“It’s just one thing after another with this place. Permits are taking forever to be approved, the wiring and plumbing needs to be completely replaced. Today we found a crack in the foundation – something that should have been caught in the home inspection – and now I’ll need to bring in an engineer. It just never ends. I’m at the point where I hate going there every morning.”
“Is there anything I can do? I know how to read a tape measure and follow instructions. I can be extra muscle if you need it.”
“Nah, I just needed to complain for a minute. And this helps,” he says, raising his bottle of beer.
“Anytime. Have you eaten?”
“I could eat,” he says with a shrug.
I start pulling out deli meat, cheese, and condiments from the fridge and grab buns out of the cupboard.
“It’s not gourmet but I can feed you a sandwich. I need to go shopping soon.”
“Sounds good to me. So, are you settling in, okay?” he asks, looking around the kitchen. “Do you have everything you need?”
“So far so good.”
I quickly assemble a sandwich, open a bag of plain chips and slide everything towards him.
“Thanks,” he says, popping a chip into his mouth.
“You starting work on Monday?”
“Yeah. I talked to Banks on the phone earlier and we are good to go.”
He nods and takes a big bite of his sandwich before asking, “When are you going to talk to Hannah?”
“Soon.” He looks at me with a raised eyebrow.
“I know, I know,” I say, holding up my palms. “I promise I will soon.”
“She is going to be so pissed off at me that I have kept this from her,” he says, leaning an elbow on the counter and cupping his mouth with his hand.
“I’m sorry, man. I swear I’ll get a hold of her this week. I just want to get my first day over with. I have never been this nervous starting a new job before.”
“Are you sure it’s the job you’re nervous about or something else?” he asks, narrowing his eyes.
“Don’t psychoanalyze me, you prick.”
Every time I talk to Riot, I inevitably steer the conversation towards Hannah. How she is, what she’s been up to and, if I want to torture myself, who’s she’s seeing. I know he filters the information he shares, and I’ve only been given small snap shots of her life, but anything is better than nothing.
“It’s a valid question, don’t you think?”
Riot shoves the last bite of the sandwich in his mouth and grabs some more chips from the bag, spreading them out on the counter.
“I guess.” I think for a beat before continuing, “It’s hard coming back after so long, especially knowing that I’ll be fodder for gossip for the foreseeable future.”
“Well, there’s no avoiding that,” he shrugs before asking, “What are you going to tell people?”
“Do I owe anyone an explanation?”
He narrows his eyes at me.
“Beyond the obvious, I mean.”
“Have you thought about what you are going to tell her?”
“Only every day since I’ve been home,” I confess with a sigh.
