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As I approached the long mahogany bar near the entrance of the rooftop lounge, I heard a familiar voice call out my name.
“Ty! There he is.”
I grinned and clapped my old friend and fellow business major, Andrew, on the back. He played his cards right when he got out of college and now owned a few franchises. He was doing well for himself. I playfully ruffled the back of his red hair.
“Growing out the locks, man?” I teased him, dodging a light punch from him to greet Chris.
Chris had shaved his blonde hair, looking like he had just gotten out of the military. Out of all of us, he was the fittest, which I expected since he ran his own gym. He was in the gym as much as the classroom when we were in college.
“You should really come to my gym,” Chris said after we embraced. He patted my arm. “Sitting behind that desk all day isn’t good for your muscles.”
“What are you saying? I’m looking good,” I scoffed as I playfully flexed, coaxing laughter from them. I sat down at the bar between them, lifting my hand to flag the bartender down and order my usual whiskey.
“How’s the business going?” Andrew asked, leaning his forearms against the bar.
“It’s going fine. Staying busy,” I replied. I didn’t want anyone outside of my executive board to know how things were actually going at Ashland Consulting. Plus, I didn’t want my friends to worry about me. They would try to offer money or help, but I didn’t want any of that. They both had their own lives to keep intact. I wasn’t going to take anything from them.
“Good. There was an article about you the other day, Mr. Bachelor,” Chris smirked as he nudged me. “Still a bachelor?”
“Yeah, you could say that,” I laughed before taking a sip of my drink. Honestly, I wasn’t sure where I stood with Madison. I completely went against my common sense when I went into her office the morning after we slept together. I told myself to move on, but I couldn’t. I wanted more of her, so I had more of her.
I felt like this was a train wreck waiting to happen. I understood where her concerns were coming from, but I didn’t want her to worry. We were supposed to have a good time together, not fret over bullshit. Besides, I was the top dog at my company. No one was going to blabber their mouths if I didn’t want them to. I would shut that shit down immediately.
“What about you? Are you dating again?” I asked Chris. A year ago, he divorced his first wife, Wendy. They still had a kid together, which was more complication than I ever wanted to deal with. I couldn’t imagine having a kid with someone that I was no longer with. Now, Chris and Wendy were stuck in each other’s lives forever because of their daughter.
“I’m open to it. I just haven’t found anyone yet,” Chris replied with a shrug. “It’ll happen when it happens.”
Chris was a laidback guy. He didn’t worry over the details. When a crisis happened, he was the guy to turn to because he was the only one keeping calm. I couldn’t count how many times he talked me down during college when I was upset or pissed off.
“How’s Lina?” Andrew asked with a warm grin, referring to Chris’ seven-year-old daughter.
“She’s great. It took her a minute to get used to the back and forth between me and her mom’s place, but she’s settling in well,” Chris replied. His face seemed to glow whenever he talked about his daughter. “What about your kids?”
I glanced back and forth between them as they talked about their children. When it came to conversations like these, I felt out of place, like I was stuck on the outside. I didn’t understand their lives all that well any longer. We were so different from how we were back in college. I supposed that was a good thing. We all seemed happier, but we were on totally different paths now.
“Waiting on this guy to finally settle down and produce a kid,” Andrew’s voice tuned back into my mind as he smirked at me.
I scoffed and shook my head. “Have fun changing diapers,” I replied. “While you’re at the changing table, you can find me at the nearest bar instead.”
“Mr. Bachelor is too cool for kids, remember?” Chris told Andrew, exchanging an amused look with him.
I rolled my eyes at them as they mocked me. Maybe I sounded a bit pretentious to them. I even sounded pretentious to myself. The thought of taking care of a kid made me a bit uneasy, but it was just foreign to me. I only took care of myself and my business. Basically, Ashland Consulting was my baby. I was happy with my life, but I certainly didn’t have their same level of joy. When Andrew talked about his wife and kids, his eyes literally seemed to shine. Compared to how he was now, he was miserable in college, and I thought he was living his best life then. Even Chris seemed happy with his kid, and he went through a divorce. Deep down, I wanted to feel as happy and fulfilled as they did. Only a fool would say that they didn’t want to be happy.
