Boss I Love to Hate: An Office Romance(16)

I reached for my phone in my back pocket and leaned against the wall in the hallway. “Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.”

When it went straight to voice mail, I left a message. “Mason, call me back. It’s an emergency.”

Then, I texted him.

Emergency. The girls. Call back. ASAP.

I took deep breaths as though I were hyperventilating. Then, I bent down, hands on my knees, and tried to control my breathing.

I called him again and no answer. Texted again and waited.

Yes, I’d freak him out, but I didn’t care. I needed advice and stat.

Every second felt like hours, as I knew that I had my crying niece behind this wall, feeling all alone and helpless.

A few minutes later, my phone rang.

“Hey …”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and waited to catch my breath.

“What? What happened?” Mason’s voice heightened with worry. I pictured him pacing, wearing a hole into our Ohio office floor. “Brad, what the heck is wrong? You said it was the girls. What’s going on?”

“Chill. Just relax.” Even though I uttered those words, I was far from relaxed. “So … Sarah … she …” My voice trailed off.

“What? What happened with Sarah? I swear to God, Brad. I was in the middle of a meeting and just stood and left when I got your text. What’s going on?”

I sighed and rubbed a heavy hand down my face. Maybe it was wrong to call him because this man was freaking out way more than I was, and I was in pretty bad form.

“She got her period, man. And, honestly, I don’t know what to do.”

The line went silent. The man who was never silent and always had words when it came to speaking to me suddenly had none.

“Mason? What am I going to do?” I needed help with this one, much as it hurt my pride.

“Give me a second,” he mumbled into the line.

I tapped my head against the wall, waiting and waiting and waiting. My niece was still bawling her eyes out, probably weirded out at the way I had left the room, and here I was, waiting.

“What are you doing?” I shot out, patience gone.

“I’m Googling what to do.”

I chuckled without humor. Clearly, neither of us had a clue.

Finally, he piped in, “Just tell her it’s normal. Says to stay calm. Get her some supplies.”

I pushed myself off the wall. “What do you mean?” I grumbled. “What supplies?” I was picturing pencils and paper and erasers and folders, which I knew wasn’t right. “I don’t want to do this.”

He sighed sympathetically. “This is gonna get complicated, brother. I mean, has anybody ever talked to her about tampons, the changes in her body?”

I wanted to stick my fingers in my ears and make loud noises like a little kid. I’d rather do that than deal with this shit. “Don’t they teach them this in school? What the hell are they teaching them then? Their tuition is high enough where this shit should have been covered.”

“This is usually a big moment for kids her age.”

“What does that mean, big moment? How do you even know this? Is that what it says on Google? Have you lived through your period?” I ran a hand through my hair, wanting to pull at the ends. “How the hell do you know?” My frustration was showing through my tone.

“Fine,” he said, resigned. “I think we need to call Charles.”

“Absolutely not.” I paced the hallway next to her door, one hand on my hip, thinking of my next step. This was taking longer than I expected. “We will not call Charles. I told him we would handle this when they were planning their honeymoon. They wanted to take the damn kids on the honeymoon with them, but you and I agreed that was inappropriate, and we wouldn’t allow it. And, we said we’d handle it, so we’ll handle it. We’ve got this.” I was rambling now and didn’t even know what I was saying.

“Fine, I’m calling Janice then, and I’ll ask her to come over.”

His girlfriend? Yep, that will be a negative.

“Hell no. That’s the last person you’re calling. Why would you want your girlfriend around our nieces? To teach our girls to be cold-blooded, money-hungry—”

“You’re an ass,” he snapped. “Fine, you don’t want to ask Janice? Deal with it yourself.” And then he hung up.

I stared at the phone, blinking. Well, great. Now what?

It took me a couple of minutes to collect myself.

I was a grown-ass man. Vice president to the largest intercontinental printing corporation. Nothing scared me. I could handle this. Right?

Somehow, the internal pep talk I was giving myself wasn’t working, but I had left Sarah alone for long enough. I pushed through her bedroom door. She was in the same spot. No longer crying, though her eyes were red, and she was still gripping the pillow against her chest like it was a lifeline.

“What did Uncle Mason say?”

She had to know I had called Mason. Great.

I cleared my throat. “He said we needed to have a little talk.”

Sarah shifted on the bed, looking anywhere but toward my direction. She was uncomfortable with the situation, and that should’ve made me feel better, but it didn’t. I wanted her to feel like she could talk to me about anything, even the stuff I didn’t want to talk about. I wanted her to feel like she could trust me.