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Me:Drowning slowly under a mountain of contract research. This message is my dying gasp. You?
Firecracker:Drowning slowly under vats of mead that need to be bottled. Working on a new varietal.
Me:Well, shit. I feel like you get the better end of this deal.
Firecracker:Yeah? Well whenever you’re ready to trade in your high-profile, extremely profitable career for backbreaking labor with no job security and no 401k, come see me.
Isnorted. After a day like today, he had no clue how tempting that was.
Me:Question—Would the job benefits include unlimited access to the mead?
Firecracker:Fuck no. You can’t drink my profits, Frog.
Me:Damn. What about unlimited access to the meadmaker?
Bubbles swirled next to his name for a long moment, and I bit my lip, imagining him blushing as he worked out a reply.
Firecracker:Not at this time, but I’ll ask Kendall and Dan what they think of that employee benefit at the next team meeting.
A bark of laughter burst out of me, so startling in the quiet office that one of the PAs passing my open door fumbled her coffee.
God, I reallylikedFlynn Honeycutt.
Me:On second thought, maybe better to reconsider the free mead.
Firecracker:lol. Is that your professional advice? I mean, if you’re sure…
Me:Very.I’ll negotiate my access to the meadmaker separately.
Firecracker:Oh, will you now?Hmm. You can try, Rainmaker.But I only handle that type of negotiation in person.
Me:Ipromise you, Honeycutt, it’ll be a VERY personal negotiation.
The bubbles swirled next to his name once again, for longer this time.
He was blushing. He was so definitely blushing.
Firecracker:Stop distracting me when I’m working, JT.
Uh-huh.I laughed out loud again, then sighed as I tucked my phone away and got back to work.
* * *
Me:Pumpkin pie and mead are two things that should not be together. I refuse to believe that’s your new varietal. It’s still mid-summer for god’s sake.
Firecracker:But summer won’t last forever.
I scowled down at my phone. I’d asked a single, innocent question about the new type of mead Flynn was dreaming up, and the man was being annoyingly tight-lipped about it, teasing me with nonanswers and stupid remarks.
Me: Stop the lies and spill some actual details, Honeycutt.
Firecracker:Ohhh, I see.You’re still drowning in paperwork, aren’t you?
Yes. Yes, I was. And ready for the weekend, despite it only being Tuesday night.
Me:So what if I am?
Firecracker:Sooooo, your work makes you bitter, Jon. The only people who don’t adore pumpkin pie flavored ANYTHING are bitter people.
