Nodding now, Jim said, “Point made. Do we need to hug it out now?”
Shaking his head, Chris cringed at him and said, “Please don’t make me.”
Deacon cleared his throat and loudly said, “So, on page seven…”
Laughing, Chris said, “Yes. Page seven.”
Refocusing on work, they went through the proposal and made a few small corrections, but it was in good shape overall.
Around 1:15 p.m., Deacon looked at his watch and said, “Sara said she’d be downstairs to check in the food orders. Gonna stop down and see her for a second. Did you guys wanna discuss anything else?”
“Nah,” Jim said. “Tell her I said hi.”
“Ask her if she can make those awesome nachos on Sunday,” Chris said.
Nodding, he said, “Later, guys,” and walked out the door.
Chris said, “All right. I’ve got a one thirty teleconference to prepare for. I’ll catch you later?”
Nodding, Jim said, “Hey. I really didn’t mean to offend you earlier. I know you’re not a bad guy.”
“Not your fault. It’s a strange situation that I’m not entirely comfortable with. I probably overreacted,” Chris admitted.
“It’s strange to think of her grown up.”
“Yeah. I’ll admit that it caught me off guard at first too. She came into the office a couple years back to visit Deacon, I guess. I happened to see her out of the corner of my eye and checked her out. Then she turned around and I realized who it was. I felt like a dirty old man. Hell, I still kinda do,” Chris said, shaking his head.
Shaking his head now, too, Jim said, “Don’t be dumb. She’s a grown woman. It’s fine. Clearly she likes you for some reason. Just go with it.”
Chris said, “I need to leave now. Before we start hugging and crying like a bunch of chicks.”
Jim grinned and extended his arms, and Chris laughed, saying, “Yep. I’m out.”
Grabbing his corrected proposal and drink, he went back to his office.
Making the necessary corrections, he spent the rest of the day on long and relatively pointless conference calls.
He was glad when the day was finally over. He was cranky and just wanted to go home. Stopping at the gym on the way home from work, he saw he had a missed text from Chloe. “Hope your day went well!”
Texting her back, he said, “At the gym. Can I call you later tonight or are you still working?”
His phone buzzed immediately with her reply. “Done and home by 8:30, any time after is good.”
He quickly typed back, “Talk to you then.”
Sliding his phone into his gym bag, he grabbed it and headed for the locker room.
An hour and fifteen minutes later, he was walking in his front door. He immediately changed out of his suit, and then headed for the kitchen. He scoped the contents of his refrigerator to see what was for dinner. After a little debate, he settled on a turkey sandwich and a salad.
Grabbing a beer to go with it, he sat down in front of the television to catch up on the DVR’d episodes of Crime Scene. It was a true-life crime show where the detailed crime scenes and walked through how the police had solved the crime. It was fascinating and kind of addictive.
Two hours later, he felt himself begin to doze off. Looking at the clock, it was eight forty-five, so he figured it was probably safe to call Chloe now.
Picking up his cell, he scrolled through his contacts for her number and dialed.
She picked up on the third ring, saying, “Hey, you.”
He could hear the smile in her voice.