“Your girl okay?” Iz asked as they pulled into the parking lot.
“Not my girl.”
“She should be. I saw how you looked at her last night.”
“Just because I find her attractive does not mean she’s ‘my girl.’”
“You sure?”
No, he wasn’t sure. He liked the idea, more than he’d care to admit, but they’d only been on two dates, one of which would likely win a contest for worst date ever. How would having a girlfriend affect his ultimate goal? He needed to survive the next two years so he could work on his true calling instead of wasting time with the family business. Ryan had been busting his ass trying to find the primary and secondary sources he needed to make his work as rigorous as possible. He’d been listening to a wide variety of podcasts to figure out how those creators put their shows together. He was almost there. Only a script stood between him and his first episode. And a catchy name, of course.
Ryan exited the car without answering Iz. He waved as the car drove off before dragging himself to the front door. Locking the door behind him, he tossed his keys and phone on the reception desk on his way to the break room. He started the coffee and shot off a quick response to Elissa.
R: If you get bored I take lunch at 12 and get off at 4:30.
E: Thank you again. You really were my knight in shining armor last night. Sorry I was in distress.
R: Everyone needs help sometimes. Don’t apologize that it was your turn
She responded with an upside-down smiley face. He had no idea how to take it, but he smiled. He did that a fuckton around this woman.
He sighed and headed to his desk. His Aunt Annetta stood outside the door, digging in her purse for her keys. Ryan opened the door for her, leaving it unlocked.
“Grazie, Ryan.”
“You’re here early.”
The other employees, as well as his other aunt, his father, and his brother, would all be here in the next thirty minutes.
“Yes. I have an early meeting across town, and I forgot a file I need. I’ll be in and out.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“Aren’t you sweet? Where was this Ryan the last five years?”
Aunt Annetta was mostly teasing, but Ryan hadn’t spent a lot of time with his family outside of the frequent gatherings. One didn’t simply walk away from the DeMarco family. Especially when one still wanted access to one’s trust fund. Maybe he was getting too pretentious using all these “ones.”
“I’ve never wanted to be part of the family business.”
“But you want your money.” She frowned at him as they walked into the main office space and Ryan flipped on the lights.
“Yes, but only because it will allow me to follow my own path. Don’t get me wrong, Auntie, I’m very grateful for everything the DeMarco money has given me, including my education. But I don’t give a shit about real estate. I find it incredibly boring, and numbers hurt my head. From everything I’ve seen the last few weeks, this is a great place to work, but it’s not for me. I’m playing my dad’s game, until he’s satisfied I’ve done my duty to the family. Then I’ll go make my mark on the world.”
Annetta patted his arm. “If you say so, Ryan, but I’m not sure how you’ll do that with a degree in global studies. I mean, it could be worse, but what kind of job did you think you could find?”
His aunt headed to her office. A good thing—he didn’t want her to see the impish grin forming on his face. Would she be surprised to find out that’s exactly why he’d picked it? He’d been shocked when he found he loved it. No more forcing himself to study enough to earn Bs and Cs. Except for the general studies classes required by the university, he found the courses stimulating, and it had no longer been a struggle to earn As. He never knew he had it in him, but apparently he’d just needed something he wanted to learn.
While his degree seemed impractical to his family, understanding history, politics, and how different countries interacted with all the new technology had become incredibly relevant for the world they all lived in. The Ochoas had needed a bartender around the time of his graduation, and he discovered the breadth and depth of the Tucson foodie world. After all, it was a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. And it all clicked. How food currently moved around the world, how the import and export of food had drastically changed the course of human history.
The kernel of the idea of his podcast formed about two years ago. He liked bartending, truly, but it lacked some of the intellectual stimulation he never realized he needed until college. He’d been reading a bunch of random history books, listening to podcasts, then he took a trip with his cousin Trinity to Europe and it came together. His job gave him the freedom to chase his passion and his trust fund the cash to buy the books and the equipment he needed. His collection of food-related history books was wild, and he’d been playing with recording equipment and researching best business practices. He’d finally been ready to write the pilot episode when his father insisted on this bargain.
Ryan sat at his desk for a few minutes until someone else walked through the door, one of the non-relatives working here. He went back, got another cup of coffee, and assumed his station, guarding the entrance to DeMarco Property Management.
Another cog in the machine. He still had two more years and some change left of this before he would have the freedom to do as he saw fit again. At least he still had Iz and Teo in his life. And Elissa…well, if working here gave him more time with her, he could live with that.
twenty-seven
go easy on the dingus
