AFTER THE STORM - PART 3
Pairing: Rafe Cameron x OC
Summary: Softie!Rafe all grown up slowly falls for chronically ill FMC, who he works with. Slowburn, fluff with some spice later. AU where the treasure hunting never led anywhere and the characters grew up
PART 1
PART 2
Lucky for me, I was able to finish up and leave work on time. All I wanted to do when I got home was lay in bed with my heating pad watching cartoons. I was beyond exhausted. But as soon as I unlocked the door, I saw two men I had never met before, sitting with Sarah on the couch. I tensed immediately.
“Oh, hi,” I greet, shutting the door behind me.
“Hey, roomie! My boyfriend and his friend surprised me with a visit.” She grinned.
“Sorry for just dropping by,” The taller one said, standing up and brushing a hand through his shaggy brown hair. “We both just happened to have some time off work. I’m John B.”
“Yeah, Sarah’s told me about you.” I smile at him, setting down my work tote and taking off my flats.
“Well, I’m sure she’s talked about me even more.” The blond boy stands, straightening his wrinkled muscle tank. “I’m THE JJ Maybank.”
“Sorry, I don’t recall her mentioning you.” I shake my head, framing it as a jab even though it has some honesty to it.
“Yeah, Jayj. We haven’t gotten that far in my stories from home yet. And,” Sarah pauses, smirking. “You’re just not that important.”
“Lies!” JJ retorts. “Any crazy, fun, awesome adventures we had? That was all me. So, Jess? Any cool stories from Sarah, just know I was the mastermind behind it.”
“Noted.” I tell him with false sincerity. “I’m gonna make some dinner, you guys want anything?”
“We actually ordered pizza, should be here any minute if you want some.” Sarah offers. It sounds delicious, and it meant I wouldn’t have to cook. But I’d also have to spend more time out here in the living room instead of retreating to my bed. At least they seemed nice.
“Great!” I take a seat on the couch next to Sarah, ready to relax. They have some game show playing on the TV, but JJ immediately launches into a story about their high school days like he can’t stand the thought of me not knowing how fun he is. The pizza comes, and the rest of us dig in, but JJ keeps storytelling. It’s as if he’s done it all. Snooping around, pulling pranks, stealing, and…diving?
“You dove for treasure?” I try not to gape. It sounded like something out of a movie.
“Hell yeah, we did.” JJ leans back on the couch, a faraway look in his eyes. “We never found anything. But it was time with my friends. It gave me my girlfriend.”
“Kiara?” I reply, remembering the only girl’s name in the story besides Sarah.
“Yup. She’s amazing. You’d like her.” JJ tells me, still daydreaming.
“Does she still live in the Outer Banks?”
“No. She’s still at UNC, working on her Master’s. She’s gonna be a marine biologist.”
“Wow,” I huff, finishing up my pizza. “Good for her.”
“Okay, enough about you and Kie.” Sarah rolls her eyes, leaning toward me. “Jess, have you met anyone cute yet?” Her question catches me off guard, and I clear my throat.
“I haven’t even been here a month yet.” I say defensively. “I’ve only been at work, really.”
“Fair,” Sarah replies. “We need to change that. Get you out of the house.” I find myself getting nervous at the thought. Even back home, I didn’t go out much.
“Anyone catch your eye at work?” JJ adds on with a wink.
“Ew, God. I hope not. She works with Rafe. I’ve met some of those guys. You’re too good for them, Jess.” Sarah scrunches her nose.
“Wait,” JJ suddenly leans forward, his blue eyes laser focused on me. “You work with Rafe Cameron?”
“Yeah,” I nod. “He seems okay.” JJ scoffs as John B chuckles. I frown. “What?”
“He caused a lot of problems between us back in high school, with the whole kook and pogue thing.” John B answered.
“Kook and what?” I reply, flabbergasted at the lingo.
“You know, rich kids vs poor kids. Tale as old as time.” JJ says. Sarah waves them off.
“But he’s different now.” She insists. “He’s grown up.”
“Yeah,” John B says slowly, as if it pains him to admit it. “I still wouldn’t say he’s the nicest person. And I’m sure he’s fine at work. But I’m glad he’s okay with me dating Sarah, he didn’t used to be. And I’m glad he’s nice to Sarah now, too.”
“Don’t give him too much credit.” JJ runs a hand through his blond hair. “I can bet he still judges us for still living on the Cut.”
“I told you,” Sarah insists, poking him in the shoulder. “He doesn’t care about kooks and pogues anymore.”
“Well, excuse me if I find that hard to believe. Given our past, and all.” JJ shrugs.
“Sofia changed him a lot. And college, I think. He’s so different than he was, it’s kind of crazy.” Sarah smiles a bit.
“I understand a little, I think.” I tell her, wanting to affirm her. “My brother and I fought all the time in high school. He was so mean. It got so much better after I left for college. We talk so much more now, and even when we are both back home, we rarely fight. We both grew up.” It suddenly hit me how far away from home I was now. Sam was in his last year at Northwestern, still close-ish to home. But I was hundreds of miles away now. It would be a long drive if I wanted to visit, or I’d have to pay for a flight. I was so focused on work and getting settled here in Durham, I hadn’t really thought about it yet. I felt my heart start to ache.
“Speaking of,” I say, keeping my voice light. “I’m gonna give him a call before it’s too late at night. G’night, guys. Nice meeting you.”
The boys echo my farewell as I get up to throw my paper plate away. I start to fill up a glass of water in the kitchen when Sarah comes up to me.
“Hey,” She keeps her voice low while her smile stays warm. “I’m so sorry to just drop this on you, they surprised me and forgot I have a new roommate.”
“It’s okay!” I feel my voice get higher, wanting to assure her it’s fine.
“Do you mind if they stay here while they visit? JJ will be on the couch.”
“Yeah, no worries.” I shrug it off. “They seem nice enough, anyway.”
“Thank you, roomie,” Sarah gives me a hug before I can move.
“Like I said, no worries.” I insist as I hug her back before heading to my room. John B seemed so much different than who I thought Sarah would be with. Between her fancy job at Plec and her polished work clothes, I pictured someone…different. Someone like Colin, who was over-confident, over-dressed, with overly-white teeth. But John B seemed so much more down to Earth. It humanized Sarah even more.
I hopped into bed, ready to have a call with Sam to end the night. Slowly, I realized that as much as I missed home, Sarah was making things feel a little bit better here.
“The numbers are wrong, Rafe.” Colin’s tone snaps me out of my work the next day, and I straighten up, peering over my cubicle. He’s standing at his desk with Rafe, his signature smile gone. “How could they get it wrong?” My stomach lurches. They. Meaning me and Hannah. Rafe wasn’t the one in the wrong, Colin was just venting to him.
“It happens,” Rafe replies, his tone the same as always. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal?” Colin’s frustration seems to build, his voice easier to hear now. “I just briefed Mr. Terry on numbers that aren’t even right. And we brief senior leadership next week! It was careless. It shouldn’t be that hard.” At this point, my heart starts beating quickly. I fucked up, and it impacted the team. Clenching my fists, I sunk down into my chair as I tried to calm my heart.
“They can fix it.” Rafe insists. “We’ll just let Mr. Terry know, and it’ll be correct for the senior leaders. At least you caught it now, not after that.”
“Yeah,” Colin sighs, seemingly starting to relax.
“I’ll check their reports going forward. Be a third set of eyes.” Rafe promises.
“Thanks, man. What would I do without you?”
I hear Rafe sit back in his chair and my anxiety spikes again, just waiting for Colin or Mr. Terry to approach me. Taking a deep breath, I tried to prepare for a lecture. Instead, my screen pinged with a TEAMS message. It was from Rafe.
Rafe: can you send me that monthly report for this month? Colin found an error.
I took a moment before replying, wanting to apologize but not knowing if that was professional. Or even needed. Part of me wanted to take a deep breath, but I was convinced he’d hear me. So I squeezed my hands into fists before replying, my anxiety making sweat drip down the back of my neck.
J: Will do. Sorry about that.
R: all good. you’re new. just wanna fix before the meeting next week.
J: Thanks!
R: CC me on these when you send to Hannah for review in the future.
J: Of course.
He must think I’m stupid. The mistake was probably so simple. Careless, like Colin said. And with my luck, he’ll probably find a lot more. Hannah was always nice about it, but I doubt Rafe would be. I try to stop my inner panic. I really need this job. I moved here for it. Yes, I wanted to go to North Carolina anyway. But I didn’t want to start all over again.
Another ping snapped me out of it.
Hannah: So sorry for not catching that. This has not been my week.
J: No I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Did Colin freak out on you?
H: Haha a little, but he always does. Don’t worry about it. I have made so many mistakes, especially when I started. Everyone does. Even Colin as much as he won’t admit it.
J: Rafe is checking it over. He said he’d help with them going forward.
H: Extra eyes can’t hurt. Lunch at the cafe to take the stress off?
J: Yes!
Another ping. Rafe again.
Rafe: the formula in your second sheet didn’t carry over properly. I fixed it just look over it so you can see what I did when you have time.
J: Thanks again.
R: no problem. we will handle talking to Mr.Terry.
J: Are you sure I don’t need to talk to him?
R: no. he won’t care. no one higher up saw it. and you’re new.
After lunch I focused all my energy into the next report. I reviewed everything like crazy, staring at every little number until my eyes ached and my vision blurred. I didn’t even realize the afternoon had flown by until Hannah’s voice snapped me out of it.
“Ready to head out?” She asked, her keys in hand.
“Um, I’m actually going to stay a little longer.” I tell her, my eyes looking over the cubicle at Colin. He was talking into his headset, clearly in a meeting that ran late.
“Okay, have a good night!” Hannah waved before leaving. I turned my focus back to my spreadsheet, reviewing it from the start again. With that done, I could start on the next report ahead of time. Which gives me more time to review it. I was sure that I was getting the hang of it now. No mistakes.
The next day is the same. I dive into my work, only stopping for any meetings. I skip lunch with Hannah, opting for a salad from the cafeteria that I eat at my desk. The one nice thing is neither Colin nor Mr. Terry come hounding me about my mistake like my anxious thoughts assumed they would. I’m left on my own to fix what I did and make sure it didn’t happen again. I tried not to think about my last job, an internship in Chicago. Every time I would make a mistake, my boss would remind me that the last intern never caused as many problems as I did.
“You don’t get brownie points for staying late, dollface,” Rafe’s voice interrupts me this time, my gaze snapping his direction. He wasn’t even looking at me, just packing up his work bag for the day. I looked up to see Hannah and Colin already gone, my brain hadn’t even registered their goodbyes or the time.
“I’m not trying to get brownie points.” I scoff, turning back to my spreadsheet.
“Go home. You need the rest.” He says firmly. I can feel him looking at me now.
“I will.” I answer, refusing to look at him.
“Is this about Colin?” Rafe’s voice is closer now, and I almost startle as I look up at him. “Don’t worry about him. His opinion doesn’t mean anything for your job.”
“I…” I stammer, barely able to keep eye contact with him. “I just don’t want to screw this up again.” My voice gets quiet.
“You will.” Rafe says bluntly, and I force a dry laugh.
“Thanks.” I glare at him, noticing a hint of a smirk on his lips at my response.
“But Hannah will catch it. Or I will. You’re human.”
“Yeah.” That’s the only way I can think to reply, a blush rising in my cheeks. It always seemed like the end of the world to me whenever I messed up.
“Pack up,” Rafe insists. “It’ll still be here tomorrow.” I almost wanted to tell him that he wasn’t my boss and couldn’t tell me what to do, but I knew he was just trying to help and I wasn’t frustrated at him. I was frustrated at myself. Without a word, I shut down my laptop and packed my bag, Rafe waiting for me as if he was trying to see if I’d really go home. When I head to the elevator, he follows.
The elevator ride is silent as I try to reassure myself and Rafe texts on his phone. When the elevator dings open, he waves me forward, holding the door as I exit. Walking through the lobby, I debate what I’ll do when I get home to decompress. Maybe Sarah would be down to watch a movie? But the guys were still there. And I wasn’t really in the mood to be social. I could call Sam again and vent to him. Or my best friend back home, Maddie.
“Happy hour,” Rafe says to me like that means something.
“Hm?” I reply, noticing he’s still looking at his phone as he walks.
“Next week after the senior briefing. I’m sure Hannah will invite you, but you should go. It’ll be a good chance to bond with the team and relax a bit.”
“Uh, yeah. That sounds good.”
“See you tomorrow.” He says, unlocking a sleek, black car.
“Yeah, see you.”
I make it home in a daze, barely aware of the commute as the exhaustion builds. When I walk through the front door of the apartment, Sarah’s bedroom door is closed and I can hear her and John B giggling.
“What up, J Dog?” JJ calls from the couch as he watches some action movie, not even turning to look at me.
“Hey,” I reply, tossing my work bag to the side. “Could you turn that down a tad? I’m gonna go to bed early.”
“No problemo. Your house, your call.” He nods, grabbing the remote. “You gonna eat? We got pizza again.”
“I’m good, I got something. Thanks.” I grab a bowl of cereal from the kitchen, heading to my room and turning down the lights. Eating the cereal in silence, I stare out the window toward downtown Durham. Even though I wasn’t in pain today, I was so mentally exhausted. How was I going to survive 90 days of this job never taking leave?
