Page 59 of Together

“Fine,” I sigh, squeezing some mustard onto the plate and dipping a pretzel into it. Before eating, I say, “But I’m not making any promises. You’ll probably hate Grace’s husband Samuel and become fast bros with Lucy’s husband Grant.”

“Did you just seriously use the word bros?” He chuckles.

“Yes. And I stand by it.” I grin.

“You’re being cute,” he says. “That’s pretty typical of you but I like it better when I can be with you while you’re being sweet and cute.”

“I’m being cute, huh?”

“You’re always cute.”

“What are you doing now?” I ask, feeling a flutter in my stomach as his words settle.

“Watching TV. Like normal.” He laughs lightly.

“Same. But I’m eating pretzels dipped in mustard.”

“Not shocking,” he remarks. He’s not wrong. I have this little snack almost every night. The little pretzel twists are my favorite. Dipped into regular yellow mustard.

“Tell me about your day.”

This is something we started doing last week. More than just the typical asking how each other’s days went. This is details to help us understand what the other does all day long.

“Had that big estimate go out today for the new elementary school in Liberty.”

“When will you hear if you got it?”

“End of the week but I think I’ve got a pretty good chance. Talked to the Superintendent and even though he’s not the one deciding, the school board is, he said they want the job to stay with as many local contractors as they can. If I get it, it’ll really solidify the business.”

“You’ll get it. Your recommendations speak for themselves. Your customers love you and your work, your employees are incredible. I have faith.”

“Me, too, but I don’t want to assume anything, you know? It’d be great. Only downfall is that they want to get started immediately, which is fine for us, but considering they want to get the new one up and running for the next school year, we’ll all be working like fucking maniacs for the next several months to meet our deadline. It’s going to be a scramble if the weather doesn’t cooperate because we have no room for delays. That means your last few months I’ll be busy as shit. Don’t like that so much.”

“We can figure it out.”

“Yeah. We can.”

“I’m still surprised they’re just now looking for an electrical contractor. Don’t big jobs like that usually have all their contractors in place way in advance?”

“Usually, yes, but they didn’t plan well, apparently. The board wasn’t coming to an agreement on anything. I heard something about a big donor threatening to pull the money if they didn’t get their shit together. I have no idea if that’s true or if that’s just gossip but regardless, they finally got moving and now they’re scrambling. Sometimes a large construction company will be hired and they’ll contract out the rest, like electrical and plumbing and get approval. But the school wanted to be the one doing all the hiring. I think that’s also where some of the disconnect and delays are coming from. The board is trying to do something they don’t know much about.”

“Sounds stubborn to me.”

“Probably. But, they’re getting it done now. And it’s going to be a really nice building when it’s complete. It looks like a shitshow now, though.”

Him talking about a brand new elementary school makes me realize that our kid will be going to that same school one day. That’s pretty wild to think about.

“What went down at the dentist office today?”

“A lot of gross teeth that needed cleaned.”

I hear him gag and it makes me laugh. “Nasty. I don’t know how you do it.”

“Today I had to wonder, too.”

“Can’t blame you.”

We talk a bit more before saying good night and making a plan for Nik to pick me up for my appointment. Luckily, I have Wednesdays off and have been able to schedule appointments on my day off so I don’t have to take time off from work for them.

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