Chapter 8
When Thor approached the conference room, he could clearly hear the two men dicussing. But it sounded that Mr. Nálson was the one who was upset.
"I've told you before and I'll tell you again, I want you to make a decision as soon as possible. That's what you owe me. After all..."
However, Loki's father stopped talking when he realized that he was comming in. Thor immediately had a bad feeling. Would he be told that he should end his internship or had he done something else he didn'tknow about? The blonde man couldn't imagine that Loki would complain about him, but he could not speak for his family. Even though he had tried so hard to befriend Hela or at least have a friendly talk with her, it didn't seem to interest her. Each time she had punished him with cold glares or ignored him completely. Her greatest concern seemed to be the well-being of her younger brother, whom she lovingly cared for, except that neither he or Natascha had given any reason to worry about. They were never late for appointments or otherwise allowed any mistakes, which could jeopardize the black-haired man's safety.
Carefully, he entered the room and could see that not only the two men were present, but also the young nurse. When he looked to her for help, she shrugged her shoulders unknowingly.
"Thor, there you are. Perfect. Then we can start. The reason why I let you both come is that we're looking for a new primary caretaker for Loki Nálson. So far, this task was done by Miss Romanov, but since she is one of our head nurses, she won't be able to continue. Normally, I would look for a suitable successor, but we don't have time for that because Mr. Nálson doesn't live downtown and his daughter is too busy at work, so that in the future she won't be able to continue caring for her brother as she has done so far. Thus, we are faced with a difficult decision."
Odin had gotten up and Thor could tell that his father was nervous. Never in his life had he seen the old man anxious or worried. If you took a close look, he rarely showed any emotions, except anger. He always said that you couldn't afford weaknesses as a manager and that's why Thor was surprised that Odin almost broke out in sweat because of such things.
"I had a conversation with Ms. Romanov this morning and she said Thor was the best for this job."
For the first moment, the blonde man didn't know what to say. Had he heard right or was he dreaming? A look to Mr. Nálson revealed that the man was as surprised as he was. He had the same perplexed expression on his face. But before Thor could react or agree in any way, Laufey leapt from his seat and approached Odin.
"Are you kidding me? He should take care of my son? The boy can't even take care of himself."
The dicussion between the two men continued, but Thor stopped listening. What did Laufey mean by not being able to take care of himself? Well, he was right. The last few months had been anything but fun for him, but how was he supposed to know that? Did he know him personally or maybe he had him checked? Thor shook his head, no one could be so paranoid. Something like that only happened in movies.
In the meantime, Natascha had also risen and tore Thor from his thoughts.
"I don't know what your problem is, but please, could we all calm down. We're here to make a decision and in my opinion, Thor is suitable for this task. Loki gets on well with him and that's supposed to mean something. I don't want to be rude, but he has already scared other nurses away. Only with his words. Of course, Thor hasn't any training. Fortunately, I was able to watch him over the week and I have to say that he's a quick learner. We wouldn't leave him alone with your son. I would personally take care that he knows everything which is necessary to do a proper job and he will continue to be under my observation. But I think, that our big guy will be able to pick up your son from school. In the end we all want only the best for Loki."
Thor looked at his colleague with amazed eyes. Usually, compliments rarely came over her lips, which meant that you never really knew where you were with her. She, on the other hand, was a pro when it came to getting the most out of the situation, keeping a clear head when things got nasty, and most importantly, she never let stress and annoyance get to her patients. Which was probably why she liked Loki so much. He was a very introverted person, liked to hide behind his books, but when he was tempted he could strike with lightning speed. He was like a crocodile, which was waiting for prey. Natascha loved to test her limits and to be challenged, but she never pushed him too far and always remained polite. In Thor's case, he not only got insulting words from Loki, no, the young nurse also liked to make his life difficult. So far, he hadn't felt that he was doing his job well, but he was obviously wrong.
"You can not believe that, Miss Romanov!"
Laufey was still standing in the middle of the room, not knowing what was happening to him. His emotions changed from disbelief to anger and back. Both parties, Odin and Natascha, were convinced that he was well suited to taking care of Loki and Thor had to admit that he liked the idea. He got on well with the young man. Apart from the professional connection, he would call both of them friends.
But Loki's father seemed to be anything but happy with the decision. But why? Well, Natascha had already said that he had no education, but he would do nothing that would hurt his patient. If he had learned something in his job, it was the fact, that he had to take time to think and then act. If he were unsure about a situation, he would either ask for advice or contact the company. After all, these were people who needed help. Mistakes couldn't be allowed, because even the smallest adversities could have fatal consequences. The blonde man was aware of that.
Mr. Nálson should dance with joy instead because he got a caretaker so soon, if the situation was as urgent as Odin said. In this moment, he would like to have Loki at his side. The black-haired man would take a quick look at him, saying that he should take a deep breath and then to stay calm. He always had that soothing effect on him, which Thor could really need right now, because he could feel the anger in him steadily rising.
"If I could say something about that matter, I would like to take over the task. My colleague has already mentioned correctly that I'm still a newbie, but I'll manage to bring your son to his appointments. And I really can't understnd why you make such a drama. You need the help. If you don't like my father's choice, then feel free to looke somewhere else."
The last sentence was wrong. Thor knew it the moment he said it out loud. Because not only Odin, also Natascha turned to him and gave him warning glances. But he couldn't help it. For a long time, something good happened to him and one person managed to make him look bad again.
"No, of course, you'll get the needed help from us. But Thor and Miss Romanov are right, you have to live with the decision, Laufey. My colleague has been gaining many years of work experience and is always doing well for our company, so if she says that my son's the right person for this job, then I'll support her choice."
Mr. Nálson still seemed to be unhappy, at least when judged by his tensed shoulders and clenched jaw. But he, too, seemed to have understood now that he had to accept Thor or otherwise had to find another company which provided him with nursing staff. Loki's father swallowed hard, slowly approached him and nailed the blonde man down with his glances.
"If I only hear one complaint about you, then you're a dead man, Borson."
With these words Laufey left the conference room and slammed the door behind him.