Page 36 of Fall Apart

Monday morning comesand I feel quite pleased with myself. Sunday went off without a hitch. I had fresh coffee. My new roommate, friend, and accountability buddy did yoga and a light workout with me again. I also noticed that Clay went and stocked the kitchen with the groceries we couldn’t find Saturday at the small local store. And I even got some reading done.

Now it’s back to the workweek, but at least I’m working from Clay’s living room. He lit a fire before he left, and I have to say, a girl could get used to this. The house, the hot man servant - even Ani is actually pretty cool and has hung out with me all day.

It’s lunch time here, but late afternoon in Ohio when Jessica calls me for our Monday check-in. I cozy up on the couch with my laptop on the coffee table when I see Jessica’s face pop on the screen.

“How’s my favorite subordinate today?” her familiar voice asks.

“Nice to see you too,” I say, taking a sip of my second cup of coffee for the day.

“Oh, Lizzy, what would I do without you to brighten my soulless days in the office at Fischer?”

“Geez. Really selling the company hard there. Good thing I already work for you.” I take another sip of my coffee while she starts to share something on her screen. My attention drifts when Ani’s ears perk up and he walks excitedly over to the door behind me in the kitchen.

“Hey, boy. Good to see you.” I hear Clay’s deep voice in the kitchen.

“So, Lizzy, the numbers you sent last week.” Jessica starts when I hear foot steps behind me going back and forth from the kitchen to the dining area.

I watch as Jessica’s eyes go wide and her mouth hangs open on the screen. “Did you freeze or is something wrong?” I ask.

“Woah. What isthat?” She points at the screen. “Orwhois that?”

I turn around and see Clay, shirtless walking around the kitchen, tidying up my mess from making coffee.

Are you serious?

“Oh my god. Shit.” I blurt out, frantically turning the laptop away from that view. “Sorry. That’s my temporary roommate. You remember Veronica? It’s her fiancé’s brother. I’m staying with him until the condo gets fixed.” I emailed her about it Friday, so this shouldn’t be a surprise minus the whole shirtless eye candy she just saw.

“Sure.” She drags out the word, grinning at me. “Roommate.Well, hopefully he’s not too much of a distraction.” I sigh and palm my face in embarrassment.

After my call is over, I walk over to Clay in the kitchen, who’s standing there, still very shirtless, now eating a bowl of yogurt at the kitchen island.

“What the hell was that?” I stand right next to him, pushing him in the shoulder, which of course does nothing to him.

“What?” he says, still eating, like nothing is wrong.

“I mean, what the hell are you doing here in the middle of the day, parading around shirtless in the background of my video call.”

He sets his spoon down in the bowl. “I come home at lunch every day. Normally let Ani out, eat, and do a chore or flip the laundry over. And today, I had an extra chore because you didn’t clean up after yourself, princess.”

I glare back at him. “And this needs to be done shirtless why?”

He shrugs. “I run hot. I don’t like getting all sweaty running around the house doing chores and having to change. Normally I’m herealoneso I just take off my shirt and put it back on before heading back out.”

Ok. Maybe a little excessive, but I guess that’s reasonable knowing Mr. Control-Freak-Hyper-Productivity here.

I take a deep breath and calmly exhale. “Ok. I guess that’s fine. But condition number three.” I hold up three fingers and wave them in his face. “Next time, can you just stay out of my camera’s view?”

“Or you could just use my office for video calls,” he says, pointing out the obvious answer. “Or better yet, you can use my office for anything you want. Oh, and speaking of…” he pauses for a second and shakes his head. “No, never mind. But yes, please use my office as much as you need to.”

“OK, thanks. But what were you going to say?”

“It’s nothing. Just, Tanner and V said you work in finance and accounting. I’ve been dealing with these invoices after I took on more responsibility at work and some of them just seem off to me.” His brow furrows and his lips quirk together on one side. “If you have some time, I’d love a second set of eyes.”

That’s certainly not what I was expecting him to ask. “Sure. Of course. I’d be happy to.”

“Thanks. Seriously.” He nods appreciatively before finishing his yogurt.

I leftthe house before Clay was home from work to meet Grace for happy hour. It was nice, but I’m beat, and thanks to my newaccountability buddy, I plan on being home and in bed at a reasonable hour. Ok. Maybe reasonable for me but late for most people, especially on a Monday night.

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