Tornado

We picked up the rest and she shook her head at the names of the files.

“Can you believe this?” she said, showing me two of them. “They’re both labeled under ‘United Reach’ but with two different subheadings.” She shook her head again and went to the phone. She pressed the intercom. “Hey, Margaret?”

“Yes ma’am?”

“Zachary’s files are a nightmare. Do you think you can help me relabel them?”

“Sure. Just let my nail polish dry and I’ll be right there.”

“Seriously?” she mumbled and sighed.

“What’s your relationship with Zachary?” I asked, bringing her some coffee. “I won’t knock this one out of your hand,” I joked and she giggled.

“Well, I’ve known Zachary for a long time. He was good friends with my mom; she was one of his first investors. When she came down with cancer, he admitted her here out of his own pocket so we wouldn’t have to pay medical bills. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry.” She merely shrugged. “What’s with the cupcake?”

“Huh?” she asked, looking up from one of the folders and I nodded at the cupcake on the desk top. “Oh! I almost forgot about it. It’s my birthday.”

“Really?” She nodded. “Well, happy birthday, then.”

She smiled at me and our eyes met. I felt electricity pass between us and, by the way her smile changed, I was sure she felt it, too. The moment was ruined, though, when Margaret came hurrying in.

Juniper cleared her throat. “I know a lot of these I can’t look at,” she said, “so if you could give me an overall idea of what’s in there, I’ll make the labels.”

“I can do that,” Margaret nodded and I left the two to their work.

While Zachary was at his meeting, I began unpacking my office of the few belongings I brought with me. I had a few books on business management that I always took with me and I put those on the book case they had provided for me. I also had some paintings that I hung in a few places, admiring the affect, but feeling a little sad at the same time. My sister had made them for me.

I put a picture frame of the two of us on my desk by the monitor and sighed. I missed her more than anything else. She was ten years my junior but I was her best friend. My parents took really good care of her but I had always been the one she preferred. Leaving her was really hard but she understood. She was finishing her sophomore year and it was weird knowing that.

“Ryder?”

I jumped and looked up. Juniper was looking at me, concerned.

“Yeah?”

“Why are you crying?”

I touched my cheek and swore under my breath. I wiped them away. “It’s nothing. How’s the filing going?”

“We’re done.”

“Already?”

She stared at me for a few seconds. “Ryder, it’s been an hour and a half.”

I frowned and looked at my clock. Had I really been that preoccupied?

“Oh. Right.”

“Will you let Zachary know I’m going to pick us all up lunch?” she asked and I nodded. “Do you like Panera Bread?”

“I’ve never had it,” I admitted and she smiled.

“I know just what to get you.”

She left and I leaned back in my office chair, taking a few deep breaths. It was easy for me to get lost when thinking about my family. My younger brother had committed suicide five years ago and we all missed him. I stared at the office ceiling. I think that’s why I was so pulled to this hospital. I wondered if, had Shane come here, would he still be alive?

I got angry and paced my office. I picked up my stress ball and squeezed it, trying to calm myself down. I felt responsible for Shane’s death even though I knew it wasn’t my fault. But I felt like I should have said something, done something to make sure he knew he was loved. I growled and threw my stress ball.

“Ow!”

My eyes widened as Juniper stood in my doorway, a bag in her hand and rubbing her forehead.

“Dude,” she said as I spluttered. “If you’re going to keep abusing me every time we see each other- What’s wrong?”

I ran a hand through my hair a couple of times.

“It’s nothing. Sorry again. I’ll try to stop attacking you,” I said with a forced smile.

She didn’t look convinced but put the bag on my desk.

“So, Panera is known for their different types of bread,” she said.

“Hence the name Panera Bread?”

She shot me a playful glare. “Sit, Mr. Vance,” she said, pointing at my office chair. I arched a brow but I obeyed. “This is one of their bread bowls. I didn’t know what kind of soup you liked so I just went with good old chicken noodle soup.”

“That’s fine,” I said quickly and she handed me a bread bowl with a cup full of chicken noodle soup. “So the soup goes into the bread bowl?”

“Yes sir,” she said cheerfully and sat at a chair on the other side of the desk. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Zachary?” I shook my head, holding my tie out of the way as I poured the soup into the bowl. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing he only likes their sandwiches.”

“Why aren’t you eating the soup in the bowl?” I asked when I realized she was eating the soup from the cup.

She shrugged. “I just prefer it this way. Just like how you prefer eating fried chicken with a fork and knife,” she added, smirking at me.

I laughed. “Yeah, I’m a little strange.” We ate in silence for a little while until I looked up. She was staring at me with her head tilted slightly. “What?”

“You’re still upset,” she said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I looked down at my soup and mixed some of the bread in it. “Maybe another time,” I said finally.

“Fair enough,” she said cheerfully. She sighed and looked at her phone. “Where is that old fart?”

“Excuse me,” Zachary sniffed and she cringed with a grin on her face.

“Oh! There you are,” she said with an innocent smile as Zachary came in, looking tired. “I got you your favorite sandwich.”

“Mmm,” he said and sat in the other chair. “Delicious.”

“Am I forgiven?”

“This time,” he said, sticking his tongue out at her.

“How was the meeting?” I asked.

“It went well,” he nodded. “But they had a lot of questions about you. Our next meeting is on Friday; you’ll be going to that one.”

“I look forward to it.”

“We relabeled all your files,” Juniper told him and he glared at her. She glared back. “Don’t look at me like that. Your system was seriously flawed. And before you freak, I didn’t look at the contents. I let Margaret do that – seeing as it’s her job – and she gave me a brief summary.”

He sniffed haughtily. “You’re lucky I like you.”

“Uh-huh,” she said and went back to her lunch.

I smiled at the way the two interacted with each other. It was as if they were father and daughter. I wondered if she had any other family members.

“What happened to your head?” Zachary was asking and I winced.

It was a little red where the stress ball had hit her.

“I’m clumsy,” she shrugged. “You should know that by now.”

He laughed. “Tripping on air, I’ll bet.”

“That’s right,” she said and winked at me. When she finished her soup and bread she put the cup in the bag. “Well, boys, this girl has to use the little girl’s room.”

Zachary watched her until she was in the bathroom then hurried into my mini fridge where he had stored a cake.

“Where did that come from?”

“Oops. Sorry. I forgot to tell you I was hiding this in here. I didn’t want to risk her finding it in my fridge.” He smiled as he opened it. “Red velvet is her favorite so I figured we’d have a little party before she went home.”

“You guys are really close,” I observed and he nodded, getting out plates and utensils as Margaret hurried in with a gift wrapped up.

“If she asks, this is from all of us,” Margaret whispered and I nodded, throwing away my trash.

“After her father died, her mother went into depression,” Zachary said sadly. “Juniper was only ten at the time and she was in desperate need of a father figure.”

I was about to say something when we heard her humming. She turned into the office and, in unison, we cried, “Happy birthday!”

She laughed, her face pink. “Aww, thanks guys!”

“We got you this,” Margaret said, holding out the gift.

She ripped into it excitedly and I saw the nervous look on Zachary’s face. She opened the box and her face froze.

“It’s beautiful,” she gasped.

It was a picture frame of a double-wide trailer. I was incredibly curious but decided to keep it for another time. She cleared her throat and turned away for a second.

“We can’t light the candles, so pretend,” Zachary ordered and she laughed, bending over the cake.

Grinning wickedly, Zachary put a hand on the back of her head and pushed it into the cake. She squealed in indignation.

“Zachary!” she cried, groping for a napkin. Laughing, I passed her one. She threw a clump of the icing at him. “Now I have to get this jacket dry cleaned!”

He smiled innocently as she cut up the cake and passed us all a slice.

“Hey, you’ve got some icing right here,” Zachary said, motioning at her chin.

“You’re a turd,” she snapped but she was smiling.

We spent the rest of the afternoon just visiting until her phone rang. She frowned.

“This is the third time,” she said, passing it to Zachary.

He frowned, too, and answered it. “You should know by now she doesn’t want to talk to you. Who do you think it is? How about you stop calling her? Maybe it is a threat. Just leave her alone, Matt.”

He hung up and she smiled gratefully. She stretched.

“Well, I should get going. Lisa said she and Jennifer have a surprise planned.”

Zachary snorted. “They’ve probably rented another stripper.”

Juniper shuddered. “God, I hope not. Thanks for the party, guys,” she said and we all nodded.

She took the picture tenderly then waved good bye. When I knew she was out of earshot, I looked over at Zachary.

“Why the picture of the house?”

He smiled sadly. “It was her home she lived in with her mom before a tornado ripped it apart.”