Page 2 of Thanks for the Friendship
I rise to my feet.
“It’s been a pleasure working with you,” Dave Hillard says politely.
“Yes, but this is only the beginning of our friendship,” Diane interjects.
She throws her arms around me and pulls me in for a tight hug. “We’ll see you very soon.”
I flash her a warm smile and a wave before making my exit.
Another happy client. Good job, Lila.
Like I was saying—I love my job. Helping people find their forever home is pretty fantastic.
* * *
“The question is—what are you planning to do with the commission?” Gabby asks, popping a piece of bread into her mouth at dinner.
This is a typical topic of conversation for us. Gabby moved to Miami almost a year ago after her engagement ended and now works at Fun in the Sun Realty with me. She’s still trying to build her clientele, and has had a rough go of it. Although lately she’s started to ramp things up.
“I haven’t thought it through yet,” I reply. “All I can say is, I worked my butt off for this sale and the amount of relief I’m feeling right now is immeasurable.”
“So true. There isn’t much that compares to the minute you walk out of that title office,” Gabby agrees, her hazel eyes lighting up.
I glance at my phone. “I wonder where Reagan is?”
“Oh, didn’t you see her text?” Gabby asks, pushing her light brown hair behind her shoulder. “She’s going to be a few minutes late because she and Jeremy are finishing up a presentation.”
I snort. “Yeah, I bet they were.”
Speaking of the honeymoon phase, Reagan and her co-worker are finally together, and they are completely enamored with each other. You’d never suspect they’ve worked together for so long before recognizing they had feelings for one another. It’s a very romantic, super swoony friends-become-more story. I’m happy for Reagan because she deserves it, and so does Gabby after the hell she went through in her last relationship. The only downside is that Gabby’s dating our neighbor Theo Jorgenson. I still can’t believe that in a city with so many eligible men, she found him. Okay, so maybe I’m being slightly unfair. It’s not that Theo is a bad person. We just have a complicated past. And not in a romantic way.Ew—never.
Theo’s family has lived next door to mine since we were teenagers, and truthfully we just never got along. We’re like oil and water, or fire and ice? You name it—we don’t mix. The icing on the cake was that fateful day back in high school when Theo opened his big fat mouth and told my boyfriend Cal that he saw me kissing my ex in my driveway. Of course, he didn’t have all the information and assumed there was more going on between us. I tried to explain that Brent kissed me, but the damage was already done.
Granted, Cal was going to college anyway, so it gave him the perfect opportunity to end our relationship. Needless to say, I still blame Theo. Yes, it’s been a long time, but there are just some people you won’t mesh with in life.
“You’re probably right,” Gabby says, pulling me out of my daydream. “I don’t know how Reagan works so closely with her boyfriend and keeps it professional.”
“Practice?” I suggest. “They’ve managed it this long.”
“I don’t think I could work with Theo.”
“Yeah, me neither,” I say smugly.
She scowls. “Funny. And you promised you were going to try to get along with him.”
“I am,” I insist. “I’m going to his birthday party, aren’t I?”
“Yes,” she pauses. “And Theo’s really happy about it.”
I take a sip of my water and swallow. “Good.”
The truth is that Theo and I will probably never be best friends, but he’s good to Gabby and he makes her happy. That’s really all that matters.
My phone buzzes from beside me on the table. I sigh as soon as I see that it’s a text from Diane Hillard. I guess the closing on their new home doesn’t mean the end of her text messages.
The house is perfect. Mark your calendar for next Sunday. Small get-together at our new home.
She included a picture of her standing in front of the house, holding a Mountain Dew. Naturally.
