Page 59 of His Forever

In the breakroom, she cleaned out the refrigerator and was restocking it with water and soda when Chandra came in. “Hey, girl,” Chandra said.

“Hey! Listen, I haven’t had a chance yet, but can I just say thank you for what you did Saturday night? Paulie told me you kicked Colton’s assandhad him restrained with your pantyhose before the cops got there!”

“Girl, seeing you lying there and him trying what he was trying made me see red! I am so sorry it took me as long as it did to come check on you though,” the other woman said.

“Hey now, none of us had any clue that he would try something like that so don’t feel bad, okay?”

“Are…are you okay?” Chandra gently asked.

“I am, yes. I mean, I probably wouldn’t have been if he had gone through with it, but he didn’t and Zeus has pretty much been glued to my side since then,” she replied.

“I’m telling you, if he hadn’t been so freaked out seeing you so still, I think Colton would have been worse off! He looked like he wanted to kill him, but you were his first priority.”

“She was,” a voice said as it came into the breakroom. Looking up and seeing Zeus standing there with bags, they both went to help him. “She will always be my first priority,” he said softly as he gathered her in his arms and kissed her.

Chandra rolled her eyes at the two of them as she headed back out to the front. “I’ll let everyone know that food is here.”

Paulie came into the breakroom a few minutes later. “I thought you had a roomful of folks,” she said.

“I do, but they all agreed that I needed a few minutes to scarf down some food,” he replied, pulling out a burrito and grabbing a soda. “I cannot believe that it has been non-stop since we walked in,” he continued. “And we got here early, too!”

“It’ll settle once the newness wears off and of course, you can work on scheduling them if you need to,” Marleigh said as she eyed the chips and salsa before reaching for the chicken noodle soup Zeus had gotten her from the diner. “I’m happy for you, though. Have you seen Gray?”

Paulie laughed as he tried to eat. Swallowing, he said, “I think he texted me. I don’t know. I’ve had one or the other pair of my clippers going since we walked in, chica, and you know it!”

“I’m sure if it went well, he’ll tell you,” she replied. Looking at the clock, she gave Zeus a regretful glance saying, “I’ve got to run. My next client is due any minute now. Thanks for lunch, Zeus.”

“Any time, mi siempre hermosa, any time,” he said as he followed her to her room. Going inside, he pulled her close so he could kiss her. “Okay, now I’ll go back to work,” he declared.

***

Gray came in as they were wrapping the day up and said, “We’re celebrating tonight! Marleigh, call Zeus and see if he’s up for grilling. I’ll go grab everything and meet y’all at his house if he is.”

“They took the offer?” Paulie called out as he worked on his last client.

“They did, yes! And best of all, it’s pretty much move-in ready. We’ll need to call a cleaning service of course, but other than that, we can move in once closing is done.”

“When is closing?” Marleigh asked, coming into the main room.

“Next week! Now, call your man,” Gray said.

Shaking her head, she picked up her phone and called Zeus. Quickly filling him in, she jotted things down before she hung up. “He said yes, we could grill out and gave me a list of the places to find the best cuts of meat,” she told Gray. “He also said that they had ready-made salads that were pretty good if you wanted to grab those and that he would be home in the next hour or so and get the grill fired up. So, get to shopping, I’m ready for some real food again!”

***

As they sat around and ate the steaks that Gray had bought and Zeus had grilled, she felt the contentment down to her soul. Paulie and Gray fit in like they had been born here and of course, Zeus had become her everything. Shaking her head slightly, she said, “So, how does the Fourth of July thing work, Zeus?”

He started laughing at her question. “Mamá says every year she isn’t doing it any more, then turns around and starts planning for the next one before the end of summer. We need to invite your folks down,” he said, looking at Paulie. “And yours, mi siempre hermosa,” he said, looking at her.

“I don’t know if Daddy and Mother will come,” she said. “But, I’ll ask them, okay?”

“I know my folks will be here, they really enjoyed meeting everyone. Not sure I want our moms in cahoots, but I suspect if she gets her way, they’ll be relocating and then? We’re all in trouble, man.”

Marleigh started to laugh. She had lived with her aunt’s antics and seeing how Mamá interfered? The two women would be hell on wheels, that’s for sure. “Aunt Jeanie isn’t that bad,” she said through giggles. “But the two of them together? We’ll all need to be on our toes.”

“Yeah, we will be,” Paulie replied.

“So, how does your book look for tomorrow?” she asked.

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