I've always had relationships. Starting at age 14, I had a girlfriend. It was completely innocent. We held hands and kissed. That's all. It lasted a year, and a few months later, I had another girlfriend. She was older than me so that relationship was not innocent. Not at all. That girl had experience and taught me things. Things I probably shouldn't have known about until I was much older. We dated for three months, and after we broke up, I went right into another relationship, and it continued that way up until Marissa. One relationship after another, each lasting at least a couple months but usually longer.
"Just go to a bar, find a girl, and have a one night stand," Jake says. "It'll be good for you."
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't do it here. It's too small of a town. Chances are I'd run into the girl at the grocery store."
"It's not that small of a town. You said they had a Home Depot. They don't put those in small towns."
"Doesn't matter. It's still small compared to Chicago. Small enough that I could run into the girl."
"Then date your neighbor." He chuckles. "She can be your girlfriend until the house is done. At least it's convenient."
"Stop worrying about my love life and worry about your own. Now why'd you call me?"
"Remember that Victorian we put a bid on?"
He's referring to the restoration of an old Victorian house that a rich elderly woman left to the city in her will. It's been declared a historic landmark but needs a lot of work done on it before it can be opened to tourists. A lot of other companies put in bids, knowing they'd get publicity if they ended up working on the project.
"What about it?" I ask.
"It looks like we're going to win."
"No shit? Why didn't Dad call and tell me?"
"He wanted to know for sure before he told anyone. He has a meeting today to answer any final questions and then we'll know."
"So why'd he tell you and nobody else?"
"Because if we get the project, he's putting me in charge. I mean, Dad will still oversee it, but I'll be the day-to-day person in charge of it."
I'm surprised my dad's doing that, knowing how important this project is. But I did lecture him before I left that he needed to give Jake more responsibility. It's the only way to get him to grow up. Jake is smart and a hard worker and has good people skills so would make a good leader. He's just never had the chance to do so because Dad's always put me in charge.
"Jake, that's great. That project's going to get a lot of press."
"Exactly. Which is why I can't do it. If we win this project, you need to get your ass back to Chicago."
"I'm not going back. You can do this, Jake. You've got Bryce and Austin to help out."
Bryce and Austin are my other half-brothers. Bryce is 22 and Austin is 20. My stepmom purposely had one kid after another. She wanted us to be close in age, thinking we'd get along better that way. Instead, all four of us fought constantly, like most siblings do, but when my stepmom died a few years ago, the fighting stopped. She died suddenly from a heart attack, which shocked the whole family and made us stop wasting our time fighting, realizing any of us could go at any time. Her death is also the reason I went to work for my dad. He broke down after she died and he needed my help. So I quit my EMT job and took over the business until he was able to come back to work, and then I just kept working for him and have been ever since.
"Those little shitheads don't know what they're doing," Jake says.
"They do when it comes to construction. That's your weak area, Jake, and you know it. I've got a scar to prove it."
"One freaking nail gun incident and you never let me forget it."
"I'm just saying, your strength is people skills so use that to your advantage. You can do this, Jake. I know I give you shit all the time for slacking off, but without me there, I know you can step in and make it happen."
"I guess. Maybe you were holding me back. You always were a bossy son-of-a-bitch." He laughs but it's true. I tend to be a control freak on the construction site. One, because I don't want any of my guys getting hurt. Two, because I want to be on time and on budget. And three, because I want to please my dad.
Number three is stupid because he'll never be pleased. He's a good dad, and I'm blessed to have him, but when it comes to my work, it seems like whatever I do is never good enough. He expects more out of me than my brothers. Even when they screw up, he goes easy on them, but me? He freaking lays into me. I screw up one little thing and he raises his voice. Pounds his fist. Acts like the world is ending.
Part of the reason for that is because I'm the oldest and he's trying to prepare me to take over when he retires. Construction is a tough business and you have to get used to clients who are demanding and unreasonable and always yelling at you. So I get why he treats me that way, but I still don't like it.
"Nash, I gotta go," Jake says. "I'll let you know what happens with the Victorian. Or Dad will call you."
"Is he still pissed at me for leaving?"
"No. He's over it. The possibility of winning this project put him in a good mood. Otherwise, yeah, he'd probably still be pissed at you."
My dad was pissed when I told him I was moving here for the summer to work on this house. He said I was neglecting my responsibilities. I just let him go off on me and kept quiet. There was no use fighting over it. I was going whether he liked it or not.
"I'll call you later, Nash."