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“I couldn’t stay cooped up in that house for another minute,” she said. “I needed to get out and see the world again.”
“Gabe wasn’t taking care of you right? You just give me the word,” I said, and she laughed.
“Thank you, Nick,” she said. “Gabe did a great job taking care of me. A little bit too good a job sometimes. He didn’t want me to do anything, even when the doctor said I could start doing more. Finally, today my mom came over to spend some time with the baby, and I told Gabe I was breaking out. Either he could come with me, or I was going to figure out how to do it on my own.”
I laughed. “That a girl. how are you feeling?”
“Still pretty awful,” she admitted. “But it’s getting better.”
“That’s good to hear. Do you guys have plans for lunch?”
Gabe and Cynthia exchanged glances, then took their heads.
“No,” Gabe said. “We just came by here for a quick visit.”
“And I’m sure it had absolutely nothing to do with you wanting to know what’s going on with the situation with Bryn?” I asked.
Gabe pretended like he had no idea what I was talking about. “Oh, is that still going on?”
I shook my head and scoffed. “Let me get this file sent, and we’ll go grab something to eat.”
“Do you mind if we just order something in?” Cynthia asked. “I got some really unpleasant looks when we were walking in here, and I’m pretty sure a woman called the police on Gabe.”
I laughed. “No problem. What sounds good to you?”
We dug through my desk drawer full of menus from takeout places around the area and settled on Thai.
The food came relatively quickly considering the sheer volume we ordered. We went back into the breakroom to eat it at one of the large tables.
We had just started dishing out the food onto our plates when Bryn showed up at the door.
“Hi, Bryn,” I said, shocked to see her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I had no idea you were eating lunch. Your receptionist told me I could find you back here. I don’t mean to interrupt. Just give me a call later.”
Cynthia shook her head and waved her in. “No, don’t be silly. Come on in. Join us. As you can see, there is more than enough food to go around.”
“Are you sure?” Bryn asked.
“Absolutely,” Gabe said.
She thought for a few seconds, then cautiously reached out and served herself tiny amounts of a few of the simplest options. We ate and chatted for a while, and then Cynthia’s phone alarm went off. She adjusted herself carefully in her chair so she could get her phone out of her pocket.
“Oh,” she said. “It’s time for me to take my medicine.”
“We’re going to have to go,” Gabe said. “As soon as she takes her medicine, it makes her tired. We need to get home so she can rest.”
“Okay,” I said. “Thanks for coming by. It was really good to see you.”
I gave her another careful hug, then gave one to Gabe. They promised to visit again soon, and I set a time to check in with Gabe about his clients. They walked out, and I turned back around to Bryn. She was busying herself boxing up the leftovers and moving them into the refrigerator.
“Thank you for lunch,” she said. “It was delicious.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Are you feeling better?” I asked.
“Some. Not a hundred percent.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yes,” she said.
I stopped and looked at her, not entirely sure where the conversation was going.
“Yes?” I asked.
“I’ll work with you. After you left, I went over all the papers, and I’m really interested in what you are thinking.”
“I’m so glad to hear that,” I said.
“It’s not going to be immediate. Getting the seed money to start off the new investments is going to take me a little bit of time. But I will accept a few extra orders to make the money,” Bryn said.
“That’s fantastic. There’s no rush. You just let me know when you’re ready and we’ll get started. Now, you’re okay with the estimate I gave?” I asked.
“Yes. That all looks good.”
“Great. I look forward to getting started,” I said.
“Thank you for doing this. It’s really going above and beyond,” she said.
“It’s not a big deal,” I said, trying to minimize the significance so she didn’t feel guilty for the work I put into it.
“It is, though,” she said. “At least, it is to me. And I don’t feel right with you not accepting any payment. We should—”
“No,” I said, holding up a hand to stop her. “I’m not going to talk about it. You aren’t paying me for this. I want to do it for you. Okay?”
She finally nodded. “Alright.”
“Good.”
I walked her to the door and thanked her for coming in. She looked exhausted as she left, but I didn’t say anything. Hopefully we could get started soon and the stress would be gone.
