Page 136 of Opposites (Never) Attract
The absence felt too damn big. So, I did what any sane man would do, found my pop’s good bottle of bourbon inthe cabinet above the refrigerator, and then opened up all the windows to let new air come in and clear her out completely.
After finishing off the bottle, the night air filling up the cabin, I fell asleep on the couch, not even wanting to think about the bed I knew would still smell like her.
My last conscious thought…Carter was right.
I was a dumb-dumb.
TWENTY-SEVEN
SUNSHINE
I checkedthe clock on my Mac for what had to be the thousandth time.
Why was time moving so slowly?
I’d been back in the city for three weeks, and for whatever reason, it had felt like three decades. Work was sluggish. My daily routines, boring. Even shock treatment at my spa had been uninspiring.
Because Tag wasn’t there. He wasn’t anywhere in this city, but I kept looking for him, expecting him to show up like he had the last time. Only, intellectually, I knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Today, Mr. Berkley was popping into the office with a surprise announcement and we were all supposed to meet in the conference room at eleven am.
10:32.
Ugh! It had been 10:31 last time I checked, and that had to be over an hour ago.
There’d been no mention of my partnership since being back. Instead, Jared had simply dropped an inordinateamount of work on my desk, told me I’d needed to catch up, and then left me to do what I did best.
Making money.
On our last call with the partners, I’d gently brought up the subject of crypto and was immediately shot down.
Berkley and Brothers didn’t play with funny money. Which I could appreciate, if you didn’t know what you were doing.
Except I did.
Group Chat Harmony: Did it happen yet?
Me: No. The meeting isn’t until 11:00.
Mom: Why is she talking about a meeting?
Bliss: MOM! Keep up. Sunshine told us that the big boss announced a surprise meeting today. It’s probably about her promotion to partner.
Mom: So, we’re not talking about the other thing?
Amity: MOM!
Harmony: MOM!
Bliss: We need to remove Mom from the group chat.
Mom: You will not remove me. I’m your mother!
Me: What other thing is Mom talking about?
Harmony. If you don’t know, then it didn’t happen. So, she’s talking about nothing.
Me: I don’t think that makes any sense.
