Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right

Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“No, it’s for us. Since the best time to see the lighting effects is at night, we need to be prepared for all- nighters. Going back home wouldn’t be convenient,” I explained.

Demi gave me a thumbs up. “Keira, you’re so thoughtful.”

“And if you have a boyfriend, give him a heads–up. We’ll be taking up your quality time,” I teased her.

“No worries. It’ll be a good test for him,” Demi said, smiling happily and sweetly.

“Alright, let’s get to work. To save time, we need to identify all the issues so that when the experts arrive, they can get straight to solving them,” I instructed.

Demi nodded and pulled out the blueprints. “I’ll handle zones A, D, and F.

“I’ll take the rest,” I replied. Even though I was in charge, I had to work just as hard as Demi.

The next day, we met with the two representatives from the construction team, Mr. Hudson and Mr. Wyatt.

In the afternoon, we welcomed the lighting supplier’s reps, Mr. Ziegler and Mr. Larson..

We discussed the issues Demi and I had identified, followed by an on–site inspection. We all agreed the lights were of good quality and the construction was solid. The problem lay with the lighting adjustments.

According to the contract, the lighting adjustments were the responsibility of the lighting supplier. Mr. Larson immediately contacted his company and then informed me, “We’ll send over two lighting engineers. They should arrive by tomorrow afternoon.”

That made me a bit uneasy. “Is there any way they can come sooner?”

Even though we had a month left and had identified the issue, fixing the lighting was a painstaking task. Each light might need multiple tweaks, and with tens of thousands of lights in the amusement park, we needed to hurry to stay on track.

Plus, we had to give Jace enough time to inspect and approve everything. If he found any issues or thought something was off, we’d have to adjust again.

“One of them is currently out of Seavora, but he’s hurrying back. Tomorrow afternoon is the earliest he can get here,” Mr. Larson explained.

They were doing their best, so I couldn’t push further. We’d have to wait.

“How good is he?” I asked Mr. Larson casually over dinner.

Mr. Larson’s full name was Eugene Larson. He was a friendly, slightly overweight guy in his forties who always smiled. “If he claims to be the second–best in the industry, no one will dare claim to be the first.”

I thought, ‘Wow, that good?‘ I smiled. “That’s reassuring to hear.”

“He’s single, too. If there are any suitable girls around here, feel free to introduce them,” Eugene joked. “Sure, but aren’t you afraid he’ll fall in love with someone here and never want to leave?” I teased back. “We have positions for employees‘ families at our company too,” Eugene quipped.

The dinner was light–hearted and enjoyable, a nice break before the intense work ahead.

When I got home, my phone rang. It was Jace.

I wondered what he wanted at this hour, but I answered anyway. “Mr. Johnston.”

“Rea, you’re ruthless. You really had to insist that something’s going on between Tanya and me, didn’t you?

His voice was icy.

I scoffed inwardly, ‘So, he called to settle scores.

Apparently, someone had already given him an earful.

“Which of the things I mentioned did you not do?” I asked calmly.

Jace sneered. “Fine, I’ll grant your wish.”

“Huh?

Before I could ask what he meant, he hung up.

After washing up, I lay down on my bed and opened my phone. There were tons of unread messages in a group chat called “The Roast Toasters“.

This group had Jace, Steve, and some other friends. Jace added me since everyone could let their significant others join.

I opened the chat and saw I’d been tagged a bunch of times.