Yeah, About That.

I ended up falling asleep not long after hanging up with Brody.  I woke up at 3am, starving and a little disoriented.  I guess that's what happens when you go to bed by 7 without eating dinner.  I dragged myself out of bed and went downstairs for a snack.  As I emerged from my room into the hallway, I saw the dark shape of my carry-on next to my bedroom door.  Alex or Lauren must have brought it up for me. 

I made my way downstairs in the dark and helped myself to a little bit of Lauren and Alex's leftovers that they had offered me the night before.  When I was done, I washed the dishes I had used (the kitchen was actually clean, and I wasn't going to do anything to mess it up!) and went back up to bed.  I slept restlessly the last couple hours before my alarm, then got up to get ready for work. 

Even after my early bedtime I still just felt drained.  I hoped I wasn't getting sick but figured the more likely culprit was the combination of traveling, not sleeping well in Miami, and the emotion of the weekend. 

I was catching up on my email at my desk with someone knocked on my door.  I looked up and saw Kelly, my supervisor, standing there.  I immediately got a little nervous.  Kelly had clients of her own and we didn't interact a ton, aside from in passing and during staff meetings.  "Hi, Olivia," she said with a smile that eased my nerves a little. 

"Good morning, Kelly, come on in!" I tried to greet her cheerfully so I didn't look like a little kid that just got called down to the principal's office for an unknown reason.  It ended up just sounding fakely over-enthusiastic.

She came in and sat down, smiling warmly.  "You've been here for almost three months now and I just wanted to check in and see how things were going."  This put me even more at ease and I returned her smile.

"I can't believe it's been almost three months," I responded honestly.  "It's been good so far."

"Good.  We've been happy with your consistency so far, and your paperwork is excellent."

"That's great, thank you!"  I meant to smile at the compliment, but I yawned instead. 

Kelly chuckled.  "Exciting weekend?"

"No," I replied, shaking my head.  "My boyfriend's dad died, so I went down to Miami to be with him while he was taking care of things.  It was a long weekend." 

"Oh, wow, I'm so sorry," Kelly said sincerely.  "Why didn't you take today off?"

I shrugged.  "I didn't realize I'd be so tired.  And then it didn't feel quite bad enough to call in sick."

"Sounds like a pretty rough weekend, I think you should go home and get some rest and relax."

When your boss suggests you go home, you go home.  I didn't need to be told twice.  I headed home, changed into sweats, and went back to bed.

After sleeping for a few more hours, I felt much better.  I got up and made myself some lunch and did some laundry while I enjoyed reading on my couch, alone.  My inner introvert was thrilled to be hanging out by myself for awhile.

But by the time I got a text from Lauren saying she was going to be at Alex's house and asking to reschedule our Monday night roommate night to Tuesday (I guess they must have made up...I made a mental note to ask her about it tomorrow), I was ready to be around people.  I decided to head next door and see if Cassie was home.

She threw open her door and hugged me.  "I haven't seen you ages," she squealed, pulling me inside.

"I know," I agreed.  "Where have you been?  We invited you to dinner last week but you never responded."

"Oh," she replied, making a weird face.  "I guess I never got the message?"   I looked at her, confused.  There were several messages in our group text, she didn't get any of them?  I didn't feel like calling her out, so I just shrugged.

"How are you?" she asked.  "How's Brody doing?  So sad about his dad."

"I'm good, and he's doing okay.  He's obviously still down in Miami, taking care of things.  I hate how when someone dies there's all sorts of bullshit to take care of on top of it.  It just sucks."

"Yeah, it does," Cassie agreed. 

"How are you?" I turned her question back on her.  "I'm going to need an update on your life.  And your men."

She laughed.  "Just man now.  Nick's out.  He ran into James and I when we were out having a drink a couple weeks ago and he's apparently not into sharing."

"I'm shocked," I said sarcastically, chuckling.  "James didn't care?" 

"He was fine.  I mean, it's not like we're exclusive, and anyway, I hear he's used to not being the only guy on his girl's mind." 

"Low blow!" I exclaimed.  "You know that's not how it was.  I mean, I guess it was, but that's not how I wanted it to be." 

"Relax, I'm just giving you a hard time.  Anyway, he seems completely happy with what we've got going on, and I'm quite pleased with it too, so I'm glad he didn't care about Nick's little tantrum."

"Oh no," I replied.  "What did he do?"

"Oh, you know...swore a little, called me a whore, stormed off like a child.  The usual."

I shook my head.  "Well that's rich, coming from a guy that stood you up one weekend, then flirted with Kinsley right in front of you the next.  And James just...what?  Laughed?"

"Pretty much."  

It was a little weird to imagine Cassie and James hanging out, but I was happy they were, um, enjoying each other.  We hung out and caught up for about another hour before I headed back home.  Once I got there, I pulled out my phone and called Brody.  We talked for just a couple minutes, because he was finishing up at his dad's house.

The rest of the week passed quickly.  Tuesday Lauren and I repeated last week's pizza, wine, and catching up night.  Lauren filled me in on the news with her and Alex: she had decided she was being silly and she apologized to Alex.  They were now an official, full-blown couple, complete with "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" titles.  I was ridiculously excited and Lauren tried to pretend like she thought I was being dumb, but I know she was secretly pleased.

I was expecting Brody home on Thursday or Friday, and on Thursday he called and said he wasn't able to get a flight until Friday afternoon.  "So I won't be home until probably about 8:30 on Friday," he concluded.  "I wish I hadn't flown out of Colorado Springs, but it's too late for that."

"You could always stay with your mom Friday and drive back Saturday," I suggested, even though I didn't want to wait that long to see him.

"If my mother and I have to spend one more second together, one of us probably won't come back alive.  I'm not even sure which of us, at this point.  I tried to send her back earlier in the week when we finished up at the house, but she insisted on staying.  She's been mostly entertaining herself, but we've been spending just enough time together to drive each other crazy.  Plus, I just want to sleep in my bed with my girlfriend, and the sooner the better."

"Well I can't argue with that," I replied.  "Does that mean you want me to come out on Friday?"

"I'd love it.  I know you work on Saturday though, so if you don't want to, I can come to you." 

I shook my head, even though he couldn't see me, and assured him it wasn't a problem for me to come out.  We talked for a few more minutes and then I let him go so I could get back to work. 

On Friday when I left work, before heading out to Brody's house, I stopped at the grocery store.  He'd been gone for a week and a half and I figured he wouldn't stop to pick anything up on the way home.  Then he'd be stuck with an empty fridge.  I picked up some basics, some things I knew he liked, and stuff for dinner. 

I got to his house and let myself in just a few minutes before he texted to tell me that he had dropped his mom off and was heading home.  I looked around.  It was clear that he'd left in a hurry.  There were dirty dishes in the sink, some random clothes on the couch, and a variety of things in mild disarray.  I guessed he probably hadn't had his mail held or asked a neighbor to grab it either.  I headed out to his mailbox, which was practically overflowing, and brought everything in.  I put in on the table and got started on my mission.

By the time Brody walked in the door around 8:30, I had cleaned his kitchen, tidied everything up, and a late dinner was almost done cooking.   Brody walked into the kitchen and looked around in surprise.  "Hi," I said with a smile, leaving the pot I was stirring on the stove and wrapping my arms around his neck. 

"Hi," he replied, kissing me lightly on the lips.  "Did you clean?"

"I did," I replied.  "I cleaned, I picked up a few groceries for you, and dinner is almost done.  Oh, and the sheets for your bed are in the dryer." 

He pulled back slightly and looked at me.  "Liv..." he started softly.  "This is going to sound really dumb, but this is probably the greatest thing you could have done for me right now.  I really, really needed to come home and not have to take care of stupid things like washing dishes and going to the grocery store." 

I shrugged, my face heating up a little.  "You always do such thoughtful things for me, but I really suck at being thoughtful.  So I wanted to do something." I squirmed a little under his gaze, so he tightened his arms around my waist and kissed me again. 

"Well, thank you," he said when we pulled apart.  "You nailed it."  I smiled and moved back to the stove, turning it off. 

"Are you hungry?" I asked.  "Because if you're not, this will reheat fine tomorrow."

"I'm starving.  Just let me go take a quick shower, okay?"  I nodded and got out some plates and silverware.  When he returned less than 10 minutes later, I had dinner set out on the table, complete with a beer at his plate and a glass of wine at mine. 

"How was your week?" Brody asked as we ate.  I told him about my week, and about Lauren and Alex, and Cassie and Nick and James.  He seemed perfectly content to listen to me ramble on, and whenever I paused to let him talk, he just asked me another question.  He looked exhausted and didn't seem interested in saying much. 

Finally I asked, "So, did you find a buyer?"

He made a face.  "No.  I didn't.  They both came in way too low.  I know that my dad's activities killed the reputation a little, but they only lost a few clients.  It's still worth way more than what anyone wanted to pay.  So I'm going to hold onto it for awhile, give them some time to repair its reputation, and go from there."

"So what does that mean for you?" I asked. 

He shrugged.  "I told the board I couldn't do much, and they understand.  They'll consult me on any major decisions, and I'll Skype into their biweekly board meetings, but other than that, they'll just run things how they have been.  My dad was there and he was hardly involved.  They've been going without him for two months now.  My involvement will be minimal.  I'll stay out of their way and let them do their thing."

"Well, that's good.  Hopefully they won't need too much from you."

"Hopefully not, but I have a feeling I'll end up doing more work than I think I will.  That's always how it works.  Either way, I'm not going to move forward with the San Diego stuff.  It's just not good timing.  And I think I'm going to take a break from accepting any new clients here.  I've been working too goddamn hard.  If I had a normal job, I'd just take some time off, but I can't do that.  I need things to be stable so I can figure out how to handle things more efficiently.  Then maybe I can take on some new clients, but until then, I just can't."

I didn't know what to say.  He was always so sure of himself and his business and his ability to handle whatever came his way.  Luckily, he interrupted my silent struggle of how to support him by saying, "Anyway, I don't want to talk about Miami, or work, or my dad, or anything besides how happy I am to be home now." 

He stood and picked up both our empty plates, despite my protest, and rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher.  Then he grabbed his beer bottle and my wine glass in one hand and held his other out to me.  I took it and he tugged me out of my chair and we walked into the living room and settled onto the couch.  "So, now I kind of feel like I have to worry about you just randomly showing up at my house and making yourself at home," he teased me. 

"Yeah," I replied.  "About that...can we talk about that?"

"Talk about what?" Brody asked, sounding confused.

I took a deep breath.  "Talk about moving in together."
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Sorry the post was a little later than usual tonight!  I've been working hard on getting a few more ready to go for this week :)