The Cost Of Love And Sanity (14 page)

Alex nodded. “Do you still have a lot of play in you?”

Nathan stared into her eyes. “No.”

“Oh. Well, how are you able to hang with someone who's not focused on settling down if you might be ready to settle down?” Alex rested her chin on her palm, waiting for his answer.

“Well, don't you have friends whose lives are different from yours?”

Alex nodded and shrugged.

“I don't like to judge people. However they live is fine with me. I know what I want.” Nathan focused his attention back on his plate.

“And what do you want?” Alex wasn't intent on aggravating Nathan. She wanted to know where he stood. He acted like he'd changed—grown up—from the days that he ran around with his friends doing whatever but she wanted to make sure. She was in no mood for surprises with him.

“I want what any regular man wants: a rewarding career and a family.”

“How many children do you want?”

Nathan threw his head back and laughed. “What is this? An inquisition?”

Alex smiled. “Well, how am I gonna know if I don't ask you?”

He held up his hand. “Fair enough, fair enough. I want three kids.”

“Any gender preference.”

“Two boys and a girl. Hey. Didn't I mention this to you before?” Nathan squinted his eyes and pointed at Alex.

“Just checking. You have a good memory.”

He shook his head and finished off his plate. Alex had finished her plate. She sat at the table studying him. At this point, she had to see the situation through; she wanted to try their relationship out again and figure out where they were headed but her mind insisted on staying sharp to any changes.
I sure hope he's sincere.

A
lex stood in front of the snack machine, pondering which snack to buy. She shouldn't have been buying anything but she had a light breakfast and her stomach wouldn't stop reminding her of that fact. She bent down midway to get a better look at the selection. Alex heard footsteps. She turned around to find Mr. Sims approaching her. She sent him a readymade smile.

“Hello. How is everything, Mr. Sims?” she asked.

“Morning, Alex. Everything is good. How are you?” he asked.

“Excellent.”

“I was talking to Dan about the job fair yesterday and he didn't seem as enthusiastic as you are. Is there a reason?”

I'm getting really tired of Dan.
She couldn't seem to get away from him. “I think he's having some problems with the tasks.”

“Oh. How are you all working through it?” He crossed his arms.

Looking at his face, Alex could tell Mr. Sims had a pretty good idea that she and Dan weren't getting along all that well. Whatever she said next, she had to inject a certain level of truth into it so she didn't seem like she was playing him for a fool. “We are still having some difficulties but we're trying to figure out the best way to work together.”

“Well, if I may make a suggestion,” Mr. Sims said.

“Of course, sir. Any help you give would be appreciated.”

“Try to be on each other's side. We have noted several times
how important it is for your ideas to benefit our numbers but you all do have to work together. In a chain, wherever the weakest link is, that's what needs to be fixed. Your discord could affect your fair. I'd sure hate to see that happen.”

“It won't happen, sir. I can assure it.”

He shrugged. “Maybe it won't. Fix your team and make sure it doesn't.”

Great. First, Nathan. Now, Mr. Sims.
It seemed like everyone was telling her to accommodate Dan, which irked her inside. She'd worked her butt off to get where she was. Why did she have to baby him? Why didn't he have to figure things out like everybody else? At the risk of thinking like a little kid, she really did think it was unfair.

“Yes, Mr. Sims.”

Her boss walked away. She grabbed a small bag of chips and went back to her office, trying to think of how she would approach Dan. She couldn't stand the idea of kissing his butt. However, Alex did need to work with him. Knowing that Mr. Sims was watching them so closely, made it even more imperative that she make amends.

She devoured her chips, wiped her hands and grabbed her tablet off her desk. She took a trip to Dan's floor. When she reached his desk, he was sitting in his chair conversing with a coworker. The coworker spotted her approaching and stopped talking. Dan followed his gaze. Alex saw Dan's whole demeanor change. The lighthearted, carefree expression he had while talking had disappeared. It had been replaced with a steep frown. As if his coworker had been made aware of Dan and Alex's contention, he lowered his head and walked the other way.

Dan turned toward his computer.

Okay. I know you see me coming so don't even act like you don't.
“Hello, Dan. How are you?” Alex said once she'd reached his desk.

He glanced over his shoulder. “Fine. How are you?”

“I'm good.” She paused.
Here goes nothing.
“May I talk to you for a minute?”

He cleared his throat. “I'm kind of busy. Can it wait?”

Alex leaned over his desk. “No.”

Dan stared up at her and sighed. “Okay.”

“Why don't we go somewhere else?”

He stood up and motioned for her to lead the way. Alex led him to the break room on his floor. No one was there to listen in on their conversation. She pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. Dan followed suit.

She placed her tablet on the table and crossed her hands over it. “First, allow me to apologize if I did not present a united front with you when we met with Mr. Sims. I was simply concerned with making a good impression on him so that we would look like we knew what we were doing. I didn't mean to make it look like you didn't know what you were doing.”

“But you did,” Dan said, leaning in.

Alex took a deep breath to steady her mind and contain her initial reaction. “I understand that. The main thing is we have to work together and I would like for us to make a concerted effort to do so because our tails are on the line.”

“I can't afford to get fired. Alimony is already messing with my pockets.”

She didn't know what to say to that. Afraid to pry, she let the comment slide with a generic comment. “Yeah, I hear those can be challenging.”

Dan snorted. “You don't know the half of it. I don't think we were married long enough for me to pay her spousal support but that
didn't stop her from getting it. And…ooh…child support.” He shook his finger. “Don't get me started on child support.”

He hung his head. For the first time, Alex could see the stress and strain wearing on his face as opposed to the haughty smirk he often wore. She had mixed emotions about his admission. She was intrigued that he had a family unit. Although it had fallen apart, he still possessed more than she did. Instead of pressing about the job fair, Alex wanted to ask him questions about his family, balancing home and his child, likes and dislikes of parenthood but, even in her wish for information, it wasn't the right time to ask him these things. So, Alex nodded, again stumped on how to respond to his rant.

“Sure, I took care of her but she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She's lazy, is all.” Dan stared off at the wall, almost like he could see his ex-wife in the off-white paint.

What did I step into?
Alex thought quickly of a way to get him back to the task at hand. “Right. Well, this is exactly why we must work harder at making sure this fair goes off without a hitch,” she said.

Dan thought about it. “You know what? You're right.” He waved his hand. “I probably overreacted a little after the meeting. I hope you accept my apology as well.” He extended his hand to her for a shake.

Her mouth dropped.
An apology? Now this I did not expect.
She recovered and extended her hand as well. “Apology accepted.”

He smiled. “Great!”

Alex returned his smile.

“Now I brought down a list of the things that need to be done. I've checked things I'm taking care of, like the employers and supervising the call centers efforts to find candidates. Which of these other things are you willing to do?”

Dan stared at the list. “I'm definitely going to keep at the sponsorships.”

“Okay. I will give you the names and numbers of the people I met at the beginning so that you can go over the details with them.” She handed him a sheet of paper with local restaurant owners' contact information.

He lit up. “Thank you.”

They sat together for the next fifteen minutes and divvied up their responsibilities for the next few weeks. When they finished, not only did Dan look happier but Alex felt better about the situation. She was proud that she'd figured out a way to relate to him about the fair. Even though they were still polar opposites, she could see them creating the best job fair ever.

“All right, Alex. It's your turn,” Nathan said.

Alex agreed to go bowling for fun and to spend time with Nathan. She had very little interest in the activity because she had very little skill in it. Still, she figured being with him would be worth the embarrassment of throwing gutter balls. That wasn't quite the case.

She walked up to the line of balls and grabbed a heavy green bowling ball. When she stepped to the edge of the lane, Nathan gave her a kiss on the forehead. She shifted her attention to the polished wooden floors in front of her and held the ball to her chest. She took a deep breath, then, let the ball go. The ball wobbled down the lane. It seemed to take forever getting to its destination. At times, Alex was afraid that it would stop in the middle of the lane, which would be extremely embarrassing. She was no pro bowler but she still didn't want to look too bad in front of Nathan. After what seemed an eternity, the ball reached the end, knocking out three pins in its wake.

Nathan clapped and hollered. Alex turned around, where Nathan stood. She scowled. “What are you clapping about?” she asked.

“You did good.” Nathan blinked and smiled.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

“Really! C'mon. We all have to start somewhere. Right?” Alex understood his desire to encourage her but it was only annoying her, especially considering that he had already skunked her on their last game.

“Your cheery attitude is starting to get on my nerves,” Alex said.

Nathan cracked up laughing. “What? I'm proud of you.”

“Aren't you supposed to let me win these things? Isn't that the unwritten rule? Thou shall let your date win games like bowling and putt-putt golf,” Alex said.

“If I did that, you would never learn how to play. What are you gonna do if your company goes bowling one day? You could end up making your team lose and your coworkers would be angry with you.”

“I'd tell them to get over it.”

Nathan shook his head and grabbed a ball. He brought it up to his chin before swinging it backward and rolling it forward. Alex watched his ball glide down the center of the row, as if it had been predetermined. It wiped out all the pins.

“Yess!” he shouted.

“This is sickening,” Alex said.

He leaped over to her and hugged her while smothering her with kisses. She giggled under his outpouring of playful affection. Nathan sat down beside her and threw his arms on the back of the seats.

“What is work like these days?” Alex asked as she leaned back against the seat.

“It's cool. More of the same. Customers with attitude. Mad at the world about nothing,” Nathan said.

“I know the feeling.”

“C'mon. You deal with executive people at your job.”

“That doesn't mean they can't be nasty, especially when they're caught in the wrong. Fingers start pointing so fast it'll make your head swim,” Alex said.

“Yeah. This week, I had this lady come in and she was so angry
because the service tech told her she needed new brake pads and rotors. She wanted to know why she couldn't get the pads and nothing else. I had to explain to her that she had waited too long to buy new ones. Therefore, she needed the rotors, too. No matter how many times, how many different ways I tried to explain it to her she continued to say she didn't understand.”

“I hate it when people do that. They want to blame you for something they neglected to do,” Alex said. “How did you end up resolving it?”

“I finally ended up giving her the pads free on the condition that she paid for the rotors.”

Alex frowned. “Why? It was her fault.”

Nathan shrugged. “Sometimes it's easier to give the person what they want than to keep going around in circles.”

“Is that what customer service is about?”

“Sometimes.”

Alex shook her head. “It's like handling children.”

“You want children at some point?” Nathan asked.

She hesitated. Her immediate reaction was to agree quickly but she didn't want to sound too eager. Alex had kept her inner thoughts about having children to herself. She didn't want to scare him off with her enthusiasm. “Of course.”

“Then, see it as practice.” He smiled.

“I'd prefer to have the real thing,” Alex said.

She suddenly thought about her longing for a family. She looked over at Nathan and imagined him as the father of her children, a thought she found hard to brush aside. Alex figured he'd be as warm, caring and thoughtful as he was with her. He had a knack for putting her at ease that would no doubt prove helpful in calming a screaming child. She wondered if it was too soon to tell whether
they would even reach that point. They hadn't been back together for long. Then again, things had been going well. They were getting along. She smiled while thinking about the possibility that Nathan could father her children some day.