He laughs.
“I know things are getting better between you and your parents, and I wouldn’t want to mess that up.”
“How would you do that?”
“By being the nightmare employee from hell.”
Casey snorts. “As if that could ever happen.”
“Plus, we have jobs lined up. It wouldn’t be fair to quit before we’ve even started.”
“True,” Auggie says.
“And London would be a lot more expensive than Leeds.”
“The pay would be better.”
“But would it be better enough to allow us to have the same quality of life?”
“I have no idea. I was a spoilt rich kid. Now I need to learn how to budget.” He shudders.
“Or we could let Em handle the finances,” Casey says.
“Now that’s a good idea.”
I laugh and shake my head. “How about a deal?”
“I’m listening,” Casey says.
“We commit to our new jobs for twelve months. And during that time, I’ll think about whether or not I want to work for Mr Cunningham. And you need to think about whether you’d want to move to London.”
“I refer you to my earlier sappy statement,” Casey says.
I lean my head on his shoulder. “I know. But you might feel differently a year from now.”
He kisses my head. “I won’t. I love you.”
“Plus, you’re going to be the main breadwinner,” Auggie teases.
“Maybe at first, but give it a few years, and you’ll have your own three-star Michelin restaurant.”
“Or you could end up being a celebrity chef,” Casey muses.
“Or both,” I say.
“While I appreciate your confidence in me, that’s not a realistic dream. I’m aiming for a head chef position in a small kitchen in ten years.”
“You should dream bigger than that,” I say.
“All right, I will, but only if you do too. Both of you.”
Casey grins. “I’m happy as long as I’m with you and I can keep swimming.”
“When Auggie is a famous chef, he’ll be able to buy us a house with a pool. Then you could swim whenever you want.”
I swear Casey gets hearts in his eyes.
“I’m excited about our future,” he says, summing up how I feel.
