Castle Walls

Damian

By the time I return to work, I’m so out of sorts over what just transpired at Harvest, I can barely think straight. How can one man be in charge of a staff and be so clueless? I hope Angel goes to the labour board to file a complaint for wrongful dismissal, because that’s not acceptable. Beyond that, I’m worried that she’s unemployed and will struggle without an income to rely on. Maybe that’s presumptuous of me, but working as a waitress, I wouldn’t imagine she has a massive savings account to fall back on. Living in the city is expensive; especially alone.

Then again, maybe she does have money put aside. Maybe she has a second job or a friend who she could move in as a roommate. I sigh into my hands with my elbows on my desk, accepting that there’s so much I don’t know about her, and little I can do to help.

Everything about her is still a mystery beyond her captivating dark eyes, soft hair, pert nose, and luscious curves. Beyond her firecracker personality that means she doesn’t take any nonsense from anyone. I might not know her favourite colour or band, but I know enough that I want to keep learning more.

A knock at my door startles me, and I look up to see Elliot Hannon, one of my team managers.

“Are you okay, sir?”

“Fine, Mr. Hannon. What can I do for you?” My response is clipped and the last thing I want to do is give my staff the impression they can’t come speak to me. “I’m sorry. You caught me in the middle of a thought.”

“Sorry, sir. I can just send you an email.” He turns to walk away without giving me the chance to argue. I drop a hammer fist on my desk, irritated with myself for being short with him when he was doing exactly what I’ve wanted my staff to do for months. Then I look up to realize two other staff members are standing on the other side of the glass wall surrounding my office. I throw my head back in defeat. Today is not my day, and I don’t know how to get it back on track.

Rather than dive into work I won’t be able to focus on, I decide to call Josh. Like a good big brother, he can always help me get my head on straight.

“Well, if it isn’t my baby brother.”

“Hey, Josh.”

“Why do you sound so glum? Let me guess. Lady trouble?”

Josh and his wife Lily have been married for fifteen years. They have a great relationship and while I’d never say it out loud, I envy it. Considering the relationship examples we had growing up, the fact he and Lily have created a good life together is encouraging.

“I guess you could say that.” I chuckle to mask my disappointment over the events of today.

“So what’s the trouble? You want what you can’t have? You’re not eyeing your boss’s wife, are you?” My brother laughs, making me do the same.

I confirm I’m not interested in my boss’s seventy-year-old wife and continue to explain the situation, leaving nothing out, including the drool on the backseat of my $90,000 SUV. He lets me rattle out the entire sequence of events that took place over the last few weeks, only acknowledging bits and pieces with grunts or laughter.

By the time he has all the information, he says what I was afraid of all along. “I’m not sure what you want me to tell you, Damian. You have a hero complex, or whatever they call it, wanting to run around and save everyone from themselves, but you can’t. It sounds like the girl has a good head on her shoulders, so just give her time to sort things out.”

“She’s unstoppable. I’m not worried she’ll let this keep her down. I’m just angry it happened to her at all.”

“Well, there’s nothing you can do about it now. It’s done. Keep your focus where it needs to be. I’m sure she’ll reach out when she gets a chance and put your mind at ease.”

She is good at doing that, even without trying. She also has the capacity to have me twisted in knots like no one else ever has, and she doesn’t have to make an effort to do that, either.

“Why are there so many men in the world who can’t think like rational adults? Doesn’t it scare you for your daughters? It scares me.”

“Sometimes. But we need to teach them to know their own worth, and like your Angel, how to handle themselves if the situation calls for it.”

My Angel. I smile at that term, though I think “Her Damian” would be more appropriate.

“I’m going to sign the girls up for Krav Maga.”

Josh chuckles. “They could use it after the crime spree here this year. It’s not a bad idea.”

I jot down on a scrap of paper to the right of me to look up self-defence training for my nieces to attend. I want them to be equipped to break a man’s arm if he ever touches them without permission. As they should.

“Anyway, I gotta get back to work. Boss gets testy if I waste company time. I’ll text you tomorrow to check in.”

“Later, big bro. Love you.”

I glance down at my phone and Angel still hasn’t replied to my earlier message. An image of her sitting alone on her sofa, crying with Genie at her side, makes my heart clench. In yet another frustration-induced action, I slap the phone on my desk and growl like a deranged wildebeest. Whatever that sounds like. Pretty sure that’s what I sounded like, though.

Sure enough, another employee is rushing past my wall of windows, and now in fifteen minutes, I’ve undone every bit of progress I’ve made with my staff since I started in this department. At this rate, it’s not even one step forward, two steps back. It’s moving forward like a Power Wheels with a drained battery, backward like a NASCAR… that makes sense to me.

I try my hardest to focus on my work for the afternoon, resigning myself to the fact that Angel can handle herself and doesn’t need my interference. This time I’m not going to come in swinging my club like a neanderthal. That’s not who I am, and I am kicking myself for ever making her think that.

Hopefully, I get the chance to show her more of the real me.