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Theo was glad to say he didn’t have that issue. “Do you think it will get better?”
“No,” Erica said. “When I talk about being frustrated or annoyed, they worry I’ll leave and throw more money at me. Now I feel stuck.”
“Don’t,” he said. “You’re twenty-eight years old. That’s young. You can leave and start over anytime or anywhere.”
“I’m not sure how long I want to stay in the City, but I’ve got Harmony there now too.”
He saw where this might be going. “You’re not her mother. She’d only want you happy. It doesn’t sound to me like she is all that happy in her job either.”
“No,” Erica said. “She likes what she does and dealing with the clients but not the people she works for.”
“We all have to deal with that in life,” he said.
He still got shit at work all the time.
The young guy that everyone was jealous of because they worried he was out to get their jobs.
He was more interested in doing his best and not bothering with other people.
“I know,” Erica said. “I won’t be in a mood here. You’ve got wine, right? I need lots of it this weekend. I just hope Dad smiles now and again. I don’t need to be around any more moody people.”
“Dad’s not moody,” he said. “He’s just serious. There is a difference. But he’ll be fine. I think he’s been needing a break too. He asked me to get some beer.”
“Dad never drinks beer,” Erica said. “This is great. We all came here to get drunk.”
He shook his head. “Guess it’s going to be a first for me.”
Hours later he was sitting on the deck with his sisters and his father. They all had a drink in their hand but him. Being on call, he wouldn’t risk it. “Who is going to cook?” his father said. “I’m not doing it. I do too much cooking for myself and I’m sick of it.”
“There are steaks in the fridge and chicken,” Theo said. He’d planned on dinner for Saturday and Sunday knowing they’d leave on Monday.
“A good steak will hit the spot,” his father said. “With another beer.”
He lifted his eyebrow and watched his father go into the kitchen. “What’s his problem?” Harmony asked.
“I have no idea,” he said. It seemed everyone was struggling around him.
“Go find out,” Erica said. “He talks to you more than us.”
He let out a sigh and went to the kitchen to get the steaks. He had a bag of fries he’d cook in the house and it’d be an easy quick dinner. They’d been snacking all afternoon anyway. It was nice to not be formal.
“What’s going on, Dad?”
“Just getting a beer,” his father said.
He moved past his father and got the steaks out. “You seem out of sorts.”
“Just tired,” his father said.
“Aren’t we all,” he said.
Theo opened the white butcher paper and pulled out the four steaks, put salt and pepper on them and would let them sit out for a bit while he lit the grill.
“Jerryy and I split,” his father said.
“Jerryy?” he asked. Did he know his father was dating someone? Was he that out of touch?
“Yeah. I thought I told you. It’d been about six months.”
