Page 79 of Chosen

“Serious about what?”

“You once tried to write me up for borrowing one of your pens and never giving it back!” Parker shouted. “And then, when I told you we didn’t have a write-up system, you started coming up with one on the spot!”

“That was different. That was one of my favorite pens, Parker,” Jacob said, in complete monotone. "You can’t just take someone’s favorite pen.”

“He’s right, Parker. You can’t just take someone’s favorite pen,” I casually agreed with Jacob, joining the debate. “There has to be some kind of punishment for that.”

“Don’t side with him!” Parker said, his voice filled with disbelief. “I refuse to get ganged up on about this! It’s my right as an American to not get written up over a pen!”

“Actually, I don’t think the Founding Fathers had that in mind when they were considering our rights as Americans,” Jacob added, plainly. “You might want to look over those documents again, Parker.”

“I cannot believe you both right now! Don’t make me get the law involved!”

I let out a laugh, as Parker and Jacob continued their argument-non-argument, Jacob’s cool tone in complete contrast with Parker’s rising voice. I slipped one of the chocolates Sam had gifted me between my lips, enjoying its sweet taste and I watched yet another day at the office unfold in front of me.

My perfect, slightly dysfunctional work family.

I didn’t know what I ever would’ve done without them.

* * *

By the time I got home, it was later than usual. It turned out that Jacob hadn’t been kidding about having me look over some spreadsheets, and by the time we were done, my eyes were tired and blurry.

Although, the sight of Sam sitting on my living room couch brought me right back to life, especially with the way his eyes lit up as soon as he spotted me in the doorway. We’d fully moved in together a week after he decided to stay in Roanoke, his things from Atlanta arriving via truck. We’d lucked out in terms of his lease, his landlord allowing him to sublet his apartment until his rental agreement was up for the year.

Or maybe it wasn’t luck, at all. Maybe it was just another sign from the universe that as long as we were moving toward each other, we were moving in the right direction.

“The website’s launching today! The website’s launching today!” he shouted, as he ran toward me, excitedly jumping into my arms. “Oh, my God! It’s all really happening!”

“Wait. That was today? But I thought that—”

“I know, I know. It was supposed to happen later this week,” he said, as he pulled away from me, just enough for our eyes to meet. “But Jennifer made the call to push it up and I agreed with her. Something about traffic on different days of the week.”

“Got it.” I nodded as I spoke. “And? How’s it going so far? Is it looking… good?”

“Nope.” Sam beamed. “It’s not looking good because it’s looking great! Jennifer was totally right about pushing up the launch. I swear, I was barely expecting anyone to check it out, but it looks like the celeb campaign on social media did the trick.”

“I always had a feeling that it would.” I smiled down at him. “You’re going to do great with this site, Sam. I just know it.”

“Thank you for your vote of confidence.” He smiled back at me before letting out a small sigh. “Still. It’s a lot to manage. It’ll be easier when I can afford to expand the team, but who knows when that’ll be—”

“Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop downplaying a happy moment by being anxious about the future,” I replied. “You should be proud of yourself right now, Sam. Not beating yourself up about something that’s currently out of your control.”

“Well, not everything is exactly out of my control—”

“Wait right there,” I instructed, as I moved away from Sam, heading toward the kitchen. It didn’t take me long to find what I was looking for, and I grabbed a bottle of Sam’s favorite Moscato before I brought it back into the living room with me, along with a corkscrew.

“Ooh, Moscato, good idea.” Sam’s expression brightened, one of his hands already moving toward the bottle. “That’s probably just what I need to—Oh, my God! Damon!”

Before Sam had a chance to react, he was already covered in wine from head to toe. I’d splashed the bottle all across his body, a playful grin on my face all the while.

“Sorry, I just had to do something to get through to you,” I explained. “And what better way to let a victory sink in than to celebrate how they do on TV?”

“Oh, my God!” Sam repeated, as he wiped some wine away from his brow. “I’m totally going to get you for that!”

---