on the project mean? And what about my day job?"
"I've spoken to the leadership team and they all agree our priority is getting timely information into the hands of our users. And Mitch thinks you'd do well in the role."
What? "You talked to my boss? And Mitch said he wants this?" Noah's head spun. He'd had his suspicions about Mitch helping him fight his growing discontent, but pushing him out of operations? The idea scattered his thoughts and his heart raced.
"More like testing the waters before 'officially' talking," she said. "What do you think?"
This conversation was moving way too fast. Noah needed time to process. And catch his breath. He racked his brain for something to stall and give him time to think. "A project is a temporary thing."
Jackie nodded.
