I tutted, shaking my head. “I also have another job. A business, actually.”
“Doing what?” He crossed his arms, almost defensively.
I titled my head to the side and laughed.
“Am I Eddie Murphy all of a sudden? The hell is so funny?”
I shook my head. “You. Asking questions. You never seemed interested before.”
“You make it seem like we’ve been working together for years and this is the first time I’ve asked you about your life. You’ve been my trainer for all of, what? Two weeks?”
Rolling my eyes, I nodded. “You’re right. Anyway, yeah, I own a business. Or co-own, I should say, with my best friend, Tanisha. It’s called ParaSquad.”
“Sounds like a group for a bunch of Navy Seal rejects.”
“Up yours,” I replied.
Shaking his head, he said, “I’m not in to butt stuff. Not my own, anyway.”
I rolled my eyes. “We hire part-time EMTs and paramedics to work events, mostly sporting events but we also do concerts, festivals, things like that. To keep everyone safe and ensure they have access to first aid personnel when needed.”
He looked at me and nodded. “You’ve got your sixty second elevator pitch down,” he condescended, raising a cup to his lips, taking a pull from the straw.
That was when I noticed the mid-sized clear plastic cup was filled with a green liquid.
“Are you drinking a green juice?”
He nodded.
“Did you make that?”
“Nah. Stopped by one of those juice bars or whatever they’re called that are all over Los Angeles.”
I grinned as I folded my arms. “Decided to skip that crappy pre-workout you’ve been drinking.”
He shrugged. As if it were no big deal. “I watched another one of those documentaries about being vegan after you left.”
“Thought you were going to sleep,” I called from behind him as he started for his office door.
“I tried. Had some trouble so I turned to Netflix and clicked through their recommended films. My queue is full of veganism shit now thanks to you and that damn movie.”
“You watched. And?”
Another shrug. “Some of it made sense. So, I thought why not. I got up and went out to an all-night grocer and stocked up on vegan food, vegetables, tofu, seitan, all that shit I said I’d never eat. I’ll give it a try, for the next ninety days. Beyond that, I’m not making any promises,” he stated sternly, pointing at me.
I clapped, feeling giddy. “That’s great news, Luke. There are so many great vegan recipes and options. I don’t think you’re even going to miss all that red meat you’re used to eating.”
He frowned. “Don’t bet on it, Syd. But I’m up for trying just about anything once.”
A chill ran down my spine, the way it always did when he said my name.
“I just need to figure out how I’m going to work out this vegan deal when I go out of town next week.”
“Wait. What?” I held up my hand to keep him from barreling past me out the office door.
He paused, as if confused. “What,what?”
“Since when are you going out of town?”
