Alpha Billionaire Series
Billionaire and the Barista Chapter 24

NATHAN

Gavin stood at the door to my office. He had that look on his face. The one that meant he had bad news, and if he couched it with enough 'dudes,' 'ah mans,' and, 'you hear what I'm sayings,' I might not know what he's saying, and give him a pass. He hadn't learned yet that I was not my father. Incompetence did not excuse him from completing his job. "What?" I asked. I didn't have time for him, and I didn't even know what his issue was yet.

"So that Texas deal..."

The deal where he was to coordinate with local real estate agents and identify properties and begin the surveying process before we brought in environmental engineers to clear the land for development. We had the environmental guys on the schedule to start at the beginning of the month. The deal was we should have several properties under contingency contracts, and I had yet to see a single proposal cross my desk.

I nodded, not saying a word. I was curious how he would dig himself deeper, or magically get out of the hole in the process he was responsible for.

Gavin adjusted his tie. I think I even saw sweat form at his brow. Good, he deserved to sweat it out.

"I double-booked, and I can't get either party to reschedule. I can't be both here for the Lake Moore project and in Houston to finalize the contracts on the properties."

"Finalize the Texas contracts from here. There is no reason to go down there until we have the environmental reports." I shook my head and attempted to return to my work.

"Well, it's not exactly that easy, dude."

I knew there was a 'dude' in there somewhere. I looked back at him and waited. There was no reason I could think if that required him to be in Houston when he was needed in person at the lake Moore site.

"The real estate agents want to move immediately. Basically, they want to be on-site with the environmental guys, and if they give the thumbs up..." he trailed off, letting me fill in the blank.

I let out a heavy breath.

"Fine. I can go." I didn't want to go to Texas, but it didn't need to be more than an overnight. "When do I need to be there?"

Gavin had problems prioritizing. He tended to lean toward the easiest problems first, no matter the deadline. He didn't present issues in order of importance, he skipped straight to Z while A, B, and C waited around on fire.

I hit the intercom. "Cameron, come in here please."

Gavin stepped out of her way so she could come into my office.

I pointed at Gavin. "He will give you all the appointment and contact information so that you can put together an itinerary, arrange for a hotel, and get my tickets. I have to leave for Houston tonight."

I did not miss the glare she gave him. Gavin was young, but that wasn't any excuse for him to be as incompetent as he was at times. He wasn't so young as to not know any better.

I picked up my phone and called Jonah. I was going to need him to pack for at least two nights in Texas for me.

"Do you prefer slacks you can wear more than once, or would you prefer a second suit?"

"Pack a pair of utilitarian trousers, and twice as many shirts and the other stuff I will need in case this turns into more than a two-night stay."

"Are you going to expect dinner, or will that be en route?"

Fuck, I was supposed to have dinner with Gabs tonight. "I'll get something on the road. Have my case delivered to the office once you've got everything packed."

I ended the call with him and immediately called the café. I could tell by how long it rang before it was answered that they were swamped.

"Love Buns, how can I assist you?" I didn't recognize the voice.

"Is Gabriella available, or is she assisting customers?"

"She is with customers right now. How can I help, or can I have her call you back? It may be a while; we are rather busy at the moment."

"Just tell her to check her texts, that Nathan called. I'll call back later." I ended the call.

I had been looking forward to seeing her tonight. I felt like I never had enough time with her. She never spent the night. I hadn't woken up with her in my arms since our little road trip to nowhere. And if I learned one thing on that trip, it was that I needed her in my arms. The rest of the afternoon was putting out proverbial fires preparing for this trip. When it should have been an easy afternoon of reviewing contracts.

I had no words for Gavin when I left and headed straight to the airport. Jonah had driven the Jag back to the apartment so that it wouldn't be left in the lot at work.

I ate greasy airport fast food and had a rocky flight into Houston. Once in the hotel, I gave Gabriella another call.

"I got your text. Is everything all right?"

"It could be better," I said.

"Do you need me to come to you? Or it's not your mother, is it?"

I had only told her that I needed to cancel, something had come up. I must have been too preoccupied to go into details.

"No, I'm sorry sweetheart. I had to fly out to Houston. So, unless you're prepared to get on a plane, you can't come to me."

"What are you doing in Texas?" I could hear the laugh in her voice.

"Picking up the slack, like I always do. I don't want to bore you with details. Tell me about your day."

"Talk about boring details. I made cupcakes. I sold cupcakes. Oh, I did interview a possible new hire. I think I know how you felt when you were hiring Jonah. This is one of the kids," she continued to describe one of her hard case racers.

I groaned. "I wish you wouldn't encourage them."

"It's not what you think Nathan," her voice dropped, and I could hear the tension that I had missed earlier. She was breaking her back running that shop. She needed the help.

"You'll make the right call. I have a feeling you always do," I said.

"Tell me about your hotel room. Is it super-rich and fancy?"

I laughed. It's a generic hotel room. One bathroom, two beds, one TV. There's some kind of game going on in town and a lot of the hotels were full. Cameron had a bit of a time getting me here. Gavin should have made these reservations a while ago, and then had them transferred into my name."

"You sound like you have had a long and trying day. Try to rest. I'm sure you have an early morning."

"I do, but I wanted to hear your voice," I admitted.

"I like your voice too. Goodnight."

I hated ending the call with her. It felt so final. Like it would be another six years before I saw her again. Maybe I had realized that talking to her was the only reasonable thing that I would have to deal with the entire trip.

In the morning when I showed up at the real estate agent's office, matters only got worse.

"I confess I didn't fully understand why your assistant was confirming a meeting with us. We did not have any on the schedule with your associate."

I kept my expression neutral, while inside I seethed. I was going to read Gavin the riot act when I got back, and then I was going to put him on a plane back to his father in Amsterdam. This was ridiculous.

"Sounds like we have a serious miscommunication," I managed to say without sounding like I was as angry as I was.

"It does. But you're here. Let's make the most of your time. You're on a deadline, and we need something for your environmental engineers to look at."

"I was under the impression that the environment guys and the surveyors already have access to the properties, and it's a matter of getting the thumbs up from them."

The wide-eyed look I got in response told me that was not the case.

"I am sorry that is not where we are in the process at all. I forwarded information on prospective lots to your office. We haven't received feedback helping us to narrow down your candidates."

This was worse than trying to interview for a personal assistant. At least then I had options, now I didn't even have that.

"Why don't you show me the properties, and we can speed up this selection process. Do you have a crew you prefer to work with that you could expedite for the survey and environmental analysis once I make my decision?" The agent nodded. "Yes, we have a full cadre of resources to make this happen for you."

He showed me into the conference room, which became my office for the day. After reviewing stacks of files on a combination of empty lots, and areas that would require demolition of existing buildings, I narrowed it down to five potential sites. I rubbed the back of my neck and popped my jaw. All of this work should have been completed by now. I didn't know how much my father had allowed Gavin to get away with, and if this was a typical issue. But I wasn't going to let this happen again.

The next day I was tired, having not slept well, and my tolerance for incompetence was holding on by a thread. The real estate agent was pleasant, understanding, and apologetic for a problem that was clearly not of his making. He gave me a quick drive-by tour of the properties before offering to drive me to the airport.

"I will email you my choices by the end of business tomorrow." I thanked him for taking the time to work with me when I had essentially barged in and interrupted his schedule. By the time I returned to St. Louis I had made up my mind regarding Gavin.