I was supposed to have dinner with them tonight.
“Hey, Mom,” I said as I pulled out onto the road.
“Hello there, Bryan. I was wanting to confirm dinner plans with you tonight. We have a very special menu we think you will enjoy.”
“Yep,” I said, sighing. “I’ll be there.”
“Well, don’t jump and shout for joy,” she said mockingly. “We’ll see you at seven.”
“See you then.”
I sighed as I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the seat. That meant I wasn’t going to be seeing Hailey tonight. I needed to call her when I got back to the office, but I had a few things I needed to take care of first. I needed to make sure I shut myself down for the day before I dove into any personal plans.
That was the deal I made with myself. If I struck this thing up with Hailey, work still came first.
“Hey there, man,” Drew said. “What brings you to the office?”
“Jobsite checkups,” I said.
“Oh. Fun. Computer work. Yeah, I got the stuff punched in you sat on my desk this morning. You got more?”
“Yep. Those were only half the job sites for the day,” I said.
“Want me to do the rest?” he asked.
“Nah. I got it.”
“You remember how we used to pull fourteen- to sixteen-hour days on job sites. All by ourselves?”
“Don’t remind me,” I said. “Those days were rough.”
“Yeah. All the basic work was on us before we had the money to employ any help for the details,” he said.
“How’s that second story project going?” I asked.
“The house across town? Far as I know, it’s going all right. I’ll check in on it tomorrow. Want me to give ‘em a call, dude?”
“Nah. Don’t worry about it. And since you’re going out to jobsites tomorrow, I’ll punch in the paperwork. Just drop it off here, and I’ll come in and do it,” I said.
“Thanks, man. That really helps me out.”
“Well, you helped me out today. It’s the least I can do.”
“You know, you’ve been more relaxed lately. More willing to come sit behind a desk, which I know you hate doing. What gives?” he asked.
“Honestly? It’s Hailey,” I said.
“Ah, so you’ve seen her again since the night.”
“Are we really calling it the night?” I asked.
“Yes. I have it on my calendar. The night you ended your dry spell,” he said, grinning.
“You’re a dick.”
“And you gave her some.”
“Shut up with that shit. Anyway, yes. We’ve seen each other a few more times since then.”