Page 31 of Silver
I chuckled.“I have all afternoon. I’m finished for the day.”
Charlie sighed.“Must be nice to be your own boss. I’m here until four. Okay. Gotta go. See you soon!”
It was reassuring that Charlie was excited to have me visit. We would certainly be having more discussions in the future, but for now, I was going to go grab burgers and fries for the two of us and then enjoy some time with my mate before I had to let him get back to work.
I picked a fast-food burger place that was closest to the zoo, ordered enough food for four people, and then tried to get to the zoo as quickly as I could. I hadn’t thought to bring any sort of bag that would help keep things warm longer. I would certainly be looking into that going forward though.
When I arrived at the gate, I was surprised that there wasn’t a line to get in at the moment. I guess the line on Tuesday night was because of the holiday event.
“That’ll be ten dollars,” the attendant said as I pulled up to the gate. I handed over a ten-dollar bill, got my parking pass ticket for the dash, and then pulled through. I did as Charlie had said and immediately took the left path. I followed it until I came to another gate. When I pulled up there, I did my best to smile at the attendant.
“My mate, Charlie, said he was going to?—”
“Yep. Just go on in. Did you pay at the other gate?”
“I did.”
“Hand it here, and I’ll stamp it. If you take it in with you, when Charlie gets you your family pass, you can get your money back.”
“That would be great, thanks,” I told him as I handed the parking pass over. He disappeared inside the booth for just a moment before he was back with it.
“Here you go. Just be sure to take it in with you, and you can get your refund.”
“I don’t need it in my dash?”
“Oh, yeah, give me a sec.” He disappeared again but was back in a blink. “Here, put this in your dash. They don’t really patrol the lot until later in the day though, but put this in there just to be safe.”
“Thanks again,” I told him. He waved me through, and I went in search of Charlie’s little car. It was actually easier to locate than I expected. There were several cars that were similar in size, all parked together in a row. I couldn’t help but smile at that sight.
“Cutie, I’m here and just parked. I forgot to let you know that I was at the gate. I’m parked by your car though, so it might take me some time to get to the entrance.”
“I knew you were coming. Dave at the gate radioed me when you went through the employee gate.”
That worked for me.“Sorry I forgot to reach out. I do have lots of food though.”I reached over and grabbed the bags, then the drink holder with our large drinks. Once I slid from the truck, I used my hip to close it. I gave up, though, and had to set the drinks down in order to lock it. After picking them up and starting toward the entrance, I spotted a familiar face about halfway there. He gave a little jump and then started rushing toward me. I couldn’t keep the smile from my face as my adorable mate came rushing toward me.
“Hey, you,” I said as Charlie reached me. I leaned down and stole a kiss, thankful that Charlie was all for showing affection toward each other when in public. When I stood up, the smile I received told me all I needed to know. “How has your day been?”
Charlie groaned. “Long. It’s going so slow too. And I’m extra irritable, and I can’t figure out why. But I’m really happy tosee you.” Charlie bounced on his feet a bit. “Do you need help carrying anything?”
“I’ll take it,” I said, holding up the drink carrier with two sodas in it. Charlie took the drink carrier, which left my hand now empty, and I could place it around Charlie’s shoulders. “Did you want to talk during lunch? Or do you feel we should discuss things once you get home?”
Charlie sighed. “I think at home. I love that you came to see me though. It’s been a rough morning.”
“You should have reached out earlier,” I told him. “You can always interrupt me, not that you ever could.” I stopped Charlie by pulling a bit on his shoulder. It worked because he looked up at me. “You are more important than any meeting with any client. Always. I will always drop everything to come to you if needed.”
Charlie stared at me a moment before he nodded and then looked away. I could feel the embarrassment through our bond, and I was certainly going to touch on that while I was here for lunch. But we’d reached the entrance, and Charlie swiped his badge. The light turned from red to green, and then the door clicked. Charlie quickly opened it and led me through.
“Charlie,” I said quietly because there were others around. He glanced up at me but shook his head.“Charlie, I want to talk about that,”I told him through our mate bond.“There is nothing to be embarrassed about. You are my mate, and we are partners in all things.”
Charlie nodded. When he said something out loud, I looked up and saw that he was talking to someone else.
“We will,” Charlie said to me. “Just not here, okay?”
“That’s fine. But we are going to need to discuss things that probably aren’t what you’re going to want to talk about.”
“I know.” Charlie groaned. “Just ignore her as much as you can.”
I didn’t quite understand what Charlie was saying until we were suddenly descended upon by an overly excited woman.
