“No, it’s not,” he retorts quickly. “It’s not stupid. I think… well, I think it’s important to find your best friend in your spouse, and you’re right. All the couples you said, they’ve done that. But…” Archer trails off and I lean forward.
“But what?”
Archer then turns his gaze to mine and holds it steadily. “Maybe you’ve just been looking in the wrong places.”
Chapter Eight
“People like to think they can wake up and their dreams just magically come true. But that’s not true, making them come true takes days and days of consistency. Nothing worth doing is worth doing lazy.” – Warren
ARCHER
My phone ringing in a distant land wakes me the next morning. It’s Tuesday, and Enzo, Viv, and I stayed way later than normal, later than we should have, or normally would have, at Teresa’s house last night.
But the fact was, Enzo worked mostly nights, and Viv and I were both currently unemployed, so none of us needed to be at work early.
No one knows I was let go, and I plan on keeping it that way. I was going to turn in my application to the restaurant today in hopes that they needed someone as bad as I need a job and they’d let me start this week.
I squint at the 303 number and blink. I don’t recognize it, but I answer anyway. “Hello?”
“Archer Moore, this is Henry Blake.”
I sit up quickly, my eyes needing to blink to adjust to the light streaming into my room and clear my throat away from the phone. I bring it back to my ear and try to push a professional tone. “Mr. Blake, how are you, sir?”
That sounded good. Not at all kiss ass-ish.
“Fine, son. Listen, I hear you’re in need of some extra work.”
“Ah, yes, sir. I’m currently in between jobs at the moment.” It’s the nicest way to say someone fired my ass.
“Brilliant. Well, Warren speaks highly of your work ethic, and I could use more reliable guys on my crew. Would you be available today?”
My eyebrows skyrocket. “Today? Yes, sir. But I’m down in Denver. It would take a few hours to get to Fall Springs.”
“Ah no, I’m out in Golden for a job. I’d like to talk with you about some things. Could you be here in about an hour?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Henry rattles off an address that I type into my phone. The address is forty-two minutes away, which means that I’ve got to get my ass in gear.
After a fast as fuck shower, I slip into my boxers and jeans, grab a random T-shirt and put it on and then grab my steel-toed construction boots.
I think briefly of texting Viv and telling her I might have an awesome job lined up, but then I remember I didn’t tell her I was let go from the last one and think it might be more fun to just come at it as getting a better opportunity.
I shake my head, reminding myself that despite the fact that we’re a fake couple, we don’t share these details with each other anymore. We’re not the tight-knit friends we once were, but maybe that could change. Maybe I need to keep using this opportunity to get Viv in my life again. Permanently.
I grab my wallet, phone, and keys and rush out the door. No one is home except Enzo and my guess was that he’s still sleeping.
I normally get up early and go for a run, but I’ve been feeling dejected by not having a job or any prospects for a job and had decided to use the universal “fuck it” and sleep in.
I wasn’t feeling like that now.
One phone call, and I was energized.
Henry Blake was known around the country, Blake Construction was his first baby and he’d spent the last thirty or so years building it up to what it was now.
If I got a position on his crew and worked my ass off, I knew that I could make something of myself with his company.
I’d wanted to do something similar but go at it from a design standpoint. Design and build communities and affordable, nice housing for people. But that had all crashed and burned when I’d trusted the wrong person.