7

Connor

I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks, and my overprotective mother was concerned.

I didn’t even tell her I hadn’t been sleeping, but she always seemed to be able to tell.

“You really need more sleep, Connor Ethan, and a girlfriend,” she’d always say. I didn’t know how, but she somehow managed to toss the word girlfriend into almost every conversation. She was gifted in that way.

My mother was convinced I was going to die alone. She called me weekly to remind me. On the days she had too much wine, she’d cry about it over FaceTime. She often reminded me that I was a workaholic and didn’t take enough personal days. She wasn’t wrong about that. Day in and day out, I worked myself to exhaustion.

At times, my days felt more like years. I was proud of many parts of my life, but being a workaholic wasn’t one of them. Sometimes I wondered what would’ve come of me if I hadn’t pushed so hard to make a name for myself in the world. Then again, if I hadn’t pushed myself, I wouldn’t have been able to give back to the world in the ways I’d been able to give. Every sacrifice comes with its own set of negatives.

I’d take long days and nights if it meant I helped make someone else’s life a bit easier. Still, a few large coffees were needed to get me through the long days.

“I have the afternoon reports and coffee for you, Mr. Roe—I mean, if you aren’t busy. Because if you are busy, I can come back when you aren’t busy, and I mean—if you’re not busy, I can update you now on the calls that came in and the emails that, um, I mean—”

“Slow down, Rose,” I said, looking up toward the nervous girl who stood in the doorway of my office, pretty much shivering in her heels. “Right now is a perfect time for the updates.”

Rose was pretty much a kid. It seemed odd to say because she was nineteen, and I was twenty-eight, so there were only nine years between us, but I knew for certain I wasn’t the same man I’d been nine years before.

She was the new intern at Roe Real Estate, and the poor girl’s nerves got in her way more often than not. I didn’t mind, though. We all had to start somewhere, and I was willing to put up with her slipups and mishaps. Everyone deserves a chance in life.

Plus, she only came in twice a week in the afternoon, so she couldn’t do too much damage.

Rose took a breath and walked into the room, tripping a bit over her own two feet before catching herself by gripping the back of one of my office chairs. She stood straight and cleared her throat before setting the coffee on the edge of my desk. Thankfully she didn’t spill that since I was in desperate need of a caffeine kick.

She looked down at her paperwork and began speaking. Even though she was still nervous about working for the company, I could tell she was becoming more comfortable week by week because her voice didn’t shake as much as it had before. Progress.

“Well, four magazines reached out with massive offers for you to do interviews with them,” she explained.

“I don’t do interviews.”

“Yes. Right. But they are offering hefty amounts of money for an exclusive cover and—”

“I don’t do interviews,” I repeated. I also smiled so she wouldn’t feel intimidated.

She gave me a half-smile too and continued. “I, uh, your mom called and said you need to stop working so much.”

“Noted. Next message?”

“Your suits are done at the dry cleaner, and I will pick them up this afternoon and bring them back to the office tonight. I know I was supposed to get them before I showed up today, but they got backed up, and well, I’m really sorry. I’ll definitely work later to make sure they are here tonight.”

“Don’t worry about getting them back tonight. I can pick them up on my way home.”

She frowned. “No, really. It’s okay. I just…” She paused before letting out a big sigh. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“Rose.”

“Yes?”

“You’re doing a great job, every single day. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“It’s just…this opportunity is a big one for me, Mr. Roe. I know I’m young and nervous, and you could’ve probably hired someone better for the position. So, I want to give it my all.”

“Which you are. Keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll be fine.”

Her shoulders dropped a bit as relaxation hit her. Good. I didn’t like the idea that my employees were nervous around me. I wasn’t some big bad wolf. If anything, I wanted everyone who worked for me to feel at home as though we were a big family.