Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
That wasn’t what stuck with him, though.
What stuck with him was the realization that Bram Larkspur had been the first person to say I love you to him since Sarah left.
“Morning, Glass,” Fisk said. “Some points for the contract.”
Bram had told him that doing things for outside approval wasn’t a good way to be happy or do his best work. Bram had told him he wanted them to have a future together. Bram loved him.
“Morris, I need to interrupt you.”
The man squinted into the camera. “What’s that?”
Zachary looked at the rack of buildings that existed only on paper. At the beautiful work of his heart that Moray and Fisk had only ever asked him to make simpler, cheaper, more generic, less Zachary.
He imagined what it would be like to see one of those buildings in the world and it set his heart flying.
Anyone could design a box.
Only he could design these.
“Morris, I’m not taking the promotion.”
He said it loudly and clearly, so there could be no mistake.
He expected to feel regret or panic. Uncertainty or fear.
But all he felt was relief and the glorious world of possibilities opening up around him.
* * *
Morris Fisk had clearly thought he was a fool to turn down the promotion, but his shrug of assent had been the nail in the coffin of Zachary’s career at Moray and Fisk. Fisk didn’t care that it be him becoming junior partner because Fisk didn’t care about him, period. Or his work. He was a good candidate but there were others who would do just as well.
And for the first time, not being the best didn’t make Zachary feel the compulsion to level up. Instead, it gave him utter clarity on his future. He didn’t want to be the best in a place that didn’t have the same standards or values or interests as he did.
What was the use of succeeding by a metric you didn’t even value?
Don’t let them tell you who you are.
* * *
Zachary knocked on Bram’s door as soon as work was over for the day.
When Bram answered, looking rumpled and smelling deliciously of wood shavings, Zachary threw himself into his arms.
“Whoa,” Bram said, catching him easily. “Hey, what’s this?” He stroked Zachary’s hair. “Come in, come in.”
Something was different about the living room.
“You got a couch?” Zachary asked.
“Yup. It seemed like time.”
“Can I sit on it?”
“That’s kinda the point, love.”
Bram sat on the couch and patted the cushion next to him. Zachary sank down, heart beating fast.
“I turned down the promotion,” he said, and watched Bram’s face light with hope. “I don’t want to go to Colorado. I don’t want to do less design; I want to do more. I don’t want to turn my designs into watered-down, boring, generic crap that anyone could design. I want to see my visions become realities. I can’t quit right away, obviously, because I need to make a budget and put a savings plan into place, but as soon as I have a timeline, I’ll let you know so you can decide if it’s acceptable to you.”
Zachary congratulated himself on his full disclosure.
“Acceptable to me?”
“Yes, I realize that being gainfully employed and having access to the concomitant resources is something that our current relationship has been predicated upon and that disrupting that expectation might result in a change in your evaluation of its relative merits.”
“What the hell are you talking about, baby?”
Zachary thought he had been quite clear and rigorous in his explanation. “As I said, you’ve made certain declarations predicated upon—”
Bram grabbed his arms and pulled Zachary into his lap. “Can you stop talking like an investment banker for a sec? I’m so proud of you for following your heart and not taking the promotion because it wasn’t what you wanted. It seems really smart to make a budget and a plan before quitting your job. Now, what’s all the rest of this about me?”
Zachary blinked. Was he really not being clear? “I...you said. You said you loved me.”
Bram’s eyes went soft. “Yeah, I did say that. And I meant it.”
“You said that when I was maybe getting a promotion and had a steady job. I just want to make sure you know that I have plans to remain solvent once—”
“Hey, hey. Can I say what I think you’re trying to say, and you tell me if I’m right?”
Zachary frowned, but Bram didn’t seem upset, just exasperated. People often got exasperated with Zachary.
“Yeah, okay.”
“I think maybe you’re saying that you want us to be together and that if we’re a couple then what affects you will affect me too, so you want me to know that you aren’t suddenly going to have a very different financial situation than you do now because you don’t want me to worry about you.”
“Yes, isn’t that what I just said?”