“I’ll call you a lot of things,” I muttered.
“What was that?” Duke asked, leaning closer to me with a big fake furrowed brow.
“Sounds good.”
Soon, Ryan and Mike filtered in, each greeting the staff and adding noise and humor to the entire meeting. Mike wore his soft-blue suit with a bright-green tie. Ryan dressed in a black suit with a classic gray tie.
All three owners sat around the conference table, pulling out an open seat wherever they could find it. I had figured they’d sit at the head of the table, but I immediately liked the sense of camaraderie that came from having them sit with the group. While Duke welcomed everybody into the meeting, Mike and Ryan caught my eye and both raised their eyebrows in sync. I could do nothing but bite back a smile and shake my head slightly.
“We’d like to welcome our three new interns,” Duke said, pointing toward the three of us sitting next to each other. “In fact, why don’t you each take a minute to introduce yourselves. Tell us your background, a few of your favorite things, and a bucket list item you plan to complete this year.” He made a show of checking his notebook. “Hmm, Nora? Why don’t you go first?”
He met my gaze with a hint of a challenge. I swallowed the nerves collecting in my throat and decided that I would match whatever he threw down.
“Sure. I’m Nora Griffin. I grew up here in the city. I love Chinese food and romantic comedies.”
I stopped talking, hoping he’d forget, but Duke never let me off that easily.
“And how about something on your bucket list?”
Mike leaned forward on his elbows, suspiciously covering his face. Ryan looked up toward the ceiling, a half-smile toying across his lips, but neither looked at me, for which I felt grateful. Duke kept it together, but there was mirth in his eyes. Straight up mirth.
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Or you can tell us about an epic bucket list item you’ve already completed.”
Props to him for keeping his composure, because his two friends were fighting smiles. I bit my lip and put my game face on.
“I can’t think of one. I’m pretty boring, I’m afraid.”
He held my gaze for a smidge longer than necessary, before he said, “No worries. I’ll circle back.” Speaking louder and to the entire room, he added, “At RDM we believe in setting goals in all areas of our lives. What’s the point of a bucket list if you don’t start checking a few things off? If you work hard for our company, we’ll work hard to allow you the freedom and schedule to have a life outside of this office. For some of us, that means making goals and scheduling in time for some fun.”
He moved on to Anita, who immediately droned on about taking her parents’ yacht to Lake Powell sometime this summer. She couldn’t believe she’d never boated Lake Powell, and oh my gosh, it’s just so beautiful. My mind was transported to my evening with Duke three years earlier. Our talk on bucket lists had obviously affected him. Now he was running a company dedicated to helping employees not be like me. He had taken our talk and did something about it. I had taken that same conversation and somehow turned intolessof a risk taker—if that was even possible.
“Does anybody have a bucket list update?” Duke asked the entire group.
The office manager, an older woman named Susan with graying hair, probably in her fifties, raised her hand, her cheeks turning pink as she spoke. “My husband and I booked that trip to Europe for this fall.”
Ryan and Mike started clapping, and the rest of us joined in.
A wide grin spread across Duke’s face. “Nice, Susan! For how long?”
“Two weeks.” Susan beamed in a shy way.
“Question. Will your luggage fit me?” Mike quipped, gaining a few laughs in the room.
“I’ve been training to hike to the top of Mount Timp later this summer. Some friends and I scheduled a weekend in July to get it done,” Tenisha piped up.
“I’ve done that hike before. You’re gonna love it. I mean, you’ll actually hate it, but you’ll love it by the end,” Ryan said. Everyone chuckled.
A few more bucket list items were announced while the rest of the table reaffirmed their commitment to take action.
“Alright, Nora, back to you. What do you got?”
I felt the eyes of the room on me again. I had known Duke wouldn’t let me off the hook, so I’d spent the last few minutes internally freaking out while my mind stuttered and stalled, rejecting ideas before they came to full fruition. Too expensive. Too epic. Too far away. Too dangerous. Any mention of the kiss cam was out. Of course, a trip to Europe sounded lovely, but since the entirety of my bank account was down to three very low digits, I’d have to think of something else. If Lake Powell was ever on my bucket list, it was officially off now.
I cleared my throat and stilled my shaking foot. Everybody was staring at me, waiting. “Umm…” I began, “I’ve always wanted to…ride a…”—the flash of the man on the street came flooding into my brain—“motorcycle.”
I wanted to kick myself the second that came flying out of my mouth. Someone booked a trip to Europe. And I basically said that I wanted to hitch a ride around the block with someone on a motorcycle.
