5
PARKER
Surveying the ingredients spread out on the counter in my kitchen, I folded my arms over my chest and mentally did the math. I scanned the fresh vegetables and meats I’d bought earlier, grinning when I concluded that I had enough of everything to get my meal prep for the week done today.
Now all I had to do was make the food, which was the part I always looked forward to. I’d gotten pretty good at cooking and I actually enjoyed it nowadays.
I turned to hit the power button on the old stereo I still had in here, but I paused when my phone rang from somewhere in the TV room.Fuck.
Thankfully, my place wasn’t all that big. In fact, I could get from the kitchen to the TV room and back in less than a dozen strides. Even though I was in a much better place financially than I’d ever been before, I still wasn’t going to take any chances.
Until the money from the future sale was in my account, I would stay in the exact same place I’d been living for the last five years. At least I knew I could afford rent here even when things weren’t going so well.
Sure, the place was dingy and smelled a bit musty, but it was home. I might not even leave after the sale. Not until I really had a reason to search for someplace bigger. It would just feel like a waste if I had so much unused space only for myself.
Sighing at the direction my thoughts had taken, I shook my head and picked up my phone. The caller was Marley, an old friend of mine from college.
I grinned into the receiver as I pressed the phone to my ear. “How’s my favorite surf instructor doing? You still in Maui, or have you moved on to those greener pastures you mentioned last time we talked?”
He laughed. “Nah, man. I’ll never leave here. You know that. I only mention it when I get jealous of the waves they’ve got in other parts of the world.”
“I know.” I dropped down on my sofa and kicked up my feet, wishing I was back on the island with him. I hadn’t been able to visit as often as I would’ve liked, but the two times I had been there were magical. Like scenes from one of those post-college reunion movies.
When he first told me he was going, I’d thought he was crazy. I’d thought he was making the biggest mistake he could make and that he’d be back, crashing on my couch, within a few months.
He’d moved there about two years after we’d graduated. Even before he’d left the city, Marley had always believed in the philosophy that money wasn’t everything. I’d really thought he was full of shit until he’d called me one day, told me that he’d resigned from the job he’d had at the bank back then, and then let me know that he was boarding a plane to Hawaii in an hour.
Two weeks later, he’d landed a new job as a surf instructor at one of the big resorts. He’d always been free-spirited, but I still hadn’t believed he would actually stay there for good. That had been years ago though, and so far, it didn’t look like he would ever move back to anywhere with a rat race.
These days, he had dreadlocks down to his waist and caramel skin from spending so much time in the sun. He wore strips of leather around his wrists and ankles, lived in swim shorts, and, when he wasn’t instructing, spent his time at a legit local beach bar, playing his guitar for extra money. Whenever I spoke to him, it was hard not to be jealous of the life he’d carved out for himself.
“What’s up, man?” I asked. “It’s been a while. I’ve been meaning to call, but things are hectic around here.”
“Does that mean you still haven’t sold?” he asked. “I thought you’d be here with me by now, living the dream and hiking every nook and cranny of the island.”
“I’m still going to do that,” I said. “I’m going to come stay at the resort for a year or two if I have any say in it, but no. I haven’t sold yet, so it’s going to have to keep waiting.”
“Damn. I’ve been getting alerts when your name comes up, and my phone has been going insane with all the notifications. How haven’t you found someone willing to buy into all that press?”
I shrugged. “Apparently, my brand isn’t trustworthy enough yet or some shit like that. I’m working on it, though.”
“Well, work faster,” he said, then laughed. “I’ve been telling all my friends here about you and that you’ll be coming to join us for the good life as soon as you can. They’ve practically got the welcome sign ready for the day you arrive.”
“I can’t wait,” I said honestly.
Marley and I had been talking about me coming to spend a couple months on the island with him for years. Almost since he’d moved there. Once the sale went through, I was really hoping to be able to do it.
The stress of almost going bust before Hunter invested, followed by that of the renovations and relaunch, followed by the expansion and franchising, was eating me alive. I wouldn’t have been so worried about it, but Nash kept preaching about heart health and how we weren’t immune to the effects of stress just because we were young and otherwise healthy.
Before he met Lennon, he’d had a scare where they’d thought he had a heart attack. It had turned out that he hadn’t, but the doctor had ordered him to take a couple months off and to chill the hell out.
Since then, I’d been a lot more aware of the stress, and I tried to slow down when I could, but I wasn’t really in a phase of my life where it was possible very often. I’d make time for it, though. To give my body proper time to recover if I could.
“How about you?” I asked. “What’s new?”
“I’ve got good news,” he said, sounding cheerful and happy. Then again, Marley usually sounded cheerful and happy because he genuinely was both of those things. “Me and my girl are finally getting married.”
“Really? Wow. Congratulations.” I meant it, too. “That’s great news. When’s the wedding? I’m going to need a bit of a heads-up to make sure I can make it out there for it.”