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I mean, as the one who’d called it out, I knew he wasn’t about to let me just play this off completely. So instead of trying to avoid the inevitable, I was straightforward when I mentioned, “I got an email today. From Nike.”
“Oh word? Saying what?”
“They want to meet with me about a designer position,” I answered. “One I applied for months ago.”
With that, I abandoned the bathroom to head back into the bedroom with Lance right on my heels, his tone relatively neutral when he asked, “And you’re thinking about it?”
“I feel like I shouldn’t be,” I admitted as I pulled on a t-shirt to sleep in. “I mean, they were the ones who played me off after my internship. And now that I’ve found success on my own, they wanna bring me in for a meeting? It just seems a little…”
“Opportunistic?”
“Yeah, that,” I agreed with a nod as I climbed into bed, only to end up climbing right back out once I realized how big of a wet spot we’d left on the sheets. And since I was way too tired to change them completely, I went and grabbed a bath towel to cover it, Lance waiting for me to return before he asked, “Is that a good enough reason not to at least hear them out though?”
Wait what?
To hear him be on their side -or rather, in support of the possibility of me leaving- was a major surprise that had me struggling not to react one way or another as I listened to him explain, “I mean, thatisthe company you’ve always wanted to work for. And if nothing else, you can have the pleasure of going out there on their dime and telling them no to their faces.”
“Wouldn’t that be something,” I sighed dreamily; though I wasn’t completely confident that things were going to play out that way since he was right.
Thiswasthe company I’d always wanted to work for. And not only was I more than qualified for the position, but I also had a booming business to fall back on, giving me the leverage to negotiate myself into a perfect situation…depending on what they had to say.
Like he’d read my mind, Lance pulled me into his chest while suggesting, “Take the trip, see how it goes, and we can talk about it when you get back,” his plan sounding like a sure one until he tagged on, “As long as it doesn’t interfere with you being in the stands on Sunday.” And since I could only imagine how much me actually taking the job would interfere with a lot more than just me being at his games, I said nothing, silently praying that things would work out for us either way.
* * *
I still hadn’t responded to that damn email.
Tomorrow would make a full week since they’d sent it to me. And it had gone untouched since the first time I saw it; mostly because I’d been too busy to respond or only remembered I needed to do so in the middle of the night when it wasn’t appropriate to be sending a professional email, but also because I still wasn’t sure if I really wanted to hear what they had to say.
I mean, my current situation was already so perfect, which meant it would take a whole lot for me to give up the new life I was just now getting settled into. And honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was even worth it to go through the trouble of making things harder on myself with options, that thought weighing on me as I stood near the concession stand waiting on Nala who had joined me for today’s game since Lance’s parents were away on some jazz cruise.
When she finally approached me with both of her arms full of snacks, I was tempted to remind her that her baby girl wasn’t here with us. But apparently, that was theexactreason why she had so much, an excited grin on her face when she rhetorically asked, “Do you know how amazing it's about to be to not have to share any of this with any grubby little fingers? God, I cannotwait.”
“What if I want some?” I asked teasingly, the look she responded with telling me that I’d better get my ass in line to get my own stuff. But instead of doing that, I made a quick stop in the bathroom so that I wouldn’t have to climb the stadium stairs too many times, the sight of an oddly familiar face -and her son- entering as I was on my way out making it less of a shock when I bumped right into Darnell who was standing next to the exit.
He was still handsome, still wearing all the designer shit, and still a huge fan of my man according to the new Hawkins jersey he had on. And if the ring on his finger was any indication, he was apparently also married now, that part surprising me a bit even though I suppose it made a little more sense of why he’d blocked me on social media.
And why Aubrey had wished him congratulations that day.
Looking back on it, it was her behavior that had bothered me a lot more than his since I thought she and I were actually becoming friends. But after rooting so hard for me and her stepbrother to become a thing, she’d probably assumed him popping up married was going to make things awkward between us when, in reality, I was actually really happy for him.
To make that clear, I was especially cool about our run-in when I finally greeted him with a playful, “Well if it isn’t Mr. Trill Nell himself.”
“Long time, no see, Ms. Bri,” he responded with that perfect grin of his before asking, “How you been?”
“I’ve been well.”
“You look it,” he commented with a slow once-over that made my eyebrows go up a bit as I gave a nod towards his hand while replying, “And youlook... like you’ve recently changed someone’s last name.”
Thankfully, the reminder of his wedding ring was enough to get him back on track as he gave a proud smile when he said, “Yeah, me and my baby moms made it happen.”
Thinking back on the ways they’d both spoken about their dynamic so carefully only a few months ago, it was actually kind of adorable that they’d ended up getting married. And since I could only imagine how happy their little boy was to see his parents together, it was easy for me to smile as I told him, “That’s beautiful. Congratulations.”
“And congrats to you too,” he replied, my eyes squinting confusedly until he asked, “Squirrel, right?”
Blushing embarrassedly, I responded, “It's an inside joke,” just as his family walked up to join us. And even though I secretly wished I would’ve stepped away a second sooner, I tried my best not to be awkward about it when Darnell decided to introduce me to them.
“Bri, this is my wife, Josie, and my son, DJ. Josie, this is an old friend of mine, Bri.”
