It's Definitely a Monday

Our Sunday night date was a wonderful bit of normalcy injected into what had been a whirlwind few weeks.  I was almost ready to get up and get to work on cheerfully on Monday.  Almost.  Working Saturdays hadn't been too bad for several months, and I enjoyed my three day weekends on the opposite weeks, but we'd been so busy lately that with really only one day off after a 6 day work week I was starting to get a little disenchanted with my schedule.  I loved my job, but Mondays were always hard after my one day weekend.

Since he had been gone for well over a week, Brody was up and gone before I even got up, so I didn't even have his unflappable morning-person cheer to perk me up.  Instead, I dragged myself through my morning routine grouchily.  When I got downstairs, I realized that we didn't really have anything quick for breakfast, so I grabbed a banana and a leftover piece of pizza from Saturday.  Weird combo, but it worked.  I made myself some coffee and took off, for once glad for my commute so I had a little time to wake up and put on a happy face before I had to start seeing clients.

Shortly after I got settled in my office, a knock on my door startled me.  I looked up and saw Kelly standing in the doorway of my office, smiling.  "Good morning," I said, smiling back.

"Good morning!" she replied cheerfully.  "I just wanted to let you know that your PTO and leave requests for your wedding and honeymoon were approved.  Congratulations, by the way!"

"Thanks!" I said.  She had just brightened my morning.

"You guys are getting married really soon, you must be excited.  Where are you going for your honeymoon?"

"If by excited, you mean completed stressed out and overwhelmed with trying to plan a wedding in three months, you're right," I replied, laughing.  "And I have no idea, actually.  My fiancé is planning it."

She made a face.  "I don't know if I could let my husband plan a surprise trip.  He would probably take us on a ridiculous fishing trip."

I laughed.  "I think mine will do just fine," I said.

We chatted for a couple more minutes and then she left, but was quickly replaced in my doorway by Josh.  Josh, who I hadn't missed one single bit.  "Did I hear you say you're planning a wedding in three months?" he asked curiously.

"Yes," I replied shortly, not even looking up at him.  I had absolutely no patience left for him, especially on a Monday morning.

"Why so soon?  Are you pregnant?"

"No!" I snapped.  "I'm not fucking pregnant.  But if I was, it wouldn't be any of your goddamn business."

"Well," he huffed.  "I can see why Brody is in such a hurry to marry you.  Wouldn't want someone else to snatch you up.  You're so sweet and charming, it's amazing that all the men in Denver aren't knocking down your door."

"Oh, fuck off," I muttered.

"Have a good day," he said cheerfully, backing out of my doorway and disappearing.

I made it through the day without swearing at anyone else, but I was still more than ready to vent to Lauren and have a drink when we met up for dinner.  We had invited Kinsley on Saturday, but I had no idea if she'd actually come.  I hoped she did though.

Lauren was already at the restaurant when I got there and I slid into the seat across from her.  "Kinsley's coming, so I just got a bottle of wine," she said, motioning to the bottle in the middle of the table.  I eagerly poured myself a glass and took a drink.   In response to my enthusiasm, she added, "Maybe I should have gotten two."

"It's definitely a Monday," I offered by way of explanation.  When Kinsley arrived a few minutes later, I told them about Josh.  "I really wish he'd get a new job.  Or just quit.  I don't care if he has a job or not."  Kinsley and Lauren sympathized with me, and we complained generally about crappy coworkers for awhile.

"I want to go somewhere new on Thursday for happy hour," Lauren said awhile later.  "I'm tired of going to the same places over and over.  Any suggestions?"

Kinsley shrugged.  "I won't be there, I have a Tinder date."

"Tinder?" Lauren asked, surprised.

"Yes, Tinder," Kinsley replied.  "It's not as easy to meet men now that none of my friends are single anymore," she added.

"Kinsley, it's only been 4 days since you broke up with Damien," Lauren said cautiously.

"So?" Kinsley shrugged.  "It's been 10 months of sex with the same person.  I have some catching up to do."

"I don't think--" I started, but Lauren cut me off.

"But Tinder?  4 days after you broke up with Damien?  Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since you disappeared with a random 2 days after."

"What the fuck, Lauren?" Kinsley snapped.  "You sleep with the same guy for 7 months and you're suddenly in a place that you get to judge me?  Did you forget that you've fucked even more guys than I have?"

"You guys," I said.  "This isn't--"  Once again, I was cut off by Lauren.

"I haven't just been sleeping with the same guy for 7 months," she spat.  "I'm worried about you!  I don't want you to do things you'll regret."

"Worried," Kinsley retorted, laughing.  "Yeah, you're really fucking worried.  You were so worried on Saturday that you stood at that stupid table and shot me dirty looks all night.  What a great, worried friend you are!"  She grabbed her purse, pulled out her wallet and dropped a $20 bill on the table.  "Let me know if you decide to stop being such a judgmental bitch, and actually want to listen to what's going on in my life."  She turned to me.  "Sorry, Liv.  I can't sit here anymore.  I'd love to see you soon though."  Then she turned on her heel and stormed away.

"Can you believe her?" Lauren asked, turning to me.

"I can, actually," I replied.  "She's right.  You're being judgmental, and it sucks."

"Seriously, Liv?  You're good with sitting here and letting her ruin her life?"

"No, I'm not okay with sitting here and letting her ruin her life," I replied calmly.  "I don't want her to do anything stupid, but she's always made reasonable choices.  And if you really are worried--which I do believe you are, and I am too--you're not approaching it the best way."

Lauren stared at me silently for several seconds, then grabbed her purse.  She repeated Kinsley's actions, dropping some money on the table and standing up.  "I need to get out of here," she said.  Then she left, leaving me sitting alone in the restaurant with three half-eaten meals on our table.

When our waitress stopped by and asked if we needed anything, she looked at me curiously.  "Can I just have the bill, please?" I asked.  She nodded and left, returning in a couple minutes with the bill and a couple of boxes.  "I just need one, thanks," I said.  I handed her my card and grabbed Lauren's and Kinsley's cash off the table and shoved it in my wallet.  I left as soon as I signed the credit card slip and shoved my card back into my wallet.  

I was so grateful to see Brody's SUV in the garage when I pulled in.  I walked inside and found him sitting on the couch with his laptop.  He set his laptop aside as I walked over.  I dropped my purse and work bag on the floor and curled up against him, burying my face in his shirt.

"Bad day?" he asked, wrapping his arms around me.   I nodded.  "Want to talk about it?"  I shook my head.  He stroked my hair and said, "I'm sorry your day sucked."  In that moment, that was all I needed.  We sat there silently for several minutes, his hand eventually finding its way beneath my hair so he could stroke the back of my neck with his thumb.  I finally relaxed, sagging a little against him.

After a little while longer, I adjusted so I was laying on my back across the couch with my head in his lap.  I looked up at him.  "How was your day?"

He shrugged.  "It was a Monday after being gone for over a week.  It seems like maybe it was better than yours, though."

I filled him in on my encounter with Josh and dinner.  "So now Kinsley's pissed at Lauren, and Lauren's pissed at me," I finished.  "And I'm just worn out from the last couple weeks and could have used an actual weekend instead of just one day off this weekend.  Except I feel ridiculous complaining about that to you, because you work even more than I do."

"Things have slowed down considerably for me lately, aside from the last week with traveling," he said.  "And you've been doing the bulk of work around the house too, so that counts for something."

"I'm mostly worried it's going to make wedding planning even harder than it's already going to be," I admitted.  "Since I'm sure we'll do the bulk of appointments and such on Saturdays, and I can really only do every other Saturday."

"Is there any way to make it so you just work a Monday through Friday work week, and don't work on Saturdays?"

I shook my head. "The only way I can get my Saturdays off is if I go down to a .75 FTE or less."

"What would that look like?"

"I'd work 4 slightly shorter weekdays, whichever ones I wanted, as long as I was there for our monthly staff meeting."

"That sounds like a pretty nice schedule," Brody said.

"Yeah, it would be," I agreed.  "And if you're .75, you still get to keep the benefits, you just accrue PTO at a slightly lower rate.  And obviously you get paid less."

"I can't figure out how to say this without you assuming that I'm slowly moving you towards being my trophy wife, but if you want to drop your hours down for awhile, you should."

I considered this.  Cutting down my hours wasn't something I'd really thought about, because it would have meant transferring clients, and I didn't want to do that.  But I had a couple clients that I'd be talking to about closing soon, and if I made my days a little more efficient and did some paperwork at home instead of doing it all in the office, I could probably fit my remaining clients into four days every week.

"You're not saying anything," Brody said.  "That makes me nervous."

I laughed.  "No, don't be.  I'm just thinking about it.  I could probably do it, but going to part time because of planning a wedding seems a little silly."

".75 FTE is barely part-time," Brody countered.  "And you wouldn't be doing it because of wedding planning, you'd be doing it for your sanity.  And indirectly, for my sanity."  I made a face at him and he laughed.  "Obviously, I support whatever you want to do.  But if you'd be happier working that schedule, I see no reason for you not to do it."

"I'll think about it and maybe talk to HR to get some more information," I agreed.  "Now would be the time to do it."

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out on the couch, and I filled him on my good news for the day, which was that my leave and PTO had been approved.  "So I guess you'd better get busy planning a kick ass honeymoon," I joked.

"You have the entire two weeks after the wedding off?" he asked.  I nodded.  "Good.  I have something in mind, I was just waiting for confirmation of your PTO."

I cocked an eyebrow.  "That was quick.  Not much planning huh?"

"I may have spent some time at work today doing some googling.  This happens to be a place I heard of a couple years back, so I just had to find it again.  I looked at other options too, but there's a clear winner.  I've been planning this, in my head at least, since we started wedding planning."

"I'm intrigued," I replied.  "I almost want you to tell me."

"No way!" he said.  "All I'll tell you is that it's tropical, it's a goddamn miracle they have something available at this point, and it's going to be amazing."

"That did absolutely nothing to quell my need to know," I said.

"That sucks for you," he teased me.  "That's what happens when you're so eager to give up planning something that you don't consider the consequences of the deal you made."

I laughed.  "I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.  Just don't torture me about my lack of knowledge for the next three months, okay?"

"I make no promises," he replied.

It ended up being exactly what I needed, just hanging out on the couch with Brody.  It was stress and drama-free, wedding-planning-free, relaxing, and just nice to spend an evening doing very little with Brody.  We didn't get to spend many evenings like this.

"I'm glad you were home tonight," I told him.  "You improved my day significantly."

"I'm just glad you didn't try to kill me when I suggested you lose some hours at work," he said, grinning.

"There's still time, if you want to keep testing your luck," I warned him playfully.

"I'd hate to ruin our evening, so I guess I'll quit while I'm ahead," he said with a laugh.

"Good choice."

We ended up going to bed early and I was able to shut out thoughts of Josh, work, Lauren, and wedding planning and actually get a good night's sleep so I could be in a better mood the next day.