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“Yesterday I said fuck accidentally while Tristan was listening. So I had to cover real fast, which led to making clucking sounds like a chicken. And thus far, it’s stuck.”
Two more blinks. “What other words have you modified?”
“Mm. I’m still working on the list, but shizzles seems to have made its way into my vocabulary lately. And I managed to call a woman that cut me off the other day in traffic a ‘be-ach ball.’”
He threw back his head with laughter, taking me completely off guard. I giggled in response.
At that moment, Josh walked into the apartment. He tilted his head to the side at the scene, and I guessed this side of Mark wasn’t typical.
“What’s so funny?” He glanced between us.
Mark abruptly stopped, looking embarrassed. “Juliette’s mommy-cursing modifiers. Guess you’d better make some notes for your little girl.”
Josh smiled. “Indeed. I see you haven’t wasted any time in getting started on Mark’s files.”
“Well, I didn’t have anything else happening today, and I kept thinking of this room. I figured with Tristan down for a nap, I’d get started.”
Josh had an amused expression. “And Mark is letting you?”
“She was rather persistent about it,” Mark mumbled, appearing as though he regretted his decision.
“Don’t you dare go complaining after I’ve been on my knees the last two hours, hoping to impress you with my skills.”
It took a moment. That space in time where you watch someone absorb your words and realize the expression on their face is not the one you’d expected. So you rewind your words through your head and realize what was actually said. “Oh, crap, that didn’t come out right.”
Josh bit his lip, which I think was an effort not to laugh, and then cleared his throat. “Uh, I’m just going to, uh, not touch that one. Mark, you ready?”
Mark, who seemed to permanently sport adorable pink splotches on his handsome face when I was within a ten-foot radius, backed up slowly. “Yeah. Um, thanks for working on this mess and see you later.”
“Sure. See you then.”
He couldn’t seem to get out of there fast enough.
Again.
Cluck. My. Life.
* * *
It had takenthe rest of the week, but Mark was now officially organized. Judging from the expression on his face, he could hardly believe it looking around his space.
“This looks amazing. But how do I find things?”
I led him into the bedroom to show him. “Everything is sorted by year.” I pointed to the four cabinets. “The far one is the oldest, and the closest one is the most recent.” I opened one of the drawers to show him the files. “Everything is labeled with a color for the year and then a bar code which I haven’t input yet. But eventually it will be on your computer, so if you were searching for the—” I glanced down at the file name. “2015 Cancun Hotel deal and everything related to it, it would be assigned this number.”
“So if I input that name into the computer, it’ll tell me it’s filed under 2015?”
“Not only that. It’ll also show you it’s the orange color code, file cabinet number two, drawer two. As you can see, all these folders are tagged with orange, and they’re in drawer number two. But like I said, I’ll need another week to get all of this info into the computer. Physical mess first, impressive computer online filing system second.”
He walked over to another set of drawers and pulled one open, running his hand across the top. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t think I’ve ever had a system, let alone things simply filed. Thank you.”
I beamed. I might not have a college degree, a fancy title, or an impressive vocabulary, but I was a filing ninja. “You’re welcome. By the way, the active deals, the ones that were on your desk, are still there, but now they’re put in folders.” I stepped back into the living room. “And this accordion file is full of miscellaneous stuff, mostly receipts. Judging from the majority, you eat out a lot.”
Boom. He was blushing again. He put a hand behind his neck, gripping there and looking embarrassed. “I don’t cook much.”
“In that case, if you’re interested, I have pulled pork cooking in the crock pot for dinner. Along with that, I’ve got potato salad and coleslaw already in the fridge.”
“Do you make big meals every night?”
