Uninvolved (33 page)

"Wow
.
I mean
,
wow
.
I just wasn’t sure when you called me in here. I was nervous
, thinking
maybe I had done something wrong."

"Nope
.
This
is a good thing."

"What would this team be doing? Is it still in this department?
Would my hours change?
"

"Well
,
I don’t have all of the details yet
.
It
is my understanding that the team would have something to do with our elite relationships."

"I'd love t
o
f
ind out more
.
I just really wasn’t expecting this."

"I will let upper management know that you are interested
,
and I guess you will get more detail directly from them."

"Thanks
,
Chip."

"You do a good job
,
Becka
.
If
you end up leaving us
,
we will miss you."

"I just don’t know what to say."

"Understandable
.
Well,
I need to hop on a call. Keep me in the loop once you learn the next steps."

Becka nodded and walked back to her desk
.
A
couple of her co-workers must have assumed she was in trouble from the dazed look on her face. Her phone was vibrating on her desk
.
She
grabbed it
as she sat down
. It was from Lucy
,
making sure she wasn’t fired. God
,
the gossip mill in her office was working overtime. Becka replied that no, she was not fired and asked Lucy if she wanted to run out for lunch.

Over lunch
,
Becka told Lucy about her conversation with Chip. Lucy was thrilled for her but kind
of
bummed at the thought that there was a cha
nce she would move offices. Lucy moped
,
wondering why nobody recommended her. Becka would never say anything because she would never want to hurt Lucy's feelings
,
but Lucy didn’t have the best reputation at work. She could be a total slacker.

There was an email from HR waiting for Becka when she got back to her desk. It went
in
to the specifics of the new team and what their objective would be. It was pretty long
,
Becka thought
,
feeling a bit overwhelmed. Becka printed it to take home
.
She
wanted to talk to Dave about it. She smiled to herself as she
folded
the papers and put them in her purse
,
thinking how proud her folks would be if this opportunity turned out
great
.

The rest of her
work
day passed by in a blur. Becka called Lilly once she was in her car to dish. Lilly seemed down
,
though
,
so she ending up listening to her vent the whole time instead. Happy to end the call when she pulled into her driveway
,
Becka looked down at the screen, shaking her head as she pressed end call.
Becka hated it when someone else's mood would drag her down.
She hadn’t even gotten the chance to tell Lilly her good news.
Hopefully
,
Dave would be more receptive.

Dave was still asleep
,
so
Becka got a snack and was working
on reading the paperwork HR had sent until
he woke up
. She was on the
fourth
page by the time Dave walked out of his room. He grunted in her direction on his way to the back deck. Dave was working on cutting back on smoking
,
so there was no way Becka was going to come between him and his first for the day.
When Dave walked back into the house
,
Becka told her about her day.

He was so quiet that Becka eventually cocked her head at him and said
,
"Well, what do you think?"

"This sounds very cool
,
Becks."

"Thanks!"

"I mean it
.
It
is just really cool to see you, you know, bettering yourself."

"Bettering myself?"

"I just think the whole Kyle and that other dude thing has had you down
,
and it's cool to see you excited about your career and not some guy."

"Aww
,
Dave
.
G
imme a hug."

Becka jumped up to hug him as he stiffly patted her back
,
telling her not to get all lovey dovey and shit, which made her laugh. Dave was always one to be
un
sentimental.
Becka gave him the paperwork to look over, which he did. While he read
,
she got up to grab a beer
.
He
did not have to work that night so she brought him one as well.
When he finished reading the last page and set it on the coffee table
,
she looked up at him expectantly. Dave leaned back into the sofa and took a deep drink off his beer.

"Well?"

"Oh, you want my opinion?"

"Dave
,
" Becka groaned.

Dave laughed then said
,
"I think it looks like a pretty fucking sweet deal. Did you blow any bigwigs?"

Becka punched him in the arm
,
grinning. She had thought it seemed like an amazing opportunity as well and he
aring someone agree with that
felt really good.
It was a weird sensation
.
Becka had never really given too much thought to her career. Getting some positive reinforcement that she wasn’t sucking was cool.

The changes would amount to a change in job title, a small bump in pay, some inbound call cover, more strict dress code, and her desk would be moving to the same floor as
Nate
. Becka would have a new direct manager and report to a different division of the company
.
She
tried to remember if it was the same one
Nate
worked in. Becka also wondered how close her new desk was to
where
Nate
sat. The decision to
go for it was a no brainer. The only thing that bothered Becka about the promotion was how much it was making her think of
Nate
and when she would hear from him again
.

It would be a full month before Becka would find out
.
She was for the most part staying true to her avoid all men stance
.
Becka was two weeks into her new promotion. Since they were a new team
,
the first week was mainly waiting for IT to figure out their new accesses and procurement of a printer once someone noticed their team didn’t have one. The second we
ek
,
they went live and were insanely
busy. Becka was really enjoying the thrill of being part of something new.
Becka went out with Dave or her girlfriends a couple of times but mainly was happy just staying home
.
The new gig
was
sometimes mentally
exhausting,
and
it felt good to take it easy.

It was a Friday night,
and
Dave was working
.
Becka had a date with a new book
.
When her phone started ringing and she saw that it wasn’t a programmed number
,
she wondered for a moment if it was
Nate
before answering it.

"Hello
?
"

"Hey
,
kid
.
"

Well that answered that
,
she thought to herself.

"Hi
,
Nate
."

"Long time
.
How
have you been?"

"Good
.
You
?"

"Busy but good."

"That's nice."

"
Doing anything tonight?"

Becka sat there
,
open
-
mouthed
.
Here
was her chance to actually tell
Nate
no.

"Becka?"

"Yeah."

"You got all quiet
.
Did you hear me?"

"I did
.
I just don't know."

"You don’t know if you have plans tonight?"

"Why do you want to know if I have plans?"

"To see if you wanted to hang out."

"I just don’t know if I want to hang out with you."

"Oh
.
"

"Yep
.
"

"What's stopping you?"

"I don’t know what I am to you."

"I don’t want a girlfriend
,
Becka."

"Do you get that it sucks to know that I like you more than you like me?
”

"You like me?"

"Not right now."

"Why don’t you like me right now?"

"Because you suck."

"You're adorable."

"I'm not trying to be cute."

"You just can't help it."

"Shut up."

"Can I come over?"

"Yes
.
No
.
U
gh
,
fine."

"I'm on my way."

Becka tossed her phone onto the center of her bed
,
cursing herself
.
She then checked her makeup, brushed her hair, lit a candle
,
and changed into something cuter
.
Becka didn’t want to look over
eager
,
so she changed into a
cute yet demure pajama set covered with little snowflakes
.
She brushed her teeth and then sat down with her e
R
eader while she waited for him.

Her breath hitched when she heard his knock
.
It had been so long
since she had seen him
.
Becka wondered if she would still be as attracted to him
.
The way her heart started thumping when she opened the door answered her question
.
Why did he have to look so good?
Nate
stepped in and leaned in to kiss her
.
Becka turned her face so his kiss landed on her
cheek
.
Straightening
,
he shut the door behind him.

"You sure you want me here?"

"Yes
,
" Becka said
,
walking into the living room
.
"I'm just mad at myself for it."

"Okay
."

"Can I get you a drink?"

"A beer would be good."

Becka walked in to kitchen and got them each one.

When Becka went to hand it to him
,
Nate
grabbed her wrist and pulled her against
him
.
As Becka held a drink in each hand
,
he wrapped his arms around her and covered her mouth with his
.
Nate
's hands moved down to her backside and pulled her firmly to him
.
Breaking their kiss
,
Nate
trailed his lips down her neck as she stood there open
-
mouthed.

Stepping back
,
Nate
took his beer from her and took a long drink
.
Shaking her head
,
Becka did the same
.
Nate
then took her drink from her and set both of them on the breakfast bar
.
He then picked up Becka and sat her on one of the sto
ols
.
Moving between her legs
,
Nate
resumed kissing her
.