“Alright. I can do that.”
“I’ll see you then.”
“I’ll see you then,” I echoed.
Then, I held my phone to my ear until he hung up.
I tossed it on my desk and leaned back in my seat, my hands clasped in front of me. I let my eyes rake over my flowers a second time. Then, I yanked my drawer open and grabbed the checks that I’d written for my employees the night before. I wentto hand deliver them to everyone but paused at the doorway and looked back over my shoulder at the flowers one last time.
I found myself grinning and shaking my head as I made my way down the hall and out to the bar.
Saturday I wasat the club by three. I had a little bit of work I wanted to do and I didn’t want to be late. Bishop seemed like a man who would get anxious if you left him waiting for too long and the last thing I wanted was to spook him when he was actively trying his best.
He got to the club twenty minutes before our scheduled date time. I watched him light a cigarette on the security camera and waited for him to finish it before I shot him a text.
Me: You ready now?
Bishop: No rush.
I took that mean he was ready whenever I was so I closed up what I’d been working on and headed out.
Bishop hopped out of his car when he saw me. He closed the space between us and I was genuinely shocked when he hugged me before circling the rest of his whip and pulling the door open. He gestured for me to hop in.
“I can get my own door, you know?”
“Are you always this hard to please?” he shot back.
I chuckled but didn’t respond. He slammed my door, made his way back around and hopped in. I looked around his whip.
“Why is your car so clean?” I asked.
“What?”
“Your car,” I repeated. “Why is it so clean?”
“I don’t believe in leaving easily identifiable information out. Whatever I bring in, I take out.”
I nodded at that.
“So art dealing is dangerous, huh?” I baited.
“Very.”
I snickered. He grinned.
“Well, what’s the game plan for tonight?”
“You don’t like surprises?” Bishop glanced briefly in my direction.
“Not really.”
“Well, I was thinking Topgolf. It’s somewhat outside. There’s no drinking required. There was a far corner section available for rent and we can talk freely.”
“Are you good at golfing?”
“Nope.” Bishop didn’t hesitate. “What about you?”
“I haven’t done it a lot honestly.”
