I sat at my desk on a Saturday morning and tried to calm my nerves. Taylor, our office manager, had left Thursday with no explanation. I don't know how the office would run smoothly without her. Jace, Tanner, Conner, and Wade would be arriving soon.
I'm so glad this happened when we were all on a break. The guys and I knew that we would hire crews to split up and run our units. We have been so busy building and landscaping that we hadn't realized how backed up we were getting. That might be why Taylor left because we were all constantly in the field. Taylor had been here alone to cover the office. Jace had been here now and then when he worked on building designs, but other than that, Taylor must have been lonely. I've got to hand it to Taylor, though; she kept the office clean and in order. Taylor had been trying to tell us for a few months that building operations had been piling up. None of us had taken the time to listen, though. I looked at four mansions that needed to have been started way before now and thought about the lack of employees. We don't have anyone to handle the phones or call-in contractors. It's all just one big mess. All I could do right now was wait until the guys arrived, and instead of week two of our break, we would all get to work-hiring. We have a week to contact a new Secretary and fifteen people to help build these homes. More if we could swing it. We have the funds, that's for sure. We have nine men hired on that have helped with our builds thus far. The days of us all working together were gone.
I arrived thirty minutes early to rummage around all of the paperwork, building plans, and anything else I thought we would need. Taylor knew she was about to leave because she had everything labeled and coordinated by date and perfectly arranged to make it easy. Taylor had dates construction was to begin as well as dates for contractors and so on. Everything we would need, Taylor had ready for us. I guess we all just drove her nuts. None of us took the time to get to know her either. I started to feel pretty bad about that right about now. I have tried calling her multiple times, but it would ring once and then go to voicemail. Even though she left like this, I would have Conner give her a bonus on top of her last check; Conner is the company's Treasurer. Ten thousand dollars should suffice. Taylor had been with us for almost two years now; from the very beginning, we opened Cunningham Construction and Landscaping. Taylor took a chance on us and had put up with all of our crap until now. I would also have Wade make sure Taylor's health benefits stay in place for up to one year; Wade is over the company's HR department.
***
Jace, of course, walked in first. He would be bringing Vega over tonight so that my parents could meet her. My uncle was supposed to be there as well; I guess we would need to wait and see if he showed up or not.
Jace looked exhausted. He has been up with Vega all week, and she has not been coping well with Lyra being in a coma. A week has passed, and Lyra hasn't woken up; I can't wait to meet her.
"How is Vega doing?" I asked with concern, hoping something had changed with Lyra.
"Not well, man. There's still no change with Lyra, and she can't sleep at night. She cries a lot, and I can't do anything but cuddle her." Jace said as he heaved a sigh.
"Oh man, Jace, I'm sorry. I know how close you are to Lyra. She will come out of this soon, you'll see," I said and hugged him.
Jace sat down and put his head down on the desk. I honestly don't know how to feel at this point. I have dreamt of Lyra, but had Lyra dreamt of me? I don't know, but I felt, in my gut, she was the one for me; I don't know her. I haven't even had a chance to meet her. I needed to get this business going for all our sakes. That's where my focus needed to be right now. I had to keep my head on straight.
Finally, Tanner arrived, and Wade and Conner showed up a few minutes later. They aren't hungover for once; that's awesome. Everyone sat down, and we got to business.
"Ok, the first order of business, we no longer have a secretary. Taylor has left. So we have no one to man the phones or file paperwork. She did all of the behind-the-scenes for us, like setting up roofing contractors and so on. Scheduled everything, and so on. So we're screwed on that front," I said.
"Oh, man," Conner groaned.
"Yeah, she was so cute," Wade said disappointedly. Of course, he would take this horrible situation there. Keep it in your pants, man.
"Of course, that's all you guys are upset about right now," Tanner said, clearly annoyed. I'm glad I'm not the only one that was thinking that.
My face should tell everyone what I was thinking right then. When are they going to grow up? They are about to turn twenty-six years old. They are the oldest out of the four of us. I'm the youngest, but the twins, Tanner and I, were all born within a couple of months of each other. For now, we were all twenty-five years old; Conner and Wade act like teenagers. They both need to find someone to whip them into shape. They both can't be playboys forever.
"We are screwed, guys; get your heads out of your asses," I huffed.
"Taylor has been trying to tell us for a few months now that we were getting short-handed and backed up. Which brings me to the next order of business," I said while lifting all of the building sketches.
"We have four homes that needed to have started over a month ago. I'm not sure how they slipped under the cracks. We will need to hire three crews worth, and each split up to run each build. Gone are the days of us all working together. Let's get the homes built, and then we can all work on the landscaping of each home together. Jace, no more interviews with clients for now until we get caught up," I said.
"Tanner, you can have the crew that's helped us so far, and this house will be yours," I handed Tanner the sketches.
"Conner and Wade, you get these two houses," I handed them the plans, and they nodded.
"I know we were going to take next week off as well, but that can't happen now. We have got to get these crews hired on, as well as a secretary, and get to work. Time is money, guys, and people tend to get a little impatient when it comes to their homes being built on time. I'm so sorry I let this happen. We just went from slowly getting new clients to a steady stream of them overnight. In the last six months, we have built how many homes?" I asked.
"Eight, but we had how many guys we hired to help us. And all of these homes have been massive. We will need at least eight-nine men hired on to help with each house, to get them built and up to code on time. It's been us four and the nine guys we hired to help us," Wade said in a questioning tone, as if afraid we may not be able to pull it off.
"Well," I trailed off. "I called the guys in that have worked for us. They know to be here Monday. You all can start at the house that Tanner has. I'll work on getting people hired, and we will start on the other homes once we have enough people to do so," I said.
"Ok, sounds like a plan," Conner said.
"Now, as far as a Secretary, does anyone know of someone reliable? We need someone pretty quick?" I asked, and Jace perked up.
"Well, I could ask Vega. She isn't taking classes this semester, and it would be good for her to have something to do, to keep her mind off of Lyra," Jace said and shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you think she would be up to it, though?" I asked. Poor girl had hardly slept in a week. Jace shrugged his shoulders again.
"The only reason why she isn't going to school is that she doesn't want to get ahead of Lyra. I think she would love a distraction right now. This would be good for Vega," Jace said while waving his hands around in the air.
"Talk to Vega this afternoon, and then we will talk more about it tonight at dinner," I said.
"Ok, that sounds like a plan," Jace said and smiled.
"Alright, guys, let's get out of here. I'll see you all tonight at mom and Dad's, and then at seven a.m. Monday morning," I said as everyone groaned.
"Gotta beat the heat, guys," I said and shrugged. It's been getting up to one hundred and nine degrees or more every day.
"Alright, boss, see you then," Conner said and walked out. Then everyone else followed after him.
I sat there a few more moments and pushed a hand through my hair. How did things get so bad so quickly?
I thought about going to see Lyra. Even though she was in a coma, she still seemed to bring me comfort.
When it rains, it pours😢Let me know your thoughts on this chapter in the comments, and thank you so much for reading! Hugs, Sapphirian J😍
LYRA*I have heard and read up on near-death experiences. When I was in the ambulance, I went into the future. I was getting married to the man of my dreams, quite literally, I must say—and a double wedding at that. That would be amazing if that wedding were to happen. It had been enough to jump-start my heart and had brought me back to reality, which happened to be unimaginable pain. I couldn't open my eyes. All I could do was mumble, and I couldn't form words.Now I lay here and listened to everyone who came to visit me as I laid there in peace. Sometimes my soul would leave my body, and I could see whoever happened to be talking to me as I hovered above them. I would will myself to wake up. Looking at myself, though, kept me in this realm of peace. I did not want to go back to the pain I knew would consume me once I woke up.I drifted in and out of dreams that made no sense. More people that I had never met before came and went; as the future continued and flashed before my eyes.An
JACE*I had just left the office and was headed back to the hospital to pick up Vega. It was now eleven o'clock. It would have been nice to sleep in this morning, but Blaze and his all work, and no play, had to ruin it. I feel bad for Taylor. I was the only one who worked in the office from time to time. I would meet new clients there and draw up my building drafts. Otherwise, she was alone and running around like a chicken with her head cut off. She made sure everything ran smoothly and on time. Made certain supplies were ordered, and we had plenty of stock at the warehouse. We are probably Lowes and Home Depot's most favorite customers now. I hope that Vega will take me up on the offer to do the Secretary's job.Once at the hospital, I quietly walked towards Lyra's ICU room. I peek into the room and see that Vega was smiling for once. I slid the glass door open and stepped inside. Then slid the door shut."What's going on? You look so happy. Did Lyra move or anything?" I asked as I
BLAZE*I didn't want to leave Lyra. Even with all of the bruises, casts, and wires hanging all over the place, she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever encountered. I hoped that she would wake up soon. I want to meet her and get to know her. The nurse had said that I could come back later if I wanted. So I decided it would be best to head home to rest, and I would come back later before going to my parents for dinner. Jace would be bringing Vega tonight so that everyone could meet her. As of now, Tanner and I are the only ones to have met and spent some time with Vega. Once I arrived home, I grabbed bottled water from the refrigerator and walked to my room. I stripped down to my underwear and crawled into bed. I guzzled my water and then laid down. I set my alarm to wake me up at four o'clock; it wasn't long before I passed out. My alarm went off at four o'clock, and I woke up and made myself presentable for dinner at my parent's tonight. I grabbed my phone, keys, and walle
BLAZE*Once there, I pulled into Lyra and Vega's circle driveway. Even though I had a hand in creating this West Texas Oasis, I couldn't help but admire it.Lyra and Vega's parents had said they needed a low-maintenance yard, so we had laid down a beautiful white rock and had installed a timed sprinkler system to water the trees and plants in the front and backyard. I can't wait to see what Lyra and Vega have done to the inside of the house.I climbed down from my truck and walked up to the door. I pushed on the doorbell and waited for someone to let me in. Jace opened the door a few moments later."Come in, Blaze. Breakfast is almost ready. I went simple with eggs, toast, and bacon; I figured we could get lunch afterward," Jace said."Sounds perfect to me," I said as I glanced around at the living room and kitchen."Wow, they've done an amazing job with the painting and decor in here," I said.A dark grey leather couch and love seat were squared off with two light grey recliners. Bla
BLAZE*Vega and Jace looked at each other with hope in their eyes, and they both looked back at me."Blaze, I hope that you are right because I want to see both you and Lyra happy. Relationships have always put me off after seeing what has happened to you and Tanner; and what my mom did to my dad. Then I met Vega. She's the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Lyra is an amazing girl, and she is like a sister I never had. She has been hurt as well," Jace said."Yes, same here; I want to see you both happy," Vega said with a smile. Then Jace looked at his phone to see the time."We'll need to clean up when we get home, or we'll be late. We should go; church starts in ten minutes," Jace said.He saw my face as I glanced at the kitchen and the mess on the table."It's ok; Vega and I will clean up when we get home. For now, we've got to go," Jace said."Ok, let's go in my truck, and I could help clean up once we get back," I said."Sounds good to me," they both said in unison.
BLAZE*It was six in the morning, and I sat here in my office. I couldn't sleep knowing that there was so much going on today, and my brain was in overdrive. Every time I fell asleep, I had these horrible nightmares; and they had all pertained to work. So I rolled over and climbed out of bed at four-thirty in the morning.I have nine applications sitting in front of me. I had gone through a stack of them on Thursday and had called them all up on Friday. My first applicant would be here at nine o'clock, and he seemed like a good fit for the company. Vega starts working in the office today, which I was excited about, and Jace would be here to get her trained. Jace would also help me with interviews. I called the guys who would be going with Tanner, Conner, and Wade today on Saturday before I left the office; that was another load off my back.The foundation for this one home that Tanner, Wade, and Conner would be starting on today was leveled and laid down over a month ago. So construct
VEGA*Lyra had been in a coma now for a little over six weeks. The doctors don't understand why she hasn't woken up yet. The swelling in her brain has completely healed. Her injuries, including her arm and leg, have recovered faster than any doctors thought. Dr. Wise had gone in and taken out the screws and had put fresh casting on her arm and leg two weeks ago. He felt it would be best to keep them both in a cast for a couple more weeks. Dr. Wise would remove the cast from her arm and leg in two days.Dr. Jared Wise has been coming in twice a day for the last three weeks; to work on Lyra's good arm and leg so they wouldn't get atrophied. Jared would be her physical therapist once Lyra woke up. Boy, does the poor guy have his work cut out for him? Lyra will probably drive the man mad, and he will go on a boxing rampage every night after work. Lyra won't let him help her with anything, so I hope Jared can be stern and not let her go overboard. Lyra, however, is going to go crazy over t
LYRA*I'm not sure how long I have been in this dream world of mine. I think I will stay here, though. Who wants to go back to a broken brain and a broken body. Not me, that is for sure.I am content right here in my mystical fairyland filled with creatures you only read about in books and watched in movies. The only time I was out of this dream was when Vega was here. Once she left, I went right back into my dream state, a place where unicorns, dragons, centaurs, fairies, mermaids, and even creatures like werewolves and other shifter beings resided.My mind has taken me to another planet, I suppose. Where different raises of humanoid creatures reside. Maybe all of those stories my mom has told Vega and I about Lyra have molded their way into my subconscious. My mom should write a book about this supposed planet we all lived on in a past life. She would make millions.At night the universe bursts with vibrant bright colors. This world had two moons. It is hard to explain. It's all a d