Chapter Five
“Britney’s here?” Parker raised an eyebrow, anticipating a good reason for the odd behavior of his brother.
“I forgot something at home,” reluctantly explained Gabe. “She’s bringing it.”
“Did I just hear that right?” asked Parker. He leaned forward in the chair. “Britney is at your place? When you’re not home?”
“She’s moving in,” clarified a frowning Gabe. “It is less than three weeks to the wedding and she’s going to sell her condo. It makes sense.”
“What did Mom have to say about you two sharing a place?” whistled Parker.
“Britney’s in the spare room until after the wedding,” came Gabe’s sharp rebuke.
“If you say so,” easily conceded Parker as he leaned back in the chair enjoying Gabe’s discomfort. “Are you okay with it?”
“What do you mean, am I okay with it?” scowled Gabe.
“Well a week ago you would have avoided Brit like the plague,” shrugged Parker. “Now you are marrying the girl and she’s moving in with you. I just want to make sure my big brother is okay with this new turn of events.”
“Marrying her is my choice,” determined Gabe. He neglected to voice what both of them knew. Maybe there hadn’t been a lot of options besides Britney. Maybe Marshall had pushed him into the decision a little hastily. “I’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” nodded Parker. “If you say so.”
Gabe narrowed his eyes but declined to reply as Jessica knocked on his door, poking her head in. “Britney Crawford here to see you.”
“Send her in,” directed Gabe. A feeling of relief went through him. Now he would look presentable and have the proper files.
Britney gave Jessica an inscrutable look as she passed the secretary into Gabe’s office. Holding the suit jacket on a hanger with a cover over it, she nodded to Parker. “Hello Parker. It is nice to see you.”
“Good to see you,” replied Parker as he leaned back to watch the show.
“Didn’t you have a coffee to fetch?” Gabe reminded his brother.
“That can wait,” remarked Parker quite contentedly.
“Thank you,” Gabe took the hanger from Britney, unzipping the cover and removing the jacket and tie. He draped the jacket over his chair as he pulled up his collar to lay the tie properly against the fabric of his shirt. “Where is the USB stick?”
“Right here,” murmured Britney as she dug through her purse. Frowning, she rooted around. “I know I put it in here.”
“Tell me you have the USB stick,” said Gabe as he knotted his tie and adjusted his collar.
“I have the stick,” she repeated. Pulling out a pack of tissues, a handful of lipsticks, a wallet and car keys, Britney began loading up his desk with items from her purse as she searched.
“Why don’t you just use the back up data storage?” questioned Parker as he hid his smirk behind a hand.
“It’s out for scheduled maintenance,” managed Gabe in an even tone even as he glared daggers at his brother.
“You know, if you used an internet-based storage system you wouldn’t have this problem,” mentioned Britney as she put even more items on his desk.
“Then I would have to deal with the problem of possible cyber security threats,” answered Gabe as he stared at the growing pile. He shrugged into the suit jacket. “Just how much do you fit into that purse?”
“Oh, it has everything I need,” an unconcerned Britney replied, putting a makeup bag down along with another small bag, a container of lip balm and a set of nail clippers. “I can’t possibly go without it.”
“It’s like a never ending magical bag,” observed Parker with fascination. “Can you pull a rabbit out of the purse?”
“What would I need a rabbit for?” chided Britney as she fished out the USB stick triumphantly. “There it is!”
Gabe quickly grabbed the USB stick. “Great. Thanks.”
