Page 31 of Employing Patience

BITCHIN’ BACHELORS GROUP CHAT

Carlton: I’m out for tonight. I didn’t realise when I took the job with Payne that a large part of my day would be spent making sure Beau doesn’t kill himself, but here we are …

Keller: The camp hasn’t even opened yet.

Carlton: I’m just telling myself that it’s a warm-up for when we have school kids in here being idiots every week.

Mack: Bummer! I needed all my boys there tonight.

Art: You’ve got me for a backup, who else do you need?

Mack: Everyone. I feel sick.

Keller: You’re getting in your head about it.

Mack: But I don’t want to sleep with anyone else. It feels like cheating.

Carlton: As much as I reeeeally hate to remind you of this—you can’t cheat on someone when you’re not together.

Mack: So I’m just supposed to leave him home with the kids while I go out and get my dick sucked?

Art: To start off with, you’ll be sucking mine.

Mack: Gahhh is everyone I meet going to be like Art?

Keller: No one’s like Art.

Art: One of a kind, baby.

Carlton: That didn’t feel like a compliment to me.

Mack: This doesn’t feel right.

Art: The best steps forward are usually the hardest—literally. Your dick will tell you what to do.

Mack: My dick’s been wrong before.

Art: Not surprising when you talk about him like that.

Mack: What am I meant to say? Good boy, peenie?

Keller: Literally never that.

Art: I dunno, I thought it had character.

9

JOEY

My shifts have changed, which is … odd. But according to Art, he made a mistake with the schedule for what would have to be the first time ever, and now I’m miraculously scheduled through the day. My bullshit detectors are running hot, but him changing them for me doesn’t make sense. Art loves his employees, but he’s a businessman. He’s fair.

Moving my shifts just to suit me isn’t fair.

A blond guy plonks down at the bar right in front of me.

“You okay?” I ask, eying his downturned mouth.

“Just get me as drunk as possible.”

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