Page 18 of Outside Looking In

“Hangovers are for amateurs.”

“Are you still munted? Drunk?”

“You ask a lot of questions. We should probably get to work, Liam.”

“I don’t appreciate your attitude. If you don’t want to work here, then leave.”

“I’m happy to work here. I guess I’m just drying off from this morning, when I was drenched in a surprise ice bath. That was theonlything you could think of to wake me up?” Nathan quirked an eyebrow at him. “I don’t see why we have to get up so early. The sheep would still be here at noon.”

“Noon? Is that when you get up?”

“Again with these questions.” Nathan puffed out a cloud of smoke. “Do you have any coffee? I have a headache like a motherfucker.”

Liam was too frustrated to roll his eyes. He had a feeling Nathan would be quitting by the end of the day, and then he could get back to his regular routine. “There’s no smoking on the premises.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. I’m almost done.”

“Not almost. Now, please.”

“Just two more puffs. Or three.”

Liam nodded and strained to smile. “Those are nice sunglasses. Can I see them?”

“Sure.” Nathan took them off and handed them over. Liam studied the sleek plastic frames.

“These are sweet as.”

“Sweet as what?” Nathan asked.

“Huh? Just sweet as. We like saying that here. Sweet as, mean as.”

“Do they not like finishing similes in New Zealand?” Nathan exhaled smoke from his cigarette and held out his hand. “Can I have those back?”

“They’re designer, I’m assuming.” Liam ripped the cigarette out of Nathan’s mouth and stubbed the butt on one lens, then the other. The ash burned peepholes through the plastic.

“Those are Dolce and Gabbana!” Nathan yelled.

“I’m more of a Gucci man.” Liam tossed them back to him. “Let’s get on with it. Are you ready to shovel some hay?”

Nathan

The answer was no. Most definitely no.

Nathan’s head felt like a buoy bobbing in a sea of whiskey. He didn’t remember how much he drank. Enough to get him to stop thinking about his mum and his family and feelings that he hadn’t thought about in a long time.

Until he was nearly drowned a few hours later by this monster of a boss. Nathan had a lot to process over the past few days, and hours after encroaching on his mother’s family, he was being thrown headfirst into farming. It was a bit much.

And now the sun was coming out and he had no sunglasses.

Liam had him clean all the dirty, smelly hay off the barn floors where the sheep rest.

“It’s all smells like shit. How will I know which one to remove?” Nathan asked.

“You’ll know,” he said gravely.

Nathan scraped off hay mashed into the floor, hay covered in things he did not want to think about. He worked and worked until his body could take no more and his muscles wanted to explode in agony.

“Is there a break room where I can get a cup of coffee? I really need some coffee.”