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“Oh, I meant to ask,” I start, glancing up. “How did your meeting go today?”
“Really well. They offered me the job.”
“Rueben, that’s great!” I exclaim, breaking our dancing formation to give him a hug. “I’m so excited for you. Can you talk about what you’ll be doing?”
He glances around as we resume our dance. “A little of it, but some I won’t be able to discuss. There’s a huge NDA I had to sign just to even talk with the higher ups via video conference. It was a little surreal,” he says.
“I’m sure. I bet you’re going to be a computer spy working for the CIA, maybe in charge of communication between handler and agent,” I whisper, my eyes dancing with excitement.
Rueben laughs. “Where did you come up with that?”
I shrug. “I like to read.”
“Well, the job isn’t anything like that.”
“That you know of…”
He stops and glances down at me. “That I know of,” he confirms, the corner of his lip turning upward, the poster boy for mischievous.
“So? Are you going to take it?” I ask, anxiously awaiting his decision.
“I asked them to give me a few days to consider their offer. I need to go talk to my grandpa tomorrow. He’s always been my sounding board of sorts when it comes to these big decisions. I was planning to go visit them tomorrow anyway, so it’ll be great to talk to him in person instead of on the phone.”
Smiling, I reply, “That’s right, you said you were going to visit them.”
“Can you still go? You mentioned yesterday on the drive here you’d go with me, but I wasn’t sure what your flight information was,” he says, his eyes a little hopeful. Truthfully, I’m a little hopeful too. I’m not ready to end our weekend together yet.
“I fly out Monday night. I had planned to drive to Decatur tomorrow after the brunch and stay with my parents, but I’m going to need to hit up a car rental place first and pray they have a car available.”
We stop moving. “I have an idea,” Rueben starts. “What if, after the alumni brunch, we head outtogetherand visit my grandparents. We can be on the road to Decatur by three or so and spend the evening with your family. I haven’t seen them since graduation.” He stops quickly, schooling his features as he adds, “Unless you’d rather just hit the road solo. I totally get that.”
But I’m already shaking my head no, an idea already taking shape in my head. “No, I’d love for you to come with me. When is your flight?”
Rueben shrugs. “Tomorrow night, but it’s changeable.” He seems to swallow hard as he adds, “I’d rather spend the extra time with you.”
My own throat seems to develop golf balls and it’s hard to breathe over the emotions of his simple statement. Mostly, because I feel the same way. I’m much rather steal a few extra hours—a day even—with Rueben. My plan was to return to work on Tuesday, taking only one of my fourteen vacation days available. In fact, the last time I took a vacation or personal day was when I had the flu three years ago. Otherwise, I’m there, in the studio, ready to work.
But what if…
“What if we hung out a little longer?” I find myself whispering, searching for any sign of reservation in the depths of those brown eyes. When I don’t see any, I keep talking, so much so fast I’m not sure he actually keeps up. “What if we visited my parents tomorrow night and left Monday afternoon. We could drive north to Chicago and maybe stay there for a few days. I have hotel points I can use, and plenty of vacation time built up. We could stay up there through Thursday and then fly home on Friday.”
I wait as he absorbs what I just said. He seems to be thinking about it, almost a little too hard, and I start to feel dread fill my gut. He doesn’t want to hang out with me that long, does he. He’s trying to come up with an excuse. Maybe he doesn’t have any time off available and he needs to head back to Tennessee. I’m about to take back my suggestion when a smile spreads easily over his lips.
“I love that idea. I might have to do a little work, but I can work wherever, really. Can you move your flight from Monday to Friday?” he asks.
“I think so. I might have to pay a fee, but that’s not a problem,” I assure him.
Realizing we’re just standing there in the middle of the dance floor, while couples around us sway to the music, Rueben starts to move us once more. “You know, I’ll help with the hotels. You don’t have to pay for it all. Actually, we could probably just share a room. It’ll be cheaper that way,” he says, glancing around at those surrounding us and not really making eye contact.
“We could do that. I mean, we already know we’re capable of sharing a hotel room, right?” I reply with a weird chuckle. It sounds like I’m fake choking on air.
“Right.”
“And we could get double beds. You know, if we need to.”
Rueben’s eyes finally lock on mine, and I feel the impact sweep through my body. Like a hurricane spiraling through my veins, my breasts start to tingle and my lady parts ache. “What if…we don’t get double beds. What if we just share one. Together.”
My throat is drier than the Sahara. Words seem to evade me, even though I want to scream my acceptance from the highest mountain. Nodding slightly, my brain and tongue finally communicate. “Together. I’d like that.”
