Echo (4 page)

"I don't think Granddad much cared," Anderson.

George barked a laugh. "
Probably not. He was one hard-nosed bastard. Get this crap handled and let me know how it goes.
"

"Will do," Anderson said. "Bye."

"
Bye
." George hung up.

Well used to his father's abrupt nature on the phone, Anderson wasn't offended. What he was, was a bit upset about how much he was going to have to do.

He sighed regretfully. There was no time to call Cole now.

"I'll call him tomorrow. I've got too much to do right now," he muttered.

He stood up and went to get his laptop. He needed to catch up with everything going on with the department he was going to be taking over. Hours and hours of work dropped on his lap when all he really wanted to do was veg out.

It was mildly aggravating.

CHAPTER FOUR

Monday always seemed to come too quickly for his tastes. He'd just barely start getting into his weekend state of mind, and it would be over.

He woke up to the rude blaring of his alarm clock and stumbled into the bathroom for a quick shower. Afterward he would brush his teeth and shave before pulling on a suit and heading to the office.

He'd chosen his apartment because it was close to work, so he walked briskly to the Bester International building. Being part of the busily moving crowd made him feel oddly connected to the city around him without him actually having to try and make conversation with anyone.

It was kind of nice.

When he got to the office, there was a weird vibe in the air that had him ducking his head and hurrying to his tiny office. He would find out what was going on later without actually having to get involved with anything.

The one thing he'd found out about working in the business world was that the people that spent their whole lives wrapped up in gossip and other peoples' business usually ended up getting fired. It might take a while, but it always came back to bite them on the butt in some way. He was better off staying out of things.

He'd just opened a file in front of him when his door slammed open and Mark stumped in to sit on the edge of his desk. Cole raised his eyebrows questioningly. He could tell the guy was pretty worked up about something.

"You would not believe this crap!" Mark reached out to grab one of the pens out of the little cup on Cole's desk. He popped the lid off and on and twisted the pen in his fingers. "If there was anything really wrong with the way I'm running the department, you would think someone would say something to me, but no. Instead they go behind my back and do this
shit
."

Cole cocked his head, too nervous to actually try saying anything. Every line of Mark's body was tense and quivering with barely suppressed energy. It felt like he was an inch away from violence.

It seemed that Mark didn't really need him to say anything because he kept going. Talk-yelling about how his job had been taken away and he'd been demoted by "those dickless morons in management."

Cole couldn't help glancing at the door. Mark was getting pretty loud and he didn't want to be associated with his complaints about the company. Especially since he still didn't know what was going on.

"They're trying to say that I haven't been doing very good at my job," Mark complained.

Cole bit his lip. It hadn't taken him very long to realize that Mark Etty really wasn't very good at his duties. He spent too much time playing around, then dumped all the work he didn't want to do off on Cole. He should have been frustrated about it, but he'd pretty much gotten used to things being the way they were.

He'd always just kept his head down, something that had carried him all through school.

"Now they're bringing in the company president's
son
to handle things." Mark snorted derisively. "Like that doesn't just scream nepotism." He flung the pen in his hand at the wall. "They were just looking for some excuse to mess with me so they could bring that guy in." He stood up and stomped toward the door with a last, "Dickless!" left behind him.

Cole stared out the door for a moment, then heaved a sigh and got up to walk over and quietly close it. The "click" was a comforting sound.

He walked back to his desk and went back to skimming through the report, his highlighter marking any pertinent information.

He couldn't help wondering what was really going on and how it was going to affect him, but since there was nothing he could do about it... He just kept his head down and worked.

* * *

Anderson was shocked by the lazy group of people he found. Every time he asked them for specifics on a report they were supposed to be handling, the answer would always be: "Heath does that."

Finally he'd had enough and went in search of the mythical "Heath." He really wanted to meet this paragon of work that seemed to be doing everything in the entire department, leaving his co-workers free to squander company resources.

When he opened the door with "HEATH" in the nameplate, he was surprised to find out just how small the office--closet--was. And sitting behind the heavily piled desk was Cole.

"You're Heath?" he demanded in shock.

Cole looked just as surprised to see him. He held a highlighter limp in one hand and his eyes were wide at the abrupt intrusion. "
You're Heath?
Yes, Cole Heath. What are you doing here?"

"I got sent to take over this whole failing project," Anderson said.

"
I got sent to take over this whole failing project.
You're the boss' son?" Cole blinked. "I mean... I'm sorry, Mr. Bester."

"No, I'm still Anderson to you." Anderson stepped carefully into the office, closing the door behind him. He felt a bit claustrophobic, but he didn't want anyone wandering by getting the wrong idea. Or the right idea as the case might be. "How have you been?"

"
How have you been?
I'm fine," Cole said, then lowered his eyes. His fingers twisted together nervously. "You didn't call."

Anderson winced. "I was going to call yesterday, but I found out about this instead. The whole taking over this department thing was kind of sprung on me last minute. Then when I get here, no one knows anything. Have you been doing all the work for this whole department?"

"
Have you been doing all the work for this whole department
? I don't know," Cole shrugged. "When I come in I just do the work that's left in my IN box. Then I go home."

"Those utter bastards." Anderson shook his head. "I can't believe they would do this to you... to anyone. There's a reason why there's fifteen people in this department, and they just dumped all the work on one guy. It's practically criminal."

Cole lowered his head miserably. He looked so confused, as if he didn't know what was going on. And he probably didn't.

He'd just come in each day and done all the work left for him. And comparing the closet he worked in to the rather lavish offices his coworkers enjoyed... it really pissed Anderson off.

"Look, some stuff seriously needs to be straightened out around here," Anderson said. "Go home for the rest of today."

Cole was incredibly pale. "
Go home for the rest of today
. Am I in trouble? Will I be fired?" He looked like he was about to cry, his teeth gnawing at his lower lip to keep control.

"No, no, nothing like that," Anderson assured. "You've done way more than your fair share and now I've got to figure out what your coworkers have been up to. You'll get a full day's pay. Come back tomorrow and hopefully I'll have this all sorted out."

With every sign of reluctance, Cole stood and gathered up his backpack. He looked really worried, but Anderson had the feeling that nothing he said would make it better. Not until Cole came back tomorrow and found his job still waiting for him.

He watched him leave with dragging footsteps. Cole's shoulders were rounded and his dark head was bowed. Every line of his body screamed out uncertainty and fear. It made Anderson want to call him back, but he couldn't.

He just watched him go.

* * *

Unable to resist, Cole knocked on Mary's door. When she opened it, he said, "Why didn't you tell me that Anderson was my boss?"

She looked surprised. "He's kind of my boss too, but it's not like he rubs it in anyone's face or anything. He's just a nice guy."

"
He's just a nice guy.
Except that nice guy took over the department I work in and sent me home." Cole shook his head. "I'm probably going to be fired."

Mary laughed and opened the door all the way. "Get in here and talk to me. And I highly doubt you're going to be fired. He probably would have said something to you."

She gestured for him to sit on the cream-colored couch. "Do you want a soda or something?"

"
Do you want a soda or something?
Sure, that's fine," Cole said, watching her go into the kitchen. He raised his voice, "So you don't think I'm going to be fired?"

Mary came back out carrying two glasses of cola, ice bobbing against the surface. "I highly doubt it. If he was going to fire you he wouldn't have just sent you home for the day. He would have kept you around to suffer the misery of cleaning up your mess. Then he would have fired you."

Cole gave her a flat look. "
Then he would have fired you.
Thanks, that really comforts me. I'll probably go in tomorrow and get told to clean out my desk." He flopped backward on the couch. "My life is full of suck."

Mary made a "tsking" sound with her tongue. "You're always so negative. I just don't understand how such a cute boy could be so filled with doom and gloom. Are you regular?"

"
Are you regular?
" Cole echoed, then exploded, "What kind of question is that?"

She laughed and shook her head at him, her green eyes sparkling merrily. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist." She reached out to pat his hand. "Basically, you worry way too much. What will be, will be. I personally don't think you're going to be fired. But until you know anything for sure, you can't drive yourself crazy.

"If I was you, I would take a hot bath, put on my most comfortable pajamas, and watch a couple movies or something." Mary sipped her soda. "You need to relax."

"
You need to relax
," Cole echoed, "which is easy for you to say. And a hot bath? Really? Did I become a girl at some point and just not notice?"

"Hey, it doesn't matter who you are. A hot bath always feels good. And no one said you have to tell the guys at the gym or whatever that you occasionally indulge in a hot bath. That's between you and your tub."

Cole shook his head, then quickly drained his soda and stood up.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked.

"
Leaving so soon?
Yeah, I figure I might as well get my resume in order just in case," he said.

Mary sighed. "Your negativity is baffling. You're a handsome young guy with your whole life ahead of you, but you spend your time moping around like someone killed your kitten. It's kind of disheartening."

"
It's kind of disheartening
. I'm sorry I'm such a downer," he said. He gave a half-hearted smile. "Usually it takes a ton of alcohol to get me so mopey. I guess your soda was stronger than I thought."

She swatted at him. "You're cute when you're silly. Get out of here."

He got, heading over to his place.

This was the earliest he'd come home on a weekday since he moved in. It was actually kind of eerie to be in his apartment now, like he was doing something he wasn't supposed to do.

Cole shook his head and turned on the TV first thing. He needed some kind of noise to break the uncomfortable silence. Then he went to change out of his work clothes. He could never relax with them on and he always felt like he was about to be yelled at and buried under a pile of paperwork.