AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Eww.”
“That’s right, eww.” Archer gave me a pointed look. “Turn your volume up, dearie.”
I watched Kaylee click the volume button on her iPad and resume playing her game. For all that Archer teased me about developing crushes right before shipping out, it didn’t hold a candle to the emotional toll that our daughter took on me. As cliché as it sounded, Kaylee was my everything. I hated being away from her on missions that lasted a few days. Twomonthswas going to be torture. What if she missed us too much?
Or worse: what if she didn’t?
“Sometimes I hate my job,” I said bitterly.
“Sure you do,” Archer said. “Youhatebeing your own boss and choosing your own missions. You would much rather be a boot again, taking orders from a fat CO who doesn’t know his arse from his rifle.”
“I don’t miss the Army, either. Both things can be true. I just don’t understand why you scheduled such a long series of contracts…”
Archer sighed. “This is the best thing, logistically. Three huge jobs, back to back to back. We fly to Europe, complete them, and fly home. We would make more in those two months than we would make in twoyears. That means more flexibility to spend time with Kaylee. A short-term inconvenience in exchange for long-term benefits.”
“We’ve never done missions like this before,” I shot back. “At least one of us always stays back to take care of Kaylee.”
“I am quite aware of this fact, Jordy.”
“Daddy?” Kaylee asked, taking her headphones off. “Are you leaving again?”
The knot behind my ribs twisted tighter, but I put on a smile anyway. “We’re not sure yet, Kaylee.”
She considered this with an eight-year-old’s seriousness, and then put her headphones back on. Archer gave me a look. I knew what he was thinking. We needed to tell her the truth soon: that we were going to be gone for two months. But I didn’t want to have that conversation with her. Not yet. I wasn’t ready.
That’s a problem for future Jordy, I thought while gazing out the window.I’ll let that poor bastard deal with it.
We picked up some groceries at the store, then headed home. Halfway there, Archer said, “I need a coffee.” He raised his voice. “Dearie? Would you like a hot chocolate?”
Kaylee’s squeal of excitement was answer enough, and Archer pulled off the main road and turned into the Starbucks drive-thru. We placed our order at the window: a hot chocolate for our daughter, a regular coffee for Archer, and a caramel Frappuccino for me.
What? Don’t judge me for getting a sugary drink. Bitter black coffee is for bitter, unhappy people.
Archer pulled around to the pick-up window and waited for the order. I don’t know what made me look inside. I turned my head, gazed at the barista who was taking Archer’s credit card, and then looked behind him, deeper in the Starbucks. And there she was, standing at the main register, blonde hair pulled back in the same unmistakable ponytail that she wore at the gym. It was a totally different context, and she was dressed in a barista uniform rather than gym clothes, but I would have recognized Trish anywhere. An overwhelming sense of understanding came over me.
This is definitely a sign,I thought.No matter what Archer thinks.
Before I knew what I was doing, I unbuckled my seatbelt. “I’m gonna hit the head. Back in a minute.”
The last thing I heard was Kaylee asking where I was going.
3
Trish
When was the last time I had asked a guy out? I couldn’t even remember. Probably never. I had always been on the receiving end of romantic advances. It was a huge, tremendously-big deal formeto be the one to make the first move. Asking a guy out at the gym while we exercised? I never had the guts to do something like that. Yet somehow I had mustered up the courage… and I was promptly rejected. With a really bad excuse, too. Going out of the country for a while? Give me a break.
I didn’t know how I finished my workouts without dying of embarrassment. At least Lisa was supportive and comforting.
I’m never going to ask a guy out ever again.
I took out my frustrations on the treadmill, cranking the speed way up until I could barely keep up with the belt. The thing that stung the most was that I was in the middle of a particularly long dry spell. It had been six months since I had slept with a guy—wait, no, it was actuallyninemonths. That ended up being a one-night stand, and since then I had been plagued by awful first dates and a plethora of Tinder creeps. Dating was hard.
And before that…
It would be nice to get lucky in at least one area of my life, I thought.
I was drenched in sweat after finishing my jog on the treadmill. After drying off and changing clothes, I said goodbye to Lisa and drove to work. I didn’t mind being a barista at Starbucks. There were certainly worse jobs out there, and the pay was good. I even had solid benefits and a flexible work schedule.
