Work Before Play

Empty Nest Syndrome

Mark held my hand throughout the flight from Cincinnati to LA. He would trace circles on my palm to try to relax me, but just seeing his smoldering gaze on me was enough.

By the time we got home, we were both exhausted. But work needed to be done. I began unpacking and throwing clothes in the wash. Mark went to his room to record. But something felt off.

By the end of the night, I finally realized what was different in our house. The boys were gone. I looked in each bedroom, and everything was cleared out. From the doorway of Ryan's room, I called Mark.

"Um... Where are the boys..?" I asked gently.

Mark sighed and looked into my eyes. "They didn't want to worry you with what they had planned, so they didn't tell you. But they wanted to restart their YouTube channel, so they felt moving out and getting their own place was the best way to start."

I thought about how empty the house would be now. Without Matt's endless jokes and Ryan's compassion or even Lego's hyperactivity. I opened my mouth ready to speak but Mark held up his hand to cut me off.

"And no. I did not kick them out. I did not follow through on my proposal plan until after they had their minds set up on moving out, Lydia." He clarified.

"Oh okay. Where to?" I asked.

"A smaller apartment not too far across town. Trust me, knowing them, they'll be over here plenty for your amazing cooking." Mark enclosed me into a hug and nuzzled my neck.

"Okay, okay. Get back to work, Markimoo." I joked as I pushed him away slowly.

I went to the kitchen, only to find we were all out of everything. I sighed and told Mark  I'll be at the store. Grabbing my keys, I left in my car.

Once I got to shopping I saw a familiar face. "Ryan!" I quietly yelled in the store, I ran to hug him.

"Hey, Stiff!" Ryan greeted me. He looked happy, and I knew it had been a while since he was actually happy.

"You look good." I commented. "I'm so sorry Mark didn't tell me about you moving out! I would've totally helped."

"It's fine. You did so much for us anyways. You gave Matt and I our drive back to be Youtubers again. You helped us out a lot, Stiff." He smiled brightly. "So, lemme see the ring!" He exclaimed.

I showed off the dazzling stone on my finger. While Ryan was telling the story of how he knew of Mark's proposal plan and how desperately I was to choose to go to Mark's home in Cincinnati, my phone began to ring.

I asked Ryan to pause as I checked it, I assumed it would be Mark asking what was taking so long. It wasn't.

"Hello?" I answered in disbelief.

"Yes, it's this Lydia Greenbriar?"

"Yes, this is she." I remarked.

"Yes, this is Monsanto Corp. we would like you to interview for an Ag Business Management role within our company in LA."

"I- I- uh. I mean I'd love to! Thank you so much! Will you email me the interview details?" I was in complete shock. Inwardly I facepalmed myself about how stupid I sounded.

"Yes, I will send the link to you shortly. We would love to have you here, your schooling credentials and work on your grad project was a phenomenal read. We hope you make the best decision of your career and interview with us. Thank you for your time, Ms. Greenbriar. Good bye." The lady unloaded on me.

"Uh. Thank you so much! Bye byee." I hung up shortly after.

"What was that?" Ryan asked confused.

"I was just offered my dream job and it's here in LA! Everything is going amazingly right now!" I said quickly. My adrenaline was pumping and small happy tears gathered in my eyes as I took Ryan into a big bear hug.

Ryan followed me home and helped me unload groceries. I knew he probably only helped because he knew I would cook for him if he helped, but I could care less. I was on cloud nine. Nothing could bring me down now.

Ryan and I unloaded the car as I heard nails clicking on the wooden floor, running towards us.

"Chica baby!" I greeted the sweet little fur ball. She ran past my outstretched hand into Ryan's open arms.

"Lydia, are you home?" I heard Mark call from upstairs.

"Yes, my dear!" Ryan yelled back in a girlish voice. All I could do was laugh. And Ryan ended it with an overdone giggle.

Mark came down and saw Ryan playing with Chica as I finished putting away groceries. "Hey, babe. Ryan." He nodded.

"Do you need help with anything?" Ryan looked at me.

"No, I think I got it." I smiled back.

"Do you want to talk about collaborating, now or later?" Ryan looked to Mark.

"Yeah sure!" They ran upstairs as Chica followed frantically.

I cleaned up and began food. I decided baked spaghetti was good enough. Not wanting to lead Matt out, I texted him to join us all.

Soon the dinner table was set and all of happily sitting down together again.

I went to the wine cellar and grabbed my aged expensive red wine and poured glasses for Matt, Ryan, and I.

Mark looked up, "What's the occasion?" As I sat down.

"Well, I have an interview with Monsanto soon and they pretty much begged me to accept their job offer. They only require an interview for everyone to have a fair and equal chance, but the woman was begging me to join. We even talked pay and special requests for hours."

Mark looked in shock. "So... You mean you have a job after this coming semester?" He asked slowly as if processing it all.

"Yes, Mark. I have a job!" I raised my glass as everyone clinked their glasses of wine and one water.