Wrong Number: OMYW Instalove Romance

by Haley Travis

  At first, it seemed relatively innocent, as he asked me all about my workplace, and how I was doing. But it soon became clear that he was simply looking for more construction work. I wasn’t his daughter, I was a potential job source. A lead.

  It was positively disgusting, and I hadn’t met with him again. But since I had inadvertently mentioned the optometrist where I worked, he would call the office from time to time, asking if we, or anyone else in the medical plaza, might need renovations.

  I always got him off the line in seconds before anyone overheard our conversations. It was a horrible, nasty little thing I just had to deal with. Then he’d ignore me for six months or so.

  The last few times he’d called, he was slurring slightly, and the volume of his voice came and went as if the phone was waving around near his mouth. Day drinking on vacation is a blast, but it was tragic hearing him loaded at eleven in the morning.

  It was pathetic. I was embarrassed for him. But after hearing that he was doing underhanded things to other people’s companies, I was truly disgusted.

  Taking my tea back out to my desk, I rushed over to hold the door for Mrs. Rose, then sat with her for the five minutes before her appointment, looking at photos of her three-year-old granddaughter holding a new kitten.

  “Wow, that is absolutely adorable,” I smiled.

  “See, dear, this is why I need to get my eyes checked,” she said. “I don’t want to miss a single minute of her cuteness when we visit.”

  She patted my knee as we laughed, and I almost didn’t hear my phone beeping at my desk.

  “It’s okay, honey, you can go get that if you need to,” she said. I hesitated, and she gave my shoulder a little shove. “I can tell from your expression it’s a boy. I’m fine. Go get him.”

  Reaching over the counter, I grabbed my phone. “Tana, sweetheart, I’ve missed you,” Tyler said before I could even get it to my ear properly.

  “Hello,” I said. “Yes, absolutely.”

  “You have a client standing right beside you, don’t you?” he chuckled.

  “Yes, that’s an excellent observation,” I said.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be quick. I’m really sorry I haven’t called. It’s been a crazy couple of days. But if you like, I could drive you home tonight. Will you be done at five-thirty?”

  “Yes, that would be perfect.”

  “Can’t wait to see you, sweetheart,” he said.

  “You too.”

  I ended the call and turned back to see Mrs. Rose barely holding back a smirk. “So? Do you have a date?”

  I forced myself to hold back my crazy grin, but I’m sure I just looked like my lips were twitching. I heard the examination room door open and glanced to see Tony nodding and giving me a wave.

  “The doctor will see you now,” I said.

  She stood up slowly, shooting me a wink on the way by. “Good for you, Tana,” she said with a grin.

  The rest of the day flew by, and as we locked up the clinic and turned toward the parking lot, I saw a giant white truck across the road. It was the kind that most people rented when they moved, nearly as big as a transport.

  Dr. Brannigan said good night and headed to his car, just as Tyler jumped out of the truck and came running toward me. “I’m technically not allowed to park there, so let me help you in,” he said.

  I knew that he was a helpful gentleman, so I was certain that his hands all over my hips, butt, and thighs as he half lifted me up into the seat was completely for my own safety.

  He ran around and hopped in, then began driving with the confident air of someone who had been driving giant vehicles like this for years.

  “Nice wheels,” I laughed.

  “I know, it’s overkill,” he chuckled. “But I have to run some really long panels across town, and this was the only truck available that would hold them flat.”

  As we stopped at a red light, he reached over to take my hand. “Tana, I’m really sorry that I haven’t called. I’m going to try to be much more careful to call and text you at least once a day, all right?”

  “Okay, if you want to.”

  “I really do. I hope that you weren’t worried.”

  Squeezing his hand, I said, “I’m still learning about all of this relationship stuff, remember?”

  “Which is why I should be a better example,” he said.

  We reached my building far too soon, and he parked directly in front, running around to help me climb down. Keeping his arms around me, I was gently pressed against the metal panel.

  “You’re so sexy,” he said softly, nuzzling my neck just under my ear. “I’m sorry I only had a few minutes today, but I absolutely had to see you.”

  “It’s really sweet of you to make the time. And it’s good to see you too.”

  He kissed me gently, sending those little prickles of heat through the backs of my shoulders and up my thighs just from the pressure of his lips.

  “I’ll see you soon, sweetheart. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Try not to work too hard,” I said.

  “I make no promises,” he said, kissing my forehead, then watching me walk into the lobby before he jumped back into the truck.

  I couldn’t stop smiling as I went upstairs. We really were still connected, and everything was absolutely fine. My relationship nervousness was only paranoia, and I’d have to learn to relax.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  * Tyler *

  As Wednesday wore on, I found my mind continually coming back to the password protected financials folder on the server .

  I knew that it shouldn’t bother me as much as it did, but Uncle John had always gone on about how open he was with me. He claimed to want to show me every single detail about the business.

  He’d also been much jumpier than usual about Wright Construction competing for a few regular jobs. It just didn’t sit right, and I had nobody to talk to about it.

  Then I realized…maybe I did. I told myself that if I found anything questionable in my uncle’s paper folders, I could ask Tana about it.

  I’d been through the folders before, so I didn’t really expect to find anything new. Quotes, purchase orders, receipts, and all manner of paperwork filled this month’s box.

  But then I noticed a smudged note at the bottom of an extensive lumberyard receipt.

  My uncle always used a pencil, for some reason, and it looked like he had mostly erased this note. But because it was on that slightly shiny receipt roll paper, I could clearly make out, ‘P-word’ followed by what looked like a phone number.

  Figuring out that it was a password was a fairly easy guess. But the last number of the phone number was seriously smudged. It could have been anything with a round curve at the bottom – three, five, six, or eight.

  It wasn’t much to go on, but it gave me an excuse to talk to Tana. Taking a photo of that section, I sent it to her.

  Me: If you were to guess the last number, what do you think it would be?

  She responded almost immediately.

  Tana: It’s an eight.

  Me: LOL How can you be so sure?

  Tana: It’s part of an old country song about a man who got mixed up with a bad crowd, and had to leave town so that his girl didn’t get into trouble. Her number changed, but he hoped she didn’t, or something like that.

  Me: I didn’t know that you were into country music.

  Tana: I’m not really, but my mother played it in the car when I was little. I remember singing along to that song on long drives because songs with numbers are a blast when you’re six.

  Me: You are an absolute angel. Talk to you soon.

  My hands were practically shaking as I called up the company server, and entered that number as the password to the financial folder.

  It opened instantly.

  My uncle had always been a country music fan, so that made sense. But the files I found inside made no sense whatsoever.

  They were quotes and pitches to the “family” owned corp
oration that I didn’t think we ever dealt with.

  From the looks of things, the building where our crews were just finishing up this week was owned by that company. The name on the construction site was a wholly-owned brand new subsidiary.

  After everything he’d gone on about over the years, my uncle lied to me. Or at least, didn’t tell me the whole truth. Which, depending on how you sliced it, was practically the same thing.

  Why would he be making deals with mafia corporations? We already had a lot of steady work. We didn’t need faster work for less money. We didn’t need endless jobs, we had enough to keep steadily busy. Expanding too fast or working our teams to exhaustion wasn’t what I thought we were about. That’s not quality. That’s not what we stood for.

  I didn’t want to be mixed up with those people, and I didn’t want to see the company changing too fast.

  I finished up my day with a dark cloud over my head. I needed something that would turn my mood around instantly. Like an addict needing a hit, I sent Tana a text.

  Me: Driving back and forth across town. Shall I swing by and pick you up from work to drive you home at five-thirty?

  Tana: I’m spoiled rotten!

  Tana: I mean, thanks, I can’t wait to see you.

  An hour later I parked in the lot in front of the eye clinic. It really did look like a nice place. As I walked in, I saw that the row of large framed nature photos had the same clean silver frames as the pictures in her apartment.

  I could see what Tana had meant about them shrinking the waiting room to make room for an eyewear display area. It still looked nice, and I could tell that the stack of art books and little stone sculptures were her choices.

  There was nobody around, but I heard men’s voices from one of the side doorways. Oddly, it sounded like one of them was talking about building something.

  As the door opened, I was already smiling, hoping that it was Tana.

  Seeing the scruffy, blank-eyed face of Jim Wright coming out the door was the last thing I would have expected. A man in a long white jacket who must have been the doctor stepped out behind him, then a phone rang.

  “I’ll be out in just a minute,” he said, going back and closing the door.

  “Little Tyler,” Jim drawled. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I’m picking up my girlfriend,” I said. Looking around, I hoped that she would appear immediately so that we could get away.

  “Really?” he asked, squinting. He clearly didn’t believe me. “You’re not here to quote on the job?”

  “What–”

  A huge smile slid across Jim’s smug face as Tana came out of the back room.

  She smiled the second she saw me, which warmed my heart for a split second until she looked over at Jim and actually flinched.

  “Hey, darlin’,” Jim said, stepping toward her, “You can tell Doc Brannigan that I’m giving you the best possible price for the new shelving and cabinets in the storage room. You don’t need this guy to give you a quote as well.”

  She came closer, standing beside me. “What on earth are you talking about?” she hissed at him.

  He grinned as if he was enjoying how uncomfortable she was. “You know, I figured since this is my first job for my daughter’s workplace, I’ll give your boss a really fair price.”

  Tana’s big brown eyes turned to me, already glittering with tears. “I’m sorry. I was trying to find a way to tell you.”

  My jaw cracked on the left side as my teeth ground together for a second. “You are his daughter?” My hands clenched, digging into my thighs. “And you called him about a project?”

  “No, I didn’t! I don’t want to talk to him, but he keeps calling here even though I tell him to leave me alone.”

  “Don’t be like that, sweetie,” Jim slurred, still grinning. “I called yesterday and got the nice Doc himself. Once I told him who I was, he told me to come on over.”

  The doctor came out of one of the offices, looking confused at the three of us, especially since Tana was clearly upset.

  “Hey, Doc,” Jim said, turning away from us, “Let’s talk about your shelving system.” The doctor was so flustered that he followed Jim back into the room immediately.

  Tana turned to me, wiping away a tear. “Dr. Brannigan said that he wanted some new shelving, but he was still making up his mind how much he needed and where exactly it would go. I was going to ask him if I could have you come take a look if he wanted proper cupboards. I didn’t know that he was already talking to my dad.”

  “But you didn’t tell me who your dad was.”

  Her bottom lip quivered. It was maddening that she was still so damn gorgeous when I was so frustrated I could have chewed through a steel cable.

  “I’m sorry. I really meant to.”

  “You let me call your father a drunk piece of shit, and you didn’t say anything.”

  Her hands were twisting in on themselves. “That’s because I agree with you. I barely know him, honest.”

  Forcing myself to keep my voice low, I said, “If you were honest, you would have said something at the beginning. As soon as his name came up.”

  “He left us,” she whispered. “He was never a real father to me. I don’t even think of him like that. He’s just some weird guy who showed up two years ago, wanting connections to get more work.”

  “If you’d told me that from the beginning, we could have sorted it out,” I said, trying desperately to keep my voice calm. I couldn’t look her in the eye, focusing on a photograph on the wall behind her.

  “I’m so sorry,” she sniffled, reaching her hand toward me, but I flinched away.

  “Can you get yourself home?” I asked. “You won’t take a ride with Jim, right? He’s drunk.”

  “I would never get in a car with him,” she said sadly. “I can take the streetcar.”

  Swallowing hard, I spoke quietly. “I’m angry. Seriously furious. So I’m going to leave before I say something I regret.”

  I turned and walked out, driving across town to pick up some specialized cabinet hardware before I went home. I wanted to talk to her, wrap my arms around her. But I was so cranked on adrenaline that I didn’t trust myself not to slip and say something nasty just because I was hurt.

  Tana was obviously a sensitive girl, and I knew that she would forgive my silence for a few days. If I snapped at her, I didn’t know if she could forgive a rude outburst. At the moment, that was all my mind was screaming.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  * Tana *

  I couldn’t believe Tyler left. I could, but I couldn’t, at the same time.

  I still didn’t know how Tyler dealt with stress, I suppose. In some ways, we still didn’t know each other very well yet.

  We needed more time. Much more time.

  My father came out of the side room, alone, thank goodness. Turning to him, I couldn’t believe that he was standing there chuckling to himself.

  “You don’t want to be with a loser like that, honey,” he sneered. “Don’t worry, I’ll do a great job here, then we can go talk to the manager at your apartment building and see if they need any help.”

  “Get out!” I screamed right in his face, shocking myself, and obviously startling Dr. Brannigan who was coming out of the exam room.

  “You’re not in my life. You’re not doing any work in this clinic. If you ever contact me or this office again I’ll have you charged with harassment or something.”

  “C’mon, honey,” he said, trying to step closer.

  “Tana asked you to leave,” Tony said sternly, coming up to stand beside me. “We won’t be requiring your services. Get out now.”

  My dad stared at me for a moment, then shrugged and left without another word, standing down the second I had backup.

  “I’m so sorry, Tana,” Tony said gently. “I had no idea.”

  ‘Of course you didn’t,” I said, trying to wipe my eyes. He reached over the desk to grab me a tissue.

  “Thanks.” I
sniffled for a moment, then collapsed into a chair as he sat down beside me.

  “Jim called and said that was your father, and that he’d heard we needed some cabinetry. I assumed you’d already spoken with him.”

  He smiled as I snorted, rolling my eyes. “He does that all the time. Worms his way in where he knows he’s not wanted. When he came back into my life, it was only for work, not for me.”