Chapter 18

Nolan

I pulledup to the Breisinger building like a functional human being, despite feeling the exact opposite. I clutched my iced coffee, forcing a smile as I walked through the doors past Brittany, our receptionist.

"Afternoon, Mr. Harding," she said with faked enthusiasm that I couldn't even muster at the moment.

"Afternoon, Britt," I said as I headed for my office.

"Regional called about the Bradish claim."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Bradish... That would be Dawson's brother... What could Regional possibly want?

"Did they say what it was about?" I asked, already on edge. We rarely got calls from the big guys, they usually left us alone as long as we closed our claims and met our goals, and I'd only gotten a call from them once, regarding one of Dawson's claims when I'd first started. It had been a clear misunderstanding. Something Dawson noted that wasn't listed under the right subset or something. I'd learned after that call to double check everything submitted by Dawson and his crew, if only because I didn't want any oversights and to have Regional breathing down my neck.

Britt shrugged. "Not really, just said they wanted you to call them back when you got in."

I nodded, my grip around my ice coffee tightening as I mustered a half-smile. Maybe when I didn't have a pounding headache I could pretend, but not today.

"Thanks, Britt," I said as I made a beeline for my door, doing my best to evade Karla's office door, which was open. I didn't dislike my boss, but sometimes she had a tendency to want to gossip and chitchat when I wanted nothing to do with the insider gossip on Jasper Springs's residents.

I tried to stay out of the drama, thank you very much.

With a hefty amount of luck, I managed to squeeze past her door while she was otherwise engaged in something at her computer, taking refuge in my office and immediately shutting the door.

Flopping down in my chair, I let out a heavy breath.

Okay, Nolan, just take it easy. You don't know it's anything bad...

I set up at my desk, focusing on my breath.

Here goes nothing.