What a healthy marriage looks like

Back to work

Getting back to work was a whirlwind for both of them, and before they knew it- They'd been married a week. After she was done for the day, Caroline filed away the relevant paperwork, locked up her office, armed the security, and headed out. Since Mick was on a stake out he wouldn't be back until the next day, so she decided to visit a favorite watering hole of her's. Her friend Terry waved as she came in and sat at the bar. There was a good sized crowd, but it wasn't crazy, so Terry came over to chat as she was cleaning up. "Hey Lynn, how's it hangin?", "Oh, you know. Same old, same old... Except-" She tapped her face nonchalantly, deliberately showing off her ring and Terry gasped, "No way! He proposed?!", "He did! We actually just got married-", "WHAAT?! Girl, when were you gonna tell me?!", "I'm telling you now-", "How could you get married and not even invite me? How many years have we known each other? I practically set you two up and you don't even invite me to your WEDDING?!" Caroline laughed, "It was kinda spur of the moment. We didn't really invite anyone, we just went up to the courthouse and did it." Terry gave her a skeptical look and questioned, "... The courthouse ?" Caroline felt defensive at that, "It was cute! It doesn't matter anyway, we're married, I'm happy, he's happy, and that's what matters." Terry held up her hands, "I didn't mean anything by it. Just..." Terry was saved from digging her grave even deeper by the after-work rush and she sighed in relief, "Alright, gotta get back to it. What'd you want? You're usual?", "Yeah that's fine, thank you." She nodded and left, only coming back to drop off Caroline's Chimayó. As Caroline started sipping, she went through her planner for her appointments the next day. While keeping books wasn't her passion or anything, she did good work and it paid the bills so she couldn't really complain. As she was working, someone sat on the barstool next to her. She didn't pay them any mind until they leaned toward her and said, "Hey sweetheart, you come here often?" She glanced up at them before picking up her drink with her ringed hand, "I'm flattered, but no thank you." She thought that would be enough to scare him off, but he just got closer, "Oh, what he don't know can't hurt him~" Caroline nearly punched this jackass, but before she got the opportunity a pistol was placed against the side of his head. Holding the gun was Miss Pauling, who said cooly, "She said no thank you." The dude quickly scattered and Miss Pauling took his place on the barstool. Caroline didn't exactly know how to feel about her, but she nodded politely and said, "Thank you." Pauling nodded back, "Of course, I hate entitled men.", "Don't we all." Caroline said as she took another sip. They didn't talk for a moment, letting the din of the bar fill the silence between them, then Pauling said, "I'm sorry about the whole 'busting down your door, wrecking your apartment, ruining your anniversary' thing." Caroline barked a laugh, "It's okay. It turned out alright in the end..." She admired her ring and Pauling was astonished. This was not the response she had expected. Pauling looked at the bar and said, "Well, thank you... I just wish Sniper would forgive me that quick." Caroline looked at her, really looked at her, then she smiled, "Give him time. I mean, you ruined his anniversary too." Pauling cringed and Caroline bat her on her arm, "Don't beat yourself up too much, I was joking. In a few years it'll all be a funny story, but until then you just gotta be patient." Pauling smiled a little, then she remembered why she was there in the first place, "Hey, even though you said it was okay I still wanted to make it up to you somehow. Would you be interested in a position at TF Industries?" Caroline knit her eyebrows together, "A position? What would I be doing?", "The same thing you're doing now, TF Industries is the parent company for a few different, smaller companies, so instead of contracting through your own personal DBA, you'd just contract through TFI instead.", "Mm, and what would I gain by doing that?" Pauling shrugged, "A hell of a lot more money, for a start." Caroline nodded, "And the drawbacks?", "If you'd like to discuss all the details, I'll get you a meeting with my boss and you two can hash it out." Pauling pulled out a business card and gave it to Caroline, who looked at it for a moment before saying, "I'll need to talk with my husband about it." Pauling nodded, standing up, "Of course. No rush." then she pulled out a two dollar bill and set it on the bar before walking out. Newly alone, Caroline looked at the money, then the business card in her hand. It was a nice gesture, but something about it felt off, she definitely wasn't telling her everything. At the same time, she didn't want to assume the worst in this woman that, even if they didn't start out on the right foot, wasn't exactly malicious. Caroline put the card away, packed up her things and left, making sure to wave goodbye to Terry on her way out.