Just Be Patient

I realize that my schedule hasn't been super consistent, day and time wise, at least.  The plan for this week is this regular storyline post, Liv's backstory post on Wednesday at 6 a.m. (central time), and a regular storyline post Friday at 6 a.m.  Everything is already written and ready to go so there shouldn't be any delays!
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At work on Wednesday, I got a text from Brody saying that he was headed down to Colorado Springs for a meeting with a client's attorney and wasn't sure how late he'd be home.  I wasn't too worried, since I was going to Lauren's after work.  We had invited Kinsley as well.  I hadn't been seeing much of her lately, between being so busy and her spending so much time with Damien.

Between work and going to Lauren's house on Wednesday, I called Sarah to check in with her.  I wasn't expecting her to answer but she did.  "Hi," she said when she picked up.

"Hi," I replied.  "I was just calling to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine," she said.  She paused and I waited, then she said, "I mean, I'm better.  Grandma had her lawyer talk to me about what's going to happen and it sounds like mom probably won't be able to get us back."

"Good,  I'm glad you're doing better."

"Look," she said, suddenly sounding shy.  "I'm really sorry I barged in on you.  Thank you for picking me up and feeding me and letting me stay with you.  I was kind of an idiot, and you were really nice."

"Sarah," I said firmly, "You're welcome anytime.  I would appreciate a warning phone call next time, and not having to alert your panicking grandparents that you're safe, but you can come visit again if you'd like."

"Yeah, I'd like to come again, maybe like in August before I go back to school?  I mean, I'd have to ask Grandma this time but I think it would be fun."

I grinned to myself.  It was crazy to me that Sarah had gone from silently glaring out at me from under her hair to asking if she could come visit.  "Definitely.  Talk to your grandma and we'll figure something out."  We said goodbye and I headed towards Lauren's house.  When I got there, Lauren had just gotten home and we sat down and chatted while we waited for Kinsley.

"How's Alex?" I asked her.

"He's fine," she replied with a shrug.

"Just fine?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes.  "No, he's good.  I don't know.  He's coming home with me in July.  So you know, it's fine."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up!" I practically shrieked.  "He's going home with you?!  Lauren, that's a huge deal!"

"Which is exactly why I hadn't told you yet," she grumbled.  "It doesn't need to be a huge deal.  You just have to make it weird."

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely.  "I just... I don't know, I never thought this day would come."

"You're making me seriously regret saying anything," she complained.  "I wish Kinsley would get here, because then we can talk about her equally surprising relationship status.  Or we can talk about the fact that you're practically married to the biggest manwhore in the entire state, that's pretty weird."

"So you're pretty nervous about taking him home with you, huh?" I asked, completely unfazed by her anxious sarcasm.

Her face crumbled a little and she said, "It's the worst idea I've ever had.  I don't know what I was thinking.  And I'm sorry I called Brody a manwhore."

"The biggest manwhore in the entire state, actually," I teased gently.  "Laur, it'll be fine," I promised.  "Your mom is going to love him.  He's like a parent's dream--he has a good job, he has manners, and he makes you happy.  And your mom is wonderful and if he doesn't like her, then he's crazy."

Lauren looked up at the ceiling, then said softly, "My mom has a new boyfriend.  It's weird.  I don't know how to feel about it.  She's always been on her own.  I want her to be happy, but I don't know."  I started to say something but Lauren shook her head.  "I don't want to talk about it, never mind."

"Okay," I said, letting it go without question this time.  Instead I told her about Josh inviting me to lunch.  We were in the middle of coming up with ridiculous theories about why when Kinsley arrived.

"Sorry," she apologized as she came inside.  "I stopped by to see Damien quick and I got distracted."
"Distracted, huh?" Lauren asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

Kinsley rolled her eyes.  "Not like that."  She turned to me.  "Did she tell you she's bringing Alex home with her?"

"Yes, we already talked about it," I said.  "Can we make dinner?  I'm starving."

The tension dissolved as we started making dinner and we were soon joking and laughing like normal.  We lost track of time and it was nearly 10pm before I realized I needed to head home. I had a text from Brody that he had stopped to have dinner with his mom.  I called him on my way.  "Hey," I said when he answered.  "I'm on my way home.  We totally lost track of time.  Sorry, I would have called sooner if I had realized what time it was."

"It's okay, I'm on my way back too," he said.  We talked about our days for a few minutes and then hung up.  I was almost home and Brody would be home in about a half hour.  I was ready for bed by the time Brody got home and we both went right to bed.

I considered skipping Thursday's happy hour because I was tired, but I decided to stop by for at least a little while.  I had ridden into town with Brody, so Lauren picked me up after work.  When we got there, Kendra, Christian, and Damien were already there.  Lauren and I got drinks and joined them.

We were there for over an hour before Brody got there.  I could tell immediately from the set of his jaw that he hadn't had a good day.  I met him at the bar, where he was ordering water.  "I can drive if you want to drink," I offered, squeezing his arm gently.  When the bartender reappeared, he ordered a drink, then leaned down and kissed me.  "Bad day?" I asked.

He rubbed his forehead and nodded.  "One of the clients that left my dad's company is suing them.  They have a pretty legitimate suit and it's going to be a nightmare."

I had forgotten that Brody was the majority shareholder of his dad's company since his death.  They had been so self sufficient that Brody rarely had to deal with them, just like he had hoped.  I frowned. "So what does that mean for you?" I asked, as Brody paid for his drink and we started walking towards the table.

"It means the company is going to be paying.  Hopefully we can settle and we don't have to go to court.  I'm probably going to fly down Sunday so I can meet with the attorneys on Monday."  I nodded.  We were at the table now and sat down next to each other as Brody greeted the rest of the table.

We stayed long enough for Brody to have three drinks in rapid succession, and then we left.  I drove his SUV home and headed upstairs to get ready for bed.  "I'll be up in a little bit," Brody assured me, headed back towards his office.  I got ready for bed then read for a little while.  Brody still hadn't come up, so I went down to his office.  When I peeked into his office, I saw him sitting with his elbows on his desk and his forehead resting in his hands.

"You okay?" I asked gently, slipping around the partially open door and into the room.

He looked up and smiled weakly.  "Yeah," he replied, leaning back in his chair.  "I'm just kicking myself for not selling sooner, or not paying more attention to the company.  Maybe if I would have known, I could have done something to prevent this."

I walked over behind his desk and squeezed his shoulders.  The muscles were tight and tense and he groaned when I pressed my thumbs into the base of his neck and began to rub.  "How can I help?" I asked.

"Just be patient?" he requested.  "Depending on what they ask for, this could be over on Monday, or it could stretch out for weeks or months.  I might have to go back and forth a few times."

"I can do that," I agreed.  "If you need to cancel our hiking date for next Friday--"

"No way," he interrupted me.  "I'm going to need that hiking date."

"Okay," I replied.  "But if things change, and you need Friday, I won't be upset."

He turned in his chair, and I let my hands fall away from his shoulders.  Once he was facing me he grabbed my hands and tugged me closer.  "I appreciate that a lot, but I have no intention of canceling our hiking date, Liv."

"I feel like such a priority," I said with a smirk.

"You are," he replied.  "I hope you really do feel like you are."

"I do," I assured him.  "You've been doing a really great job of balancing things and it means a lot to me.  I love our Sundays together, and that you've been home in time to eat dinner together more than you're not."  He tugged on my hands and I leaned down and kissed him.   "I should get to bed," I said once we had separated.  "I'll let you get some stuff done."

"Okay," he replied.  "I really will be up soon now.  I can't manage much more of anything tonight."  I said goodnight and made my way up to bed.  I was asleep before he came up, but when I woke up in the middle of the night, he was next to me in bed.

Early in the morning, I woke up as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to me and brushed hair out of my face.  "I'm going to go," he said softly.

"What time is it?" I groaned, squinting at him.

"A little before 6.  I'm going to try to be home at a semi-reasonable time tonight, so I'm going in early."

I nodded sleepily.  "If I bring lunch to you, can we do lunch together today?" I knew I had a big gap in the middle of my day and didn't feel like sitting around, waiting for Josh to come bother me.

"Can I let you know?  I'd love to, but I'm not sure what things look like today."  I nodded and he kissed my forehead and stood.  I fell back to sleep for another hour after he left.

I got a text from him around 10:30 that if I wanted to stop by around 12:30, he'd have about 45 minutes.  That worked well with my schedule so at 12 I left work, picked up lunch for both of us, and headed over to his office.

When I pushed through the doors to his office suite, Arlene pressed her lips together into a thin, tight line.  Then she said, "He's expecting you, you can go back."  She returned her eyes to the computer screen in front of her and didn't further acknowledge my presence, which was fine with me.  I walked past her and wove my way through the hallways to Brody's office, saying hi to people I now recognized.

Brody was just hanging up the phone when I walked in.  He greeted me warmly, even though I could tell the day had not been a good one so far.  We ate our lunch together, and he was really quiet as we ate.  "You're so quiet," I commented.  "Just a shitty day, or something else?"

He smiled.  "Just a shitty day, sorry.  I'm glad you came though."  He talked a little more after that but was still quieter than usual.  I didn't push, and the 45 minutes still passed too quickly.  "I'm not sure what time I'll be home," he admitted when he was walking me out.  "I'm shooting for 'sometime when it's still Friday and not Saturday.'"

"Okay," I replied.  "I'll probably be home.  I was too social this week and I need a night to myself."  We said goodbye and I headed back to work.

The rest of the day passed without anything notable happening, and after work I went to the gym and the grocery store.  It might be incredibly lame to go to the grocery store on Friday night, but it was quickly proving to be the best time to go.  Packed groceries stores are the worst, and Friday evenings make for a quick and painless shopping experience.

Brody did make it home while it was still Friday, and even with a couple hours to spare.  He had booked a flight down to Miami for Sunday evening and a flight back on Tuesday evening.  He planned to meet with the attorneys and try to get a settlement figured out Monday and Tuesday, but anything that still needed to be done he hoped to be able to trust to the company's attorney and handle from afar.

We planned a date night for Saturday night, so that we had at least a couple hours to spend together without interruption (hopefully) before he went down to Miami.  We tossed around the idea of going out, but in the end we decided to keep it a low key night of making dinner together and staying in.

As we laid in bed together Saturday night, I commented, "We've come a long way in balancing your job and our relationship."

Brody chuckled.  "No kidding," he agreed.  "I no longer fear for my safety when I have to tell you I need to travel somewhere, or when my phone rings during dinner."

"Hey!" I said, nudging him in the ribs with my elbow.  "That's because your phone doesn't ring during every dinner--not to mention breakfast and lunch, and we can now plan things around when you're most likely to have to travel.  And because sometimes you shut your phone off completely."

"You're right," he said.  "We're both handling it better."

"I'm not used to people telling me that things will change and then having them actually change," I admitted.  "It's been nice."

"You're welcome," Brody said, teasing me.  "I'm the poster child for proving that men can change!"

I shook my head and laughed.  "Let's not get carried away."  He laughed too, then tightened his arms around me and pressed his face into my hair.  His breath tickled my neck as he exhaled, and that was the last thing I remembered before I fell asleep.