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Jennifer looked startled at my hostility. Maybe she had short-term memory problems.
"Answer my question," I demanded. "Why are you here when I made it clear the last time you showed up on my doorstep -- also uninvited -- that I didn't want you here?"
Jennifer looked uncertain for a brief moment and then her face smoothed out.
"Challen, I figured after all this time you'd be chomping at the bit to work out again. I was talking to Roger and he mentioned you'd be in the office again starting on Monday, so I realized you'd be coming back to town this weekend." She gestured to her SUV. "Brought my bike so we could get right out there. I figured after all that time taking care of her, you'd be ready to blow off some steam. And I could use that time to catch you up on work."
"Taking care of her? Catching me up on work? Addy was in rehab; I wasn't taking care of her. And I'm already caught up on what's going on at work because I've never not been caught up on what's going on at work. I told you at the hospital when you showed up, also uninvited, that I wouldn't be working out with you anymore. Told you at work after the hospital incident that we wouldn't be working out anymore; I'd interact with you when I had to for work, but that'd be it. Then when you showed up here, I told you again we wouldn't be working out anymore and our friendship was done. Was I unclear on any of those occasions?"
"I know it was just the guilt talking, plus, no matter what you say, the added strain of taking care of an invalid --"
"Invalid? " I'd never wanted to be a woman before, but at that moment I did just so I could punch her. "Are you fucking serious? You know what? Don't talk anymore. Just get the fuck out of here."
"You're going to have to deal with me at work, Challen. We're adults. We can acknowledge there was some trouble between us in the past, but I gave you time to get over it, and I knew a bike ride would help smooth things over, in a manner of speaking, so things won't be awkward at work."
That made me smile and then laugh. "Actually, I won't have to deal with you or even see you at work. You've already received a warning from Maine. You ignored that. Next up, consequences."
"Be real. They won't fire me. I'll just get another warning."
My smile got even bigger. "Better update your resume."
"They won't --"
"They will. If the company shows any reluctance to get rid of you, I'll walk."
She looked a little skeptical, so I pressed on.
"Remind me what new projects you've pitched lately? Or ever?"
"We all can't be wunderkind software developers like you, but I'm still important to the company," she asserted.
Her bravado wasn't going to be long-lasting. I knew some things that she didn't.
"Not like I am, and you know damn well that's the truth. I just pitched a new software program I've been working on that will lead to potential sales in the hundreds of millions, conservatively. To say the higher ups are excited about that is an understatement. They not only want to keep me, they want to keep me happy and we've been having a lot of discussions about what happiness looks like to me. You showing up at my house like this, you unable to accept what I've told you, what HR's told you...none of that makes me happy. So..."
"I wanna see you out that door, baby, BYE BYE BYE," Addy stepped into Jennifer's line of sight singing a line from NSYNC's famous song, getting really loud on the bye bye bye.
YOU ARE READING
Challen and Addy
RomanceA married couple has been drifting apart for a while. He's on the go. She's more comfortable at home. He has a female friend at work he enjoys hiking, mountain bike riding and running with. She can't keep up. One day she tries and ends up in the hos...
