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“My favorite concert ever was probably Fall Out Boy, right before I moved away. Charlie, Marcus, and I road-tripped to Austin, Texas, and rented a super nice hotel room in downtown and partied before and after. It was absolutely awesome. Charlie had the biggest crush on Pete Wentz. Even though the man was married at the time and wouldn’t actually even see her. It didn’t really matter. She just went through this really traumatic thing with her family, so I surprised her with the trip. It helped but I’m still not sure she’s gotten over it, even after all these years.”
“Ouch. Must have been bad if it still hurts. Fall Out Boy would be the perfect amount of angst for something like that though. Glad you guys have those good memories.”
“It was definitely a trip of a lifetime. I don’t think I will ever forget it. Charlie, as you know, is really guarded and shy by nature, but she fucking let it all loose in Austin. It was incredible.”
“That’s awesome. I had a trip like that with a buddy back in college. We went on an epic mountain bike trip one summer in Arizona. Fucking hottest thing I’ve ever experienced. Not only was it challenging to keep riding physically, but if we weren’t careful to stay hydrated, we would have died for sure.”
“Holy shit. Why would you do something like that?”
“It was a challenge, like climbing Mt. Everest, not everyone would or could do it, and we can say we did.”
“Okay. I get that. It’s a huge accomplishment. I would and could never do that, so kudos, babe. I’m proud of you.”
I see it. The pride in her eyes and it’s aimed at me. Feeling brave I decide to go for what I hope to be good news.
“Well, thank you. I really did it so years down the road I could impress you.” I grin, and she knocks her shoulder into me.
“I do have some good news to share about work.”
I fork the last of my mac and cheese, trying to buy myself some time and see her nod out of the corner of my eye.
“I received an email from a company wanting us to build or remodel three business locations here in the city. Jack and I worked out all the details today and sent the quote. If they like it, it’ll be a lot of profitable work for us.”
“Cool,” is all she says as she eats one last bite, popping up to take her plate to the sink. Okay, maybe it’s not exciting news, but so far this night hasn’t been a total disaster, so I won’t push it. We don’t even know if they’ll follow through.
We finish the night with an MMA match, cheering for Caleb who does a much better job of cheering her up. Fucker.
The next morning I’m happy to see an email from Moretti International Trading accepting my bid and officially hiring the company. They want to see the locations as soon as possible so I forward their email along with the site locations to Jack and Lyla. She’s still in the shower, but I know she’s safe here at home, so I head out to meet Jack. I send her a text right after the email and promise her I’ll be back for lunch and want her to take the day off if she wants.
