Page 13 of Just A Little Fling

“Come on, Ma, I’m gonna be late for work this morning.” I know my whining sounded like a kid, but I didn’t care. I needed to get my shit to work. Gabe might be the world’s best boss, but that didn’t mean he wanted me walking in the door two minutes before his meeting started.

“You’re not gonna be late. This is only going to take a minute. Have you looked at that program that I sent you?”

“I don’t wanna go to nursing school. I don’t wanna be a doctor. I don’t wanna be a physical therapist. I don’t wanna do anything at the hospital.”

“You don’t have to do something at the hospital. You could be a lawyer. Or an accountant.”

“That’s worse than working at the hospital.”

“What are you doing now? I understand you like Gabe, but is that a job that’ll sustain you? Where do you go from there?” Ma paused before bringing out the big guns I knew were coming. “How will I know you’ll be okay when we’re gone?” It was the opening I needed to get out of there.

“Where I go is to my job where I get paid to be.” I shoved back from the table and left the room before saying something I would regret.

* * *

“Owen, thank you so much for coming today. I’m glad we can iron out these details.”

“Me too. The more I work on this lodge, the more excited I am about it. I can’t wait to get it open, and fingers crossed, we may be able to make it happen for the upcoming season. I don’t want to speak for Barrett, but I’m going to. It’s a little out of his comfort zone regarding the space type, so he wants to ensure everything is perfectly set up.”

“Yeah, I reviewed the inspection, and everything is fine for the renovations you’ve set up. We should be good with the renovation plans. I noted a couple of minor tweaks in the schematics. None of them should affect the aesthetics of your design. We’ve already got the preliminary permit approval from the county, but your contractor will submit the next round of paperwork. Once we get those approved, your contractor can bring in their subs.” The file I’d presented to Owen was color-coded and perfectly laid out. Honestly, it was a thing of beauty.

“Gabe has told us over and over again how amazing you are at setting things up, and I didn’t believe anybody was as efficient as he said you were, but you have converted me. I thought I could run a spreadsheet, but I bow to your greatness.”

“Ha! I love them, and I’m happy to take all compliments sent my way.”

Owen’s phone buzzed before we could finalize our last few points, and he excused himself to step into the hallway.

“Sorry about that,” he said when he stepped back into the room. “I gave my final notice to my landlord. I told him I’d ask around if anybody was looking for a new place, but no luck. You don’t happen to know anyone who wants to rent the best little bungalow in the city, do you? It’s super cute, and the landlord is fantastic.”

“Landlord? I thought you and Barrett lived together?” I thought back to previous conversations we’d had. “Isn’t there a cat?”

“There’s two. Elizabeth and Hexe are the cats. We live together, but I wasn’t ready to give up my security blanket. I haven’t slept there in months.” A small smile played across Owen’s face as he spoke about Barrett. Just as saying his name sent him melting. “So yeah, it’s time to move on and officially move in with Barrett. The place is empty except for the furniture. I don’t know what to do with it because we don’t need it at Barrett’s place.”

“You’ve been together for years, right?”

“We’ve been best friends for years, but only officiallytogethertogether since last fall,” Owen answered absentmindedly while he flipped through Gabe’s schemas. Barrett was always particular about Owen signing off on the designs before he moved forward to approve a reno plan. I wasn’t sure if it was the most practical, but it worked for them.

My parents were adamant that they didn’t want us to move out of the house at some arbitrary age. The twins had stayed put to pay for school. I’d stayed because it was easy. But as much as I loved my family, and I did even though they drove me nutty, the idea percolated in my brain that I could move out and gain some independence.

I wouldn’t have to deal with Copy and Paste’s judgment, and there would be fewer early morning career counseling sessions with Ma. Living independently would be precisely what reminded them I was a fully formed, functioning adult. Their opinion might change if they knew about me being a middle, but what they didn’t know needed to stay that way. It’s not like it affected me as a grown-ass adult.

“Funny story, I was looking for a new place. Depending on what the rent is, I might be interested. Could I go see it?”

“Yes! Do you want to go right now?” Owen paused to check his phone. “What time do you get off work? If you’re interested, you could see it today.” Owen’s enthusiasm was infectious.

“Gabe won’t care if I knock off early since it’s for a good cause.”

He wasn’t even here to care about it. He and Rory were meeting with the landscape architect to revitalize their backyard. They wanted a backyard wedding, but after a few years of neglect, it looked bedraggled.

“That’s awesome. Want to go now?”

“Don’t you want to finish looking at these?”

Owen’s long-suffering sigh made me laugh. He sounded disgusted, but his twinkly eyes said otherwise. I liked him. I understood why Barrett was borderline obsessed with him. He was one of those genuinely nice people who were overlooked because they weren’t loud or flashy. That was rarely a factor for me in my light-pink suit and floral shirt. Meh, I liked what I liked.

“Fine, let’s finish, and then we can go.”

* * *

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