It didn’t seem to be much of a worry anymore.
“It’s fine. They will appreciate it and could use the money.”
“Perfect. One thing solved. What else is going through your mind?”
“Forgetting money didn’t bother me. I guess just having it on top of the way your place looked the other day added to it.”
“It’s nothing more than I don’t carry cash often. Also, I told Don I’d get back to him on Monday. He’s desperate. It works to my favor. My ego can’t let the place fall. I just can’t. Half the people I worked with are still there. I got the payout I did because of what I put into it. No one else had. Don had more stock options than most, but not enough to walk away. Not with the promotion he got.”
“And he wants to keep his job?”
“That and move up. Maybe he’s not managing things as well as he could. I don’t know. Not my place to judge. They’ve had a lot of turnover. That’s common. As he said, he can’t afford not to have me come in.”
“How long will it last?”
“That’s up to me. I only know a brief summary. I’ll get more on Monday. There had been no reason to ask more if I was going to say no.”
She smiled. “And deep down you don’t want to.”
“Not really. It’s the ego. I know. I can’t shake it.”
“It’s not a bad thing. What about your app?”
“I’m close to getting it ready for testing. I can work on that but at my pace. I’m not interested in running myself into the ground. If it doesn’t work out or the time’s not there, I’ll let it go.”
“So you’ve got a plan with that. And one with the house.”
“See, it’s nice to talk this out with someone. I’m feeling better already. I plan on telling Don this is Monday through Friday. No weekends, no late night calls. I’ll make adjustments for the time change, but I don’t want it cutting into my time with you.”
She leaned on his arm, her head against his bicep. “Thanks for that. But you have to do what works for you.”
“I’m doing what works for us, Natalie. I mean that. I opened up to you and unloaded. You did the same. I’m not going back on anything I said.”
“I appreciate you saying that. I’m not looking for you to do that.”
“Yes, you are. You’re carrying the weight of caution, watching everything too closely and bracing for something to go wrong.”
“You make me sound paranoid.”
“Careful,” he corrected. “And there is nothing wrong with that. I’m the same way. I’m nervously tiptoeing around you the same as you are me.”
Her nose twitched, unease creeping in, and the threat of remorse coming on quicker than she was ready for. “I don’t want you to feel that way.”
“And I don’t wantyouto feel that way. Sounds like we agree on more things.”
A relaxed bubble of laughter snuck out. “Okay. I do feel somewhat better.”
“I’ll take it. This thing we have, it’s real. Every bit of it. We both have doubts, but that is normal. But I don’t want to feel as if every time we are together we have to weigh every move we make. It takes the fun out of getting to know each other.”
Exactly what she didn’t want to happen.
That she was robotic in her concerns and put pressure on what they had rather than enjoying what could be.
“You’re right. Let’s make a pact. No more serious conversations for a month.”
“A month?” he asked.
“Think you can handle it?”
