Chapter 8 Chapter Eight: Last Call Before Austin

       The office felt louder than usual. Not because it actually was. It always sounded like this, phones ringing, keyboards clacking, someone talking too fast across the room about a deadline that should’ve been met yesterday, but today it pressed in differently. Tighter. Like everything had to be finished right now or it would fall apart. Rowan barely looked up from her screen.

“Did we get confirmation on that last shipment?” she called out, her eyes scanning three different tabs at once.

“Which one?” came the reply from somewhere behind her. Rowan didn’t hesitate.

“The backup display units. The ones that were supposed to ship yesterday but didn’t.”

A pause.

“…Working on it.”

Rowan exhaled slowly through her nose.

“Define working on it,” she muttered under her breath.

Her fingers moved faster, pulling up tracking numbers, vendor notes, emails, cross-checking everything with the efficiency that came from doing this far too often. Expo was tomorrow. Which meant today, everything had to be tied up, confirmed, double-checked, and somehow still flexible enough to fix whatever went wrong once they got there. Because something always went wrong. Jess rolled her chair over and dropped into the empty space beside Rowan’s desk like she lived there.

“You’ve been doing that thing again,” she said, sipping her coffee.

Rowan didn’t took up. “What thing?”

“The ‘if I don’t personally touch every single detail, the entire event will collapse’ thing.”

Rowan finally glanced over. “It’s not a thing if it’s accurate.”

Jess snorted. “Fair. But also… slightly concerning.”

Rowan huffed out a quiet laugh, shaking her head before turning back to her screen.

“I just want this to go smoothly,” she said. “That’s not unreasonable.”

Jess leaned back in her chair. “Nothing about expos is reasonable. You know that.”

Rowan did. That was exactly why she prepared like this. Her cursor hovered for a moment over a vendor confirmation email before clicking send. Another task checked off. Another small piece in place. And still, that feeling lingered. Rowan paused. Just for a second. Her fingers stilled over the keyboard as her brow pulled together slightly. Something was missing. Not something on her list. Not a shipment or a vendor or a forgotten box. Something else. Something she couldn’t quite reach.

“Rowan?”

She blinked, looking up. Jess was watching her more closely now.

“You, okay?” Jess asked. “You keep zoning out.”

Rowan straightened slightly, forcing herself back into the moment.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just ready to be done with today.”

Jess studied her for another second, then nodded.

“Same. I love the expo, but getting there is chaos.”

Rowan nodded in agreement, grateful for the shift. Chaos, she understood. Chaos she could manage. This quiet, nagging disconnect, she couldn’t. She pushed it aside, diving back into her work. Emails. Calls. Confirmations. A vendor finally responded, late, but workable. Another issue got resolved faster than expected. For a while, everything clicked into place. By mid-afternoon, the tension in the office had started to ease. Not gone, but softer. People were finishing up. Closing things out. Talking about travel plans instead of problems. Jess reappeared beside her desk, leaning against it this time.

“Okay,” she said. “Tell me we didn’t forget anything major.”

Rowan leaned back slightly, scanning her list one more time.

“Booth materials, confirmed. Inventory, packed. Giveaways, overpacked.”

Jess grinned. “Obviously.”

“Backup vendors, contacted. Shipping, tracked. Emergency supplies, covered.”

Jess raised a brow. “Emergency supplies?”

Rowan shrugged. “Tape. Chargers. Extra cords. You’d be surprised what people forget.”

Jess shook her head. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Prepared,” Rowan corrected.

Jess smiled. “Same thing.”

Rowan closed out her last tab and shut her laptop, the screen going dark. For a second, she just sat there. The office noise fading into the background. That feeling crept back in. Stronger now that she wasn’t actively working. Like something unfinished. Something waiting. She frowned slightly.

“Hey,” Jess said, nudging her shoulder. “We’re done. Stop thinking.”

Rowan let out a breath.

“Right. Done.”

She grabbed her bag, standing and stretching slightly.

Around them, people were packing up, saying quick goodbyes, already mentally halfway out the door. Rowan glanced back at her desk one last time. Everything was in order. Exactly how she liked it. And still, that unease lingered. She turned away from it. Outside, the air felt cooler, lighter. Jess tossed her bag into the passenger seat of Rowan’s car before climbing in, already reaching for the radio.

“Road trip rules,” she announced. “I pick music first.”

“Absolutely not,” Rowan said, sliding into the driver’s seat.

Too late. Jess had already hit play. Music filled the car, loud, familiar, something they both knew well enough to sing along to without thinking. Rowan rolled her eyes but didn’t turn it down. They pulled out of the parking lot, the office shrinking behind them. For the first time all day, Rowan felt herself breathe.

“So,” Jess said, turning slightly in her seat, “strategy. Who are we targeting first tomorrow?”

Rowan adjusted her grip on the wheel, slipping easily into planning mode.

“Mid-size vendors early. Less crowded, better chance to actually talk.”

Jess nodded. “And potential customers?”

“The ones expanding,” Rowan said. “Anyone scaling up is going to need more support.”

Jess smiled. “You’re already working.”

“It’s literally my job.”

Jess bumped her shoulder lightly. “Yeah, but you’re good at it.”

Rowan didn’t answer right away. Because she was. Work made sense. Clear expectations, clear outcomes. People, didn’t.

“Maybe I’ll meet my future husband at the expo,” Jess said suddenly.

Rowan laughed. “If you do, I’m leaving you there.”

“Wow. Rude.”

“You’ll be fine.”

Jess smirked. “Unlike you, apparently.”

Rowan groaned softly. “Here we go.”

“I’m just saying,” Jess continued, “you’ve never dated anyone longer than, what, ten months?”

“Twelve,” Rowan corrected automatically.

Jess pointed. “Exactly. You hit a year and disappear.”

“I don’t disappear.”

“You emotionally evacuate.”

Rowan tightened her grip on the steering wheel slightly.

“I just don’t settle,” she said.

Jess’s tone softened. “I know. But your parents don’t see it that way.”

Rowan huffed quietly. “My parents think I should be married with kids by now.”

“Same,” Jess said. “Mine keep sending me houses I can’t afford.”

Rowan smiled faintly.

“They mean well,” Jess added.

“Yeah,” Rowan said. “Doesn’t make it less annoying.”

Jess glanced at her. “You ever feel like something’s missing, though?”

Rowan hesitated. Because, yes, but not in the way Jess meant.

“Sometimes,” she admitted.

Jess nodded, satisfied with the answer. But Rowan’s thoughts drifted. Back to that feeling. Not loneliness, not exactly. Just something she couldn’t name. Something just out of reach. The music played on, filling the space between them. Austin tomorrow, expo, people, noise. Normal. Rowan focused on that. Held onto it. Because whatever that other feeling was, she couldn’t quite touch it. And somehow that bothered her more than anything else.