We get the tickets that I was quick enough to pay for, earning a hard look from the man. He’s going to have to be quicker than that if he wants to beat me.
“I’m getting the hot chocolate,” Beau says with authority.
“Sure. You can even buy the secondandthird rounds.” It’s free. But he doesn’t know that yet.
I settle into the theater while he gets the drinks, sinking into the plush chairs. A short time later, Beau finds me and hands me a drink. “You knew it was free, didn’t you?” he whispers as he settles into his own chair.
“Oh yeah. Remember, I live here. Well, in this city. Not this particular theater.”
I snuggle into his side, armrest already up, nudging his arm. He gets the hint and puts his arm around me, drawing me even closer while I take a sip.
We watch aFresh PrinceChristmas episode and I wonder exactly when he’s leaving. The thought puts a damper on my Christmas spirit, the way it does every time I think about it. A funk that not even Christmas shows can get rid of.
Knowing he’s leaving should be enough to brace myself for the loss, should even be freeing because I know the end is coming so I don’t have to anticipate it, but it isn’t really working out the way I planned.
We spend the rest of the night watching Christmas videos. And snuggling.
After a few hours, Beau taps my side and leans in to whisper, “Do you want to get some food?” His whisper tickles my ear and I scrunch my shoulder up to my ear before I break out laughing in the dark theater.
“Yeah. That sounds good.”
We leave the theater and wander around midtown until we find a restaurant that looks good.
“How were your work meetings?” I sip on my water while we wait for our food.
“Really good. I’m getting a good team and a good location, so I should be about done with the setup. It might almost be time to go home.”
Chapter Fifteen
I choke on the water a little but try to recover. “Oh. That’s...good for you. How much longer do you think you’ll be here?”
I wasn’t going to ask, because it makes it real, but obsessing about it also isn’t really healthy, so I should get a date. Since Beau brought it up anyway. That way I’ll know when to plan a work trip to somewhere overseas and beautiful to check the collection of some too-rich collector.
“Next week probably. I didn’t buy the return trip since I wanted to leave my options open, but the tentative plan right now is the end of next week.”
Okay. Maybe there’ll be some energy-related emergency and he can stay longer. New Year’s in the city is fun too.
Well, not Times Square. That’s just hours of standing in the cold with no bathrooms. Sure, I’ve done it once because I firmly want to try everything in this city once, but there’s zero need to do that again.
“How about your work?” he asks.
Yes. A subject change so I can focus on something not related to the impending end of...whatever this is. “It’s good. I’m enjoying helping you decorate your office. The rest is fine.” Because Beau is like an overshare serum for me, I keep talking. “But my uncle keeps trying to get me to take on more supervision.”
“Promotions are usually exciting. But you don’t seem very happy about it. More of an Eeyore vibe, actually.”
I give a small un-Eeyore-like laugh at the comparison. It fits, to be fair. “I guess. I like the work well enough, but I also enjoy not staying up late at night worrying about being a bad manager or messing up a sale. I like leaving that to Priya and having a healthy work-life balance.” Even though working this job with Beau has made me work outside of business hours. The ideas keep coming and not leaving me alone, forcing me to open my work laptop at all hours. Is this what Priya’s brain is like?
Because I could imagine doing more of this. If I can just convince everyone else it’s a good idea.
“Actually, talking about work.” I take a deep breath. Might as well go all in since I only have him for a bit before he disappears back to the farm. “Loot is having their annual Christmas party tomorrow, if you wanted to come? We invite some of our clients too, so it won’t be just employees and their families.”
“That sounds fun, I’d love to go. You are showing me an amazing Christmas.”
“Are you ready to admit that Christmas in the city is the best Christmas?” Yes, no more talking about heavy topics.
“Nothing can ever beat Christmas in the country, but you’re giving it an admirable try. There’s no shame in silver.”
“I’ve still got some time.” New York isn’t going to be second place, aka first loser. No thank you.
