Rescuing Hart

Merry Christmas: Part 1

Previously on Rescuing Hart:

Josh turned back to the blonde after waving farewell, to find her staring at him already. "So, the Met?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't have done it without your step-dad."

"He's a pretty awesome dad." She bit her lip. "You think you might travel around for your department?"

Josh smirked, knowing that she did listen to him. "It's possible. Why? You'd like to join me on my adventures?"

She motioned for him to come closer to her, and his heart began to race. He leaned forward. With her free hand, lightly grabbed the side of his neck and part of his jaw line, her right thumb caressing his cheekbone. Her lips kissed his right cheek, barely grazing his ear when she whispered a confirmation to his ventilation hours ago. "Anywhere, as long as I'm with you."

Chapter 7: Merry Christmas: Part 1

One Week Later . . .

Josh tapped his fingers nervously on his thigh as he sat outside the office door. The hall was cold, and it smelled like someone had just cleaned with bleach. His gaze drifted out the window, that looked into one of the museum floors. The chamber was filled with tourists and their guides admiring the architecture surrounding them. Their smiles and laughter echoed through the room, and all this Matthews boy could think about was why he was called to The Met, so soon after his interview.

He wasn't supposed to start until the summer, at least, that's what his program start date had been. June 5th. Now, two days before Christmas and he was panicking, hoping that he wasn't called in today to be declined for the spot later in the next year.

The door to his right opened, and an older woman peeked her head out. "Joshua Matthews?" He stood up, to confirm and walked in the office. "Mr. Renaldo will be ready for you in just a minute." He sat down in the seat by her desk.

After a few minutes, a man with dark hair, and beady eyes walked out of Mr. Renaldo's office, and looked a Josh. The stare made the college student want to crawl in a hole. The man snorted, shook his head in disapproval and walked away. Josh was confused.

"Joshua," Mr. Renaldo said, with a bright smile plastered across his face. "Come in and take a seat." The supervisor of this department was a short, plump man with skin as dark as coffee. His teeth were very white, and the crinkles in the corners of his eyes meant he enjoyed being happy.

Josh did exactly what he was told. "Um, is there a problem sir? Something wrong with my application? Did I forget to sigh something?"

He chuckled. "No, my boy. I have called you here today to ask you a question." The college student thought this was odd, since any question could be answered over the phone, but before anymore thought could be put into this, Mr. Renaldo continued. "I was wondering if you would be able to start sooner? Say January 16th?"

Relief flowed through him. "Um, wow. I would love to! Yes. That would be great!"

The supervisor beamed. "Fantastic. I wanted this meeting to be in person, because I feel that offering you a position on the phone is way too tacky. Plus, this job, till you are able to start your official program, has a couple regulations I wanted to go over with you." He proceeded to explain the type of job he would be doing until June. "Once you receive your schedule for school, you may give it to Mrs. Leigh, who is sitting right outside the door. We will correlate your schedule with ours, and let you know when you will be able to come in for work."

"Yes Sir. Thank you." Josh said happily, while walking out of the office shaking Mr. Renaldo's hand once more.

Exiting the building, he made his way down the streets in the cold air. He couldn't wait to tell everyone, especially Maya . . . oh no, he thought. January 16th . . . Maya's birthday. The thought had completely skipped his mind, and he felt guilty. He should know. He always did. What would happen if he missed whatever Riley or Katy had been planning? He would have to make it up with something big. This wasn't like her seventeenth birthday (a non milestone age), though he had been there for that party. This was her eighteenth birthday. Meaning, she would no longer be off-limits.