Not Safe for Work(66)

Dave and Cal exchanged uncertain looks, and they both shrank toward the table as they kept cutting pieces while Marie and I talked over their heads.

“Jon, I need these models. We can’t—”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.” I met her gaze. “But all those times I’ve said ‘barring any unforeseens’?” I gestured sharply at the model. “That’s an unforeseen. I’m fixing it as fast as I—”

“How long will it take?” she demanded.

I pushed my shoulders back. “Basically, there are three options.” I ticked them off on my fingers. “They can be done on time but either falling apart because of the chemical reaction or sloppy because I didn’t have time. They can be done correctly and intact but late because I’m only one man with two hands. Or they can be done right and done on time, which means I need to borrow Cal and Dave for a few hours.” I threw her a challenging look, and she bristled, but we both knew damn well I was right.

She lifted her chin. “Fine. Get them done, and if they’re not on time, then you can explain to Mr. Pierce and Mitchell why they aren’t.”

I shrugged. “All right.”

For a moment, she didn’t move, and I was sure she wasn’t done with me, but then she turned to go, and her heels marked an irritated staccato as she stormed out of the Zone.

The door banged shut, and everyone in the room, myself included, exhaled.

“Man,” Cal said, looking up from cutting a piece of plastic. “I don’t know where you found that set of brass balls, but never ever lose them.”

“Shut up and cut,” Silent Dave muttered.

I didn’t say anything. Maybe I’d gone too far—my job was safe from termination over sleeping with Rick, but that didn’t mean I could get away with snapping at my boss like that. Frustrated or not, I shouldn’t have spoken to her that way.

As soon as I had a handle on this damned model, I’d go up to her office.

For now, though…

*

Shortly before lunch, everything for the model was cut and ready to be assembled. I couldn’t do that part yet, though, because we were waiting to see how the cement reacted with a few test pieces Teagan had put together. While those dried, I went upstairs to Marie’s office.

Stomach knotting, I tapped on her door.

“It’s open.”

I gulped, then stepped inside.

Marie looked up from typing something, and folded her hands behind her keyboard. “Jon.”

“Hey. Um.” I coughed into my fist. “Listen, I just want to talk to—”

“Can this wait until the models are finished?”

“The cement is setting up. Not much I can do for the next twenty minutes or so.”

Marie took off her glasses. “Okay.”

“I, um…” I scratched the back of my neck. “I wanted to apologize. For the way I talked to you earlier. That was uncalled for.”

My boss slowly released a breath. “I appreciate that. I probably shouldn’t have been quite so unreasonable.”

I shrugged. “You’re under a lot of pressure. We all are.”

“Still. I’m sorry too. You only have so much control over your materials.”

“Well.” I shifted my weight. “We’ve made up for the delays as much as we can. I’ll make sure the model is done as soon as possible.”

Marie nodded. “How much more time do you need?”

“We’re waiting to see if the cement sets up properly. Assuming there isn’t another reaction, and the rest of the model stays intact, I can have everything assembled by close of business tomorrow.”

“I assume you’ll need some overtime?”

My heart dropped. Overtime. Evening. So much for tonight’s plans. Goddammit.

“Yeah.” I tried to keep my increasingly negative attitude out of my voice. “I’ll…yeah. I’ll stay late and get as much done as I can.”

Marie studied me. “You’ve been putting in a lot of extra hours recently. Are you handling that all right?”

I nodded. “It’s a challenge, but what can you do?”

She chewed her lip and then put her glasses back on and turned to her monitor. “Let me look at the pending projects schedule. Give me a second.”

I tried not to fidget. The cement would be set up soon. The sooner I went back downstairs, the sooner I could get back to work.

Then she took off her glasses again and looked up at me. “There’s nothing coming down the pipe at the moment. At least, nothing that’ll be due before the weekend. Regardless of where you are with any of your projects, I want you out of here at five o’clock on Friday, and I don’t want to see you again until eight on Monday.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Do whatever overtime you need between now and then, but I want you to take this weekend completely off.” She shot me a pointed look. “Even if there’s an emergency or an urgent project, I’ll cover for you. And I’m going to make some arrangements with Teagan as well. Pressure or not, I need you two sharp. Can’t have either of you getting burned out.”

I exhaled. I should’ve known Marie of all people would get it. Despite the pressure from on high, she understood that we were human. “Thank you, Marie.”