ZEDD - THE NEXT MORNING
As usual, I wake to an empty bed. I miss Thomas next to me, but I'm sure that he's fed the baby and is down getting coffee before he starts work. I sigh, wishing he could take a day off to spend with me and Mara Jane. I know that he and Dar have had to put in more time to take care of business while I'm out, but I know that Dar took a day off a couple of weeks ago and Pina took some time off to go and get Kira. When is he going to allow himself the same? It's not long before I'm ready to get the baby and join the others. I'm surprised, however, to find the crib empty. Sighing again, I turn for the door. Suddenly, I spot my missing mate and daughter, curled up in our favorite armchair.
Large enough for the two of us to share comfortably, but not so large that one person is lost in it, Thomas is curled up sound asleep holding the baby. I cross over to take her, only to find that she's awake and watching Thomas intently. Attention stolen from him when she sees me however, I can't help but smile as those big purple eyes are turned my way and she gurgles at me happily. Still asleep, Thomas rocks slightly, murmuring, "Shh, Mara Jane. It's all right. Daddy's got you. Let Papa sleep." Yeah, because I'm clearly the one that needs sleep.
Gently, I take her from him. "I have her, Thomas, it's all right" I say softly. "Why don't you go back to bed?"
He wakes a bit. "Can't. Have to get going. I have a conference call at ten."
"I'll have Dar take care of it."
He comes more awake and stretches and yawns before he says, "He can't. He doesn't speak the language." Of course not. This is the problem with Thomas being the only one that speaks as many languages as he does. Granted, it's gained us a lot of new clients, but many of them can only deal with him and it's becoming more and more evident that the amount of work he's taking on due to it is far more than he should have to.
"Okay, then deal with that and then get a nap." I take the baby over to the changing table to deal with the unpleasant scent she's started to emanate.
"Zedd, I can't, okay? I have other contacts I have to deal with this afternoon. In fact, the rest of the week is busy." He gets up and heads for the bathroom, yawning again.
"Thomas, you need rest too."
"It's only a few more days, Zedd" he calls back. "If I can get through this week, you should be back to work next week and things will settle down. Not that this is your fault" he adds hastily. I didn't exactly think it was until he said that, however now that it has been mentioned it doesn't take me long to recall that I've not only been no real help the past few weeks, but actually very likely only adding to his workload by screwing up what I had tried to help with.
Pushing my guilt aside for the moment, I refocus on the most immediate problem at hand. "When was the last time you had a day off? The last time you did something just for you?"
He comes out and heads for the closet, frowning. "What do you mean, Zedd? I don't mind working. I'm not unhappy or anything. I'm handling everything all right."
"Thomas, you still need a break from time to time. Remember, we usually only have a six day work week and then a day off, not to mention that the sixth day is usually light. As far as I can tell, you're working a seven day week and all of them loaded. If you and Dar are splitting the work I used to handle evenly, you shouldn't be even close to working this much."
He sighs. "There were some problems with some of the contract negotiations that Dar had to help me with, which pushed aside some of his work. I took a couple of his to let him catch up on the rest."
"I'll talk to him."
He looks up from where he's sitting, pulling on his boots. "What for? I have it handled."
I realize I'm going to have to change tactics pretty quickly or he's going to come to a wrong conclusion. "Love, I know you do, but before I go back to work, I'd like one day that we can spend together as a family - just you, me and the baby."
"I'd like that too" he admits "but I just don't see how. There is way too much work for one person to handle, he's nowhere near knowledgeable enough about what I have going on to just hand it over, Pina doesn't work on the contract end of things and-"
"Thomas, stop. Let's talk to him and see what we can figure out."
"All right." I know he's agreeing just to avoid a fight, but at least it's something. I finish redressing the baby, pick her up and smiling, give her a quick kiss before I turn fully back to my mate. He's smiling at us and I raise an eyebrow at him. He shakes his head. "Back when I was a teenager, I'd have never thought that you could be like this, kalleimat."
"If I'd stayed on that path, I probably wouldn't be. When you work for the Evil Alliance in the capacity that I did, families are not an option. It makes you too vulnerable - even to those who are supposed to be your allies."
He closes the distance between us and kisses us both. "At least now you know that you can trust your allies - since most of them are family in one way and another."
We head for the door. "It's a good feeling" I admit. "Not one I would have thought I'd ever get back then either."
We head down to the kitchen, Mara Jane in my left arm, Thomas holding my right hand, and feeling pretty good as I'm certain that there is some way to work it out so that we can have that family day together. We're barely in the kitchen when Dar says, "Oh good. You're here. You left three contracts on my desk, but the notes make no sense." Seriously? Can we really not even have breakfast first?
Thomas sighs. "Did I leave you my shorthand notes again?"
"No, but I think that these are notes for other contracts because they make no damn sense in relation to the contracts you fastened them to."
Frowning as my mate is fast to release my hand and move to Dar, I look at our daughter unhappily. "Your father is going to kill your Uncle Goldar."
Walking past me to the fridge, Pina's response is absentminded, but somewhat amusing. "Just don't pull your stitches."
"Or get any blood on the baby" Mother adds calmly.
"Might want to wait until he finishes making breakfast as well" Father states reasonably.
Slightly surprised as my mate doesn't have a funny little quip of his own, I glance back to see Thomas is apparently already too focused on work to seem to even notice my death threat. "Let me see." Dar hands a stack of papers to him and he starts flipping through them. "Damn it. You're right. These are the wrong notes. Let me get some coffee and I'll go find the right ones."
"Good idea, brat." Dar hands him a steaming mug and Thomas disappears, saying that he'll see everyone later.
Unhappily, I sigh, my plans already on the way to failing. "Dar, when's the last time he took a day off?"
He nods at Mara Jane. "The day after she was born, remember?"
"And before that? Because I'm fairly certain that he's not had a day off - of any kind - in weeks."
"Well, he had planned to take one day off to spend with you about a month ago, but I believe you told him to get the hell away from you and you couldn't believe that you'd let him talk you into carrying the baby. Among other things."
Mother chokes on her coffee and Father laughs at her. "Zeddic is definitely your son" he tells her. He looks at me. "She said something similar to me about a month before you were due, except I hadn't talked her into it. She made it sound like I'd forced her into it somehow."
Mother laughs sheepishly. "Practically made it sound like he'd taken me by force until he got me pregnant."
Shaking my head, I turn my attention back to Dar. "So one of my hormonal outbursts cost him a day off?"
Dar shrugs. "If he had just waited an hour or so until you calmed down, he could still have had the day off. He made the choice, Zedd."
From the doorway, Kira says, "Odds are he felt that giving you space was the safest option. I've seen a few of your rants and rampages, Zedd. Sometimes you calmed back down in ten minutes and other times you were at it all day. It was a guessing game at best which it would be on any given day."
"I've never been at it all day."
"Remember the day we built the crib for the nursery?" Oh hells, I'd forgotten about that.
"Well, if the damn thing would have gone together like the instructions said-"
"I told you to try the English instructions instead of the Japanese ones."
"I couldn't find them!"
She rolls her eyes at me. "Zedd, I told you a dozen times at least that I was holding them. You were just so bound and determined to be upset that day that you weren't listening."
I have no defense for that so I remain silent. Mara Jane starts to fuss and my mother immediately takes her from me as Father goes to get a bottle out of the fridge. I blink as Father has the bottle ready in no time and hands it to Mother before reclaiming his seat. He notices me staring at him. "Zeddic, we have six children. Believe me, it was in everybody's best interest for me to help your mother when she needed it. We didn't always have as much staff as we do now, you know. I've done my share of sleepless nights so that your mother could get some rest."
They exchange fond smiles. "As a lord, Kerch didn't have to work, but he wanted to grow the family business" Mother says. "He could have just left things in the hands of those that had always handled it. He was working hard when we found out that I was pregnant. I'm still not sure how many days I'd finally get all of you down for naps or studying or outside playing, go to check on him to find him asleep at his desk from being up all night the night before."
"Which, from what I can tell, is what Tommy's doing now. He's trying to take care of you and her and the business. He just hasn't found the right balance yet. He'll find it, in time."
"But will it be before he completely destroys himself?" I can't help but remember what Hayley had said about him many years ago, about how he'd go out of his way to take care of his past mates to the point of not taking care of himself. "Apparently, this is a pattern with him in the past and one he doesn't seem to recognize himself or know when to quit." Nobody answers me and I stand up. "I'm going to go check on him."
"We'll take care of the baby, Zeddic. Go tend to your mate."
As swiftly as I can, I head for his office. I take a breath and knock on the door. "Come in."
I find him kneeling on the floor, twenty or twenty five files spread out around him and muttering to himself. A few contracts? Realizing that his definition of a few is definitely something we have to discuss, I for the moment however try and keep my focus on my clearly in over his head mate. He doesn't look up as he says, "Just a minute, Dar. I think I've got all the notes on the right files, but I want to be sure before I give them back to you."
"Dar will wait, Thomas."
"Zedd, mate, I need to get this done. What do you need?"
Over the years, Thomas and I have both learned to block certain emotions while letting others through. As close as I am right now, I can feel how stressed he is in spite of him trying to tamp it down. I carefully cross over to him and kneel beside him, gently taking the file out of his hands. "Thomas, stop for a minute."
"I don't have time right now, Zedd."
I set the file down and take his hands. "Thomas, please."
He jerks his hands away from mine. "I don't have time, Zedd! I have to get this figured out before that conference call! I have to get through that minefield, call some contacts about work that they are doing, should be doing or I need them to do! I've got to get another bunch of notes translated into something Dar can understand, several contracts translated for the customers and collect on payments that haven't been made yet and I have to get it all done before dinner tonight so that I can even stop long enough to see you and the baby before bed! And then I have to sleep as fast as I can so that I can take care of you and her in the middle of the night before I have to get up and do it all over again tomorrow! I just don't have time, damn it!" He stops, breathing hard. Suddenly, he looks horrified. "Oh god, Zedd, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of that the way it sounded. I love you, I really do and Mara Jane too. I didn't mean to yell at you and take it out on you. Please, I'm sorry, I really am. Please don't cry."
I'd be hurt if I wasn't so disappointed in myself not noticing how much he's taken on himself and how close he is to having a complete and utter breakdown. Knowing his final request is most likely due to my prior hormonal fits, I shake my head. "I'm not going to cry, Thomas." At least not where he's going to see it. "However I am going to fix this."
"You're still recovering."
"I'm recovered" I state firmly. "And even if I wasn't there is no way I would let you keep going like this. Love, why the hell did you agree to so many jobs at once? Even before Mara Jane came along we didn't take on this many clients at one time and I thought we both agreed that after she was born we would actually pull back a bit so we could focus on her."
"I know, but I just have to get these done and then-"
"And then have another panic attack?" I ask in concern. "Thomas, we're supposed to balance each other remember? This here-" Gesturing to the mass amount of files spread before us I continue seriously, "This is not balanced, love."
"It's not as bad as it looks, Zedd. It's just a little disorganized. And not all of these are current jobs." His eyes quickly skim over the files. "Maybe half of them are. The rest are completed contracts, some that fell through, some are just notes for future potential jobs."
Well that's not quite so bad, I guess. Still though, the fact he is handling all of this himself does not ease my annoyance at the other members of the household or myself. "All right. Which ones are completed jobs and why aren't they filed?"
He points. "Those five jobs are completed, but three of them haven't paid yet. One I'm not worried about yet since delivery was just confirmed yesterday, but the other two keep putting me off. Dar says that one of them always puts off paying until you suggest making a personal visit to pick up payment."
I roll my eyes knowing exactly who he's referring to. "I thought we weren't dealing with them anymore."
"Dar and I talked about it and decided that since it was an easy job for the amount they were willing to pay, it would be worth the temporary inconvenience." The only problem is it isn't a temporary inconvenience, it's a repeating one, and one I specifically told Dar I didn't want to deal with any longer.
Before I can respond, his console goes off. He curses roundly as he gets off the floor and goes to answer it, snatching up a file from the corner of the desk on his way. Maybe I'll just help him out sorting these while he's on his conference call, along with get a better idea of just what he's been having to deal with while I was out of commission for the past three weeks. Going over the files along with his notes, I'm only half listening to him deal with the client, as I don't understand the language, however I come fully alert when I hear my name. Thomas responds calmly enough, but I can feel his irritation. Wondering what was said, I return to my reading and sorting.
When he finally disconnects the call, he follows it up with dropping his head on the desk, cursing as he does. "We do not need jobs or credits this bad," he mutters.
"What did they want?"
"To deal with the boss himself, not one of his lackeys" he answers. "I basically told them that they would only get to you through me and that they weren't important enough clients to warrant your time or attention yet."
I laugh. I certainly could have used him to intervene with a lot of clients many years ago. I get back to work while he initiates another call, muttering all the while how much he hates dealing with 'her'. Finally I hear his call connect and a familiar voice say in irritated Eltarian, "What do you want?"
He sighs. "Hello, Essa. Just checking in. Did you get it or not?"
She sounds even more irritated. "I told you I was working on it."
"You know, the only reason I called you for this is because Goldar assured me that you were the best person for the job and would have it in a few days. It's been almost two weeks. What's going on?" Two weeks? For something that Dar believed would take much less? That makes no sense.
"I'll get to it when I get to it. Besides, I don't work for you, I work for Zedd." Starting to see the problem.
"So do I. And since he's been rather busy lately with other things, I've been taking care of some of his accounts, this one unfortunately included at his request. That aside though, I'd really hate to have to tell Zedd that you failed him." And he would too as he knows that will lead to me having to take a little trip out to deal with her and her attitude myself.
"Your threats mean all of nothing to me, little boy."
"Just like your payment is going to mean to me if you don't deliver by the end of the week."
Quickly, I flip through the files until I find the one that Essa has been hired to handle. I give Thomas a quick smirk as I stand up. I go over to the door as she retorts, "I've never failed Zedd before and I won't now."
Thomas responds, "You might not fail him, but you wait too much longer or give me any more of your crap and you'll lose your bonus."
I knock on the door she can't see and then address him. "Thomas, what's going on with this contract? This should have been done more than a week ago."
"I'm sorry, Lord Zedd, but-"
"Did you or did you not call Essa to have her handle this as Goldar suggested?"
"I did, but she seems to have run into difficulty."
"Difficulty? It's a simple job, Thomas. I hardly see how someone with her experience would be having any difficulty." I pause, smiling, knowing that she can't see me yet. "She's not giving you trouble, is she? I gave you her information because I trusted that she'd do as good a job for you as she always has for me. That she'd show you the same respect that she's shown me since you're acting on my behalf." He remains silent, but his gaze flickers to the screen. "Thomas?"
"No, Lord Zedd, she's not. As I said, she's run into a problem is all."
My voice hardens. "I don't have to go help her again, do I? Because I will level part of that planet if that's the case."
"I'm sure it's nothing like that" he says hastily. "It's just that the item in question is proving more - elusive that we first anticipated."
"There's elusive and then there's lazy. Elusive I can tolerate, to a degree, lazy however…"
"I'm certain it will be handled as swiftly as possible."
"Get it done, Thomas. Nobody will be happy if I have to take this over."
"Yes, sir." There's a long pause as if waiting for me to get out of hearing range even as I lean against the wall. Dryly, he says, "Thanks so much for that, Essa."
"Why didn't you tell him the truth?"
"Oh sorry. I didn't realize that you wanted him to know that he can't count on you."
"Or maybe you don't want him to realize that you can't handle his business." Oh, I did train her well - even if she is wrong this time.
Thomas sighs. "I really don't have time to argue with you today, Essa. Look, get it done in the next two days or we won't call you with jobs again. Ever, if I have anything to say about it."
"Yeah, well, you don't." She disconnects the call. Oh we're going to have to fix this. As good as she is, and as clearly patient as Thomas is, I cannot and will not have her speaking to my mate in such a manner, her usefulness be damned.
Thomas shakes his head. "I hate dealing with her. She fights me at every turn and I honestly don't know why."
I frown. Why would she be doing that - even if the orders aren't coming directly out of my mouth? I have no doubt that Thomas and Dar made it clear that they are acting on my behalf. Perhaps I'll have to sneak a call in later. "Come on, Thomas. Let's take those corrected contracts to Dar and get some breakfast before you dive completely in for the day."
