Page 6 of Go Find Less

SportsWatch

Cowboys regroup after a disappointing season.

FitnessFix

You still have time to achieve your daily step goal!

Amazon

Your order has been delivered!

Oh, good. My book order arrived. I set a mental note to check the parcel box when I get back, which will likely be well after 1 a.m. Nothing says a wild Saturday night like glorified chaperoning and a stack of books on the fall of the Roman empire waiting for you at home.

“Not intentionally,” I grumble, putting my phone in my pocket and taking the plate he holds out to me. French onion chicken, extra veggies, no cheese. I reach down to the counter, snagging a fork and knife out of the sorting bins, along with a handful of napkins, and make a beeline out of the kitchen before I get caught in the bustle.

“You’re welcome!” José calls, and I roll my eyes at him over my shoulder.

When I settle at the desk in the admin office, far away from the reception starting in the main hall, I unfold a napkin in my lap and finally take a moment to scroll through all of my texts.

BETTY TIPTON

Thank you, again, for covering for me tonight.

Of course, I respond as I chomp away at my dinner. What was I going to do? Tell one of our longest-standing employees that, no, she couldn’t go see her son home from his third deployment overseas? I mean, I know I’ve been more bitter than usual lately, but that doesn’t mean I can’t respect the needs of a valuable asset.

Divorce has made me, if possible, more cynical and detached than before. Years of commitment with the person I thought knew me best in the world, down the drain, for all the world to see. The epic crash-and-burn of my relationship with Olivia was a spectacle that met soap-opera proportions, having cheated on me with one of our oldest friends and then, as soon as the divorce was finalized, less than two years ago, promptly announcing her pregnancy.

We talked about having kids for years, but she told me it was never the right time. Part of me, I think, secretly hoped that having a child of my own would somehow give me the opportunity to right the wrongs I felt I’d experienced in my own childhood. The moments that made me cold and standoffish.

And it’s not like I have anything better to do tonight, besides sit on my couch and scroll mindlessly through end of year P&L statements and annual employee reviews with Roscoe. I’d imagine even he finds that prospect pretty boring, and the most exciting thing in his life recently is new tennis balls.

I sigh, flipping to the chain where the rest of the unread messages lie. This many notifications makes me anxious. I’m relieved to see that I have the majority of the numbers already saved in my phone, at least. Some of the last names I know need to be updated, but I can tell them apart.

JACKIE GILLESPIE

Hi everyone, this is our reunion group chat! If everyone can please let the group know who you are, so we can save each other’s numbers. - Jackie Anderson

FALLON NEWSBERRY

Love this! - Fallon Peters

JESSICA BAKER

Samesies! So excited. – Jessica Baker

CARLA MONTOGMERY

Great seeing everyone. – Carla Montgomery

KYLE HOFFMAN

Awesome catching up. – Kyle Hoffman

UNKNOWN SENDER

See you all soon. – Piper Davis

I feel my eyebrows knit together reading the last message. I could swear I have Piper’s number saved from working on a group project senior year.

---