Page 15 of Happily Ever Laughter

“I miss you already,” he whispers. “Honestly, I didn’t know if I’d ever feel this way about anyone, Tanis. I’m so glad that I found you.”

“To be fair, I spotted you across the bar before you saw me.”

“Nope. I saw you the second you walked in the door with Jenna. As she walked under the first chandelier, the little crystal reflections sent shards of blue and white across your cheekbones and lips, and I realized I’ve never wanted to kiss a girl so much in my entire life.”

That shot of pure romance certainly makes up for the fact that we actually met in a bar.

“It’s funny, I noticed you when you leaned forward and your face was lit by that old fashioned lamp. It was…unusually flattering.”

His rich chuckle in my ear makes my body tense and relax at the same time. “Was it magic at first sight?”

“It was...questions,” I admit. “Many large, important questions.”

“That’s good too, I guess,” he says. “Tanis, I don’t know what you’re looking for in a man, but I hope that I can be that for you. I want to treat you like the precious, incredible soul that you are.”

Overwhelmed by his honesty, it feels safe to share with him as well.

“I’ve never had a dream guy. I never thought I’d end up in a relationship. Sure, I casually considered it, in the context of ‘some day’. But I just assumed that I’d be alone forever.”

“I’m going to destroy those plans of yours,” his low voice rumbles. “I’m going to make sure that you understand that we’re forever.”

I can’t believe he’s using that word when we’ve not even been together for a week. Yet I know he’s right on some level. Still, it might not quite be smart to trust it completely so soon.

My hopes are already up so high that it’s terrifying.

My sudden yawn makes him laugh. “Go to sleep, my sweet girl.”

“Good night.”

I set my alarm, then dissolve into a strange dream land of video clips and Felix’s dark eyes smiling at me.

CHAPTER EIGHT

~ Felix ~

As always, my video call with Gretchen is lightning fast and super efficient.

“I love what you’re doing with the theme music,” she says, as she taps her pencil against her ever present yellow legal pad. I’ve only visited her offices a handful of times, but those yellow pads of paper are always absolutely everywhere. It’s funny, she’s still serious even while discussing comedy.

“The contrast of the raw, fresh new comedians against the interstitials with the old-fashioned, and to be honest wildly out of character music is absolutely perfect,” she says. “And then the exploding and imploding video clips somehow elevate it all to high art.”

I can see that the slight clicking sound is her fingernails against the handle of her coffee mug. “Nobody here in the office can put their finger on exactly why, but everyone absolutely cracked up. Perhaps because it was so unexpected, and quite frankly, weird.”

“That’s all that matters,” I say, taking a note that the unexplained is apparently working for me again.

“Thank goodness you found someone who has a cohesive selection of videos practically ready to go,” she says, cracking a rare smile. “I need all of the pieces for end of day today.”

My mouth falls open, as I stare at her. Did Gretchen just crack her very first natural joke?

“I hope that you’re teasing,” I say carefully. “I only have two of the music segments recorded.”

She frowns slightly, as her angular face tilts. Her hair is scraped back as always into an unmovable bun, as she reaches up to scratch her temple with the end of her pencil.

> “Gretchen, you know I always deliver,” I said quickly before she can worry too much. “Just give me one more day. Your editors can work on the comedy segments, and I will get you the finished video clips and music at the exact time intervals you requested by midnight tomorrow.”

She nods, slashing a note on her paper. “Fine. You’re the only person I trust enough to deliver something right at the wire. Plus, you have server access, so we won’t have to fiddle around with that. Just load up the pieces as soon as you’re finished with them, and I’ll let the editors know where to look for them.”

“May I ask why this is all such a colossal rush?”

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