Page 41 of And Then I Kissed Him

“Hey, Joe.” My voice came out low and huskily so I cleared my throat before continuing. “Would you mind if Sam came over to your apartment tonight? It’s just to help me pack. He won’t step foot anywhere else other than my room and the closet.”

“To pack, huh.” Joe threw his free hand in his pant pocket. He looked away but failed terribly at hiding the snicker on his face. “That’s quick. Didn’t think you’d look for an apartment this soon. You procrastinated on coming to see my apartment for three months before accepting to move in. Took you another month to order the cardboard boxes.”

“Can’t delay this time. I need to move out in order to move on.”

Damn, I hated saying that. I didn’t want to move on from Joe.

And seemed like my spitfire words hit the nail right on the head. Joe’s face became shadowed with sheer of sadness.

“So,” I kept my strong stand before him. “Could he?”

Joe looked between Sam and me. Gave one single nod. “Sure.”

“Great.” Sam exclaimed, surprised at the easy go-ahead received as much as I was. “Guess we’ll be meeting twice in one day then. Lucy and I might go out for drinks after. You could join if you—“

“I’ll pass,” was Joe’s super-quick automatic response.

“Okay then.” Sam directed a hand to the conference room. “Shall we?” And he went it.

Except Joe didn’t move or waver his eyes off me. “Didn’t know you’re close with Sam now.”

“Didn’t know I needed my ex-best friend’s opinion on who I get close with.”

“Don’t be too pleased. He might just become an ex soon enough too.” And with that, Joe strode into the conference room, leaving me there to replay his last words.

What did he mean? He shouldn’t have minded who I hung out with. Or cared or be jealous, whatever that was. Maybe he wasn’t Sam’s biggest fan, I got that, but it didn’t mean he could judge him. Yes, Sam was my new best friend now. Okay, maybe just the new friend. Too soon to promote him as Joe’s replacement. Although indeed, Sam was the first person that I thought of to share the news with. And was also the one with who I’ve been spending five or six evenings out of seven. Guess that made him the top friend.

In the conference room, Sam and Joe took a seat opposite each other at the large table. I took the seat next to Sam. And I may have wheeled my chair a little too close to Sam on purpose.

“Zimmerman texted me. He’s running a few minutes late.” Joe announced.

Sam checked his phone. “Oh, look at that. Zimmerman texted me too.” Sam flashed his most sarcastic smile at Joe.

Why did it seem that this meeting would become more of a competition between me and Sam against Joe rather than a collaboration?

Sam unbuttoned his suit jacket and settled comfortably in his seat. “Perfect. We got fifteen minutes to small talk. So, how’s your day looking, Parker?”

Joe wiggled in his chair uncomfortably. “Or I could wait at the reception and come back when Zimmerman arrives. Not really in the mood for chit-chat.”

“Nonsense.” I quipped quickly. “If you two are to work together, you’ve got to learn to chit-chat.” Plus I didn’t need the weirdly extreme animosity between all of us.

Sam shrugged a small shoulder at me. “What? Why are you glaring at me? I talked to him, didn’t I?”

“I did too.” Joe crossed his arms. His eyes twitched as he focused on facing Sam.

I scoffed at their silly attitude. “That’s not small talk. That’s childish bickering.” To prove my point, neither of them talked. “How are you expecting to collaborate in silence?”

“We’re collaborating on work,” Sam interjected. “I can talk about work. How’s your company doing, Joe?”

There, he tried. Though Joe didn’t appreciate Sam’s effort. I heard Joe muttering under his breath, something along the line of ‘bullshit small talk’. Yep, their silly stubbornness was an example under the definition of bullshit in my dictionary.

Sam sighed, and threw up his hands in surrender. “I’m done. Have only got enough small talk to go. Unless he wants to try again and we talk about the weather.”

Joe pushed back his chair. “I’d rather wait outside, thank you.”

Hell no. I had enough days ruined with the bad moods bullshit. Not happening again.

“Don’t even think about opening that door and sit down, Joe.” The words came out of my mouth without warning, surprising both men – and myself – with my blunt tone. They never heard me talk like that. My voice was like scolding a kid. Well, if they want to be the kids, I’ll be the parent. “In case you haven’t realized, it’s not just the two of you who would be collaborating. You have dragged me into these meetings with you, so let’s spare each other the grief and let the three of us get along. And for that to work, first on the agenda is setting some rules for the two of you.”

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