Neil stood at the front of the room with his arms folded over his chest. He waited. Tanner was the last to arrive, showing up five minutes late. “Now that we’re all here. I’ll make this short and sweet.” He glared at Tanner, who was the worst offender, but then eyed everyone else in the room. Every single one of them had called off at one time or another. Some of them were also willing to come in and cover for their teammates on their days off, but most of the time, it was Neil who had to cover. He was over it. “There’s no more calling off.”
A few groans echoed around the room.
“I mean it. When you call off, I have to cover, and I still have my job to do. No one covers for that. I end up here every night until all hours. I need a break. This has to stop. Next person to call off gets fired. I mean it.”
“What?” Tanner stood with his eyes wide. “What you mean, boss?”
Neil lifted a hand. “Here’s how things are going to go. I’ll make the schedule for the week a day earlier, on Thursday rather than Friday. Then you’ll have more time to make changes. At the end of the day on Saturday, it’s final. Week starts Sunday, and if you miss a shift or call off during that week? Good-bye.” He gave Tanner a little wave, wondering how long the kid would make it.
Tanner sat back in his chair. “What if we get someone to cover on our own?”
Neil nodded. “If that someone is willing to do it, fine. But they better stick to it and not even be a minute late, or you’re both fired. Got it?”
Tanner nodded. Looked like he swallowed hard, too. Neil hoped it scared him into getting his shit together.
Chad clapped Tanner on the shoulder. “Party when you’re scheduled to be off the next day, man. It’s that easy.” He was the one to give advice on partying as the resident frat boy. He went to school and picked up a few shifts on the stand during the week, but the rest of his time was partying and hanging out with his frat brothers, as far as Neil could tell.
“Thanks. Any questions?” Neil looked around the room. No one had anything else to say, so he let them go. He made a mental note to try and give both Tanner and Chad fewer early shifts, anyway. That couldn’t hurt.
After everyone filed out, his boss, Eric Cohen, came in. He rapped on the wall next to the door. “Got a minute?”
“Yes, sir.”
Eric held up his hands, pleading. “No sirs, please. Makes me feel old.”
“Sure.” He hadn’t been the boss for long, and Neil was still working out how to take him.
“I like how you handled this.” He tucked his fingers into the front pockets of his khakis and rocked back on his heels. He wore deck shoes and a golf shirt with an alligator logo on his chest. Like Neil, Eric wore his hair cut short, professional. Unlike Neil’s, Eric’s brown was graying around his temples.
“You mean the calling off issue? Something had to be done.”
“Yep. Good job. Hope it works.”
Neil shrugged. “If not, I’ll be letting someone go and hiring replacements. I don’t want to do that. These are good kids, and despite their absenteeism, they’re well trained.”
“Plus, hiring is expensive.”
“That, too.”
Eric smiled. “I also wanted to let you know that the girl you rescued from the rip current the other day is fine. The hospital discharged her, and she went home.”
“That’s great, thanks.” It wouldn’t have happened so easily if not for Jax, but he didn’t want to share that with Eric. An awkward tension filled the room during their silence. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?” Neil asked.
Eric took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “There is. It’s more... uh, personal.”
“Okay?”
“I just want to talk about Jax for a minute.”
“Jax? What do you know about Jax?”
Eric pursed his lips together, then took a short step back. “He’s my son. So—”
“What?” Neil thought he was going to come unglued. He took a step toward Eric and fisted his hands. “What are you talking about?”
“I was young when we had him, and things didn’t work out with his mother, but I don’t want to get into that. I only wanted to warn you. He’s special, I know, but don’t get hung up on him. He’ll be gone. He doesn’t seem to stay around long.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I like you, respect you, and I don’t want to see him hurt you.”
Neil opened his mouth, but words weren’t there. What was he supposed to say? He shook his head.
Eric held up a hand to stop anything that Neil might have come up with. “You don’t have to say anything. I know it’s strange. You’re an adult. Do what you want, but you seem the type to get attached, and that’s simply not a great idea with Jax.” Eric gave a curt nod. “That’s all.” Then he turned and left.
Neil stood and stared at the doorway.
Jax was his boss’s son.
Why hadn’t Jax mentioned that? He wasn’t so sure he wanted to date Jax after that revelation, more because of the whole boss’s son thing rather than the Jax-will-hurt-you thing.
But he really liked Jax.