Empty Nests by Ada Maria Soto Read Free Book Online Page A

you pick that one? It’s become a verb, for Christ’s sake!”
    “He’s having a moment,” Nate said to the photo crew with far less lisp.
    “Nate, I know where you live.”
    “That’s not a threat.”
    “I know where your PA lives.”
    “That is a threat.”
    “I am going back upstairs, washing this crap off my face, then trying to get some real work done.”
     
     
    G ABE WAS nose-deep in financials when there was a knock on his door. “What?” The photoshoot had completely killed the afterglow of his un-date.
    Frank leaned in. “Got a moment?”
    “No.” He was still annoyed at Frank.
    Frank let himself in anyway. “Hey, look, sorry for being an ass down there.”
    “Yeah,” Gabe grumbled, not looking up from the paperwork.
    “Okay, maybe it wasn’t a date, but if it was, that would be cool.”
    Gabe sighed. The argument was an old one that had been rehashed a dozen different ways.
    “I mean, never mind getting off that stupid list, you need someone. Someone nice. Someone who will not let you live in this office.”
    “I have lots of work to do.”
    Frank reached across the desk, putting one of his freakishly large hands over the paperwork, forcing Gabe to look up. “We’re not a start-up anymore. You have an army of bright people working under you just waiting for your orders. A third of the world uses something we or one of our subsidiaries makes. We’re one of the only companies left in the Western world that can still afford to give out holiday bonuses. And yes, I know your business voodoo is one of the main things keeping us up, but we don’t want to see you burn out. Nate and I know damn well that without you, we would just be a couple of code monkeys with thirty-year mortgages, and we are very grateful for that. And we also know that as things stand now, if you have a stroke or a breakdown or something, we are fucked. You need to delegate, and you need to relax.”
    “I’m not going to have a breakdown, but I do have a lot of work to do.” Gabe wasn’t lying. The stupid photoshoot had him behind schedule for the day. He tried to put his head back down into the paperwork as a sign that Frank should leave. He didn’t take the hint, but then he never did.
    “Okay, this ‘it wasn’t a date’ date that you went on, did you have a nice time?”
    “Yes.” Gabe admitted after letting out a long sigh.
    “Is the guy single?”
    “Yes.”
    “Sane?”
    “I think so.”
    “Not flaky?”
    “Not so far.”
    “Decent looking?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then why the hell don’t you ask him on a real date so I don’t have to set you up with brain-dead ex-cousins?”
    “I will think about it if you go away.”
    “That is all that I ask.”
     
     
    I T WAS past six when Gabe scrolled through the next few days in his calendar. It was full, but that was always the case. As much as Frank and Nate had him grinding his teeth some days, Frank’s words about finding a nice guy were stuck in his head like an irritating song. He was hardly paying attention by the time he thumbed through Saturday, then suddenly backed up. There was a good four-hour block in the afternoon highlighted in bright blue and labeled with the word “Mimir.” He grinned, grabbed his phone, and dialed. James picked up.
    “Hey, it’s Gabe. Have you got a second?”
    “Hi. Sure.” James sounded reasonably cheerful, so Gabe pushed on.
    “I was wondering if you had any plans for Saturday afternoon?”
    “Um…. No.”
    Gabe looked at the blue block on his calendar. “Would you like to go to a charity garden party?”
    “A what?”
    “I have to do this charity garden party thing on Saturday. It’ll involve champagne and nibbling things off trays. But I’ve gotten pretty good at sneaking out of those things early, so maybe we could get a proper late lunch and maybe catch a movie?” As Gabe’s words sank into his head, he cringed, realizing how unappealing he’d made a date sound. He was sure he’d once had social