2024-08-02 “From Crazy To Complicated” by Merritt

I’m leaving the main office, and I think I’ve got some… complications.

This morning, I got a text message from Will Robertson about my “notes” in a report I had filled.I knew immediately what he was going to say.

Skipping the technicalities, the roof at the site was supported by beams from the 1950’s made in a way that had turned out to eventually lead to failure. Since this problem seems pretty critical, I mentioned it in the report.

When I got off the elevator on his floor, Hannah saw me, waved and approached. “Morning New Guy. Thanks for dinner last night. You didn’t tell me Emma was your girlfriend. I suppose it wouldn’t have mattered, but…”

I’m sure I looked surprised. “Girlfriend?”

Hannah smiled. “I got that vibe.”

“I wouldn’t say Emma is my girlfriend. So…”

“Then are you talking?”

“Yeah, we talk every day.”

Hannah frowned. “You know what I mean… talking-talking?”

I had no idea what she meant.

“We can circle back to this… Mr. Robertson is waiting, but I definitely got a vibe from her that I shouldn’t have been there.”

Emma and I had briefly discussed her feelings, but I said. “I’m sure it was just her worrying about the meal. It was a new recipe.”

“Merritt,” Hannah said as we got closer to Mr. Robertson, “you’re nice to a fault and I’d like to keep some space in my head for having you around, but I don’t want to mess things up. I gotta tell you… I’d like to be friends with Emma even if you never existed.”

“Yeah, she liked you, too,”

Hannah went back to what she was doing as I approached Mr. Robertson. “Merritt… Every time I look at you, you seem more familiar than our few encounters would warrant.”

“I don’t know what to say, sir.”

“Call me ‘Will’… I reviewed your report. I have to say that I was surprised by your ‘material failure’ alert. That’s a good catch, and not something I’d expect from someone your age. I’m very impressed.”

I had no idea what to say. “Thank you… I think I ran across an article when I was taking a materials class.”

He took off his jacket, then we went to a drafting table with plans for the site I had worked on. We talked about the report, then I went to my next client.

Complicated? Yeah, I think so.