1
NAOMI
“What do you mean you work on Saturday? What about the cookout!?”
My head tilted toward the ceiling as my tired eyes fell closed. “What cookout?”
My fiancée, Gordon, apparently didn’t like that question. “Seriously, Naomi? You forgot again?”
I whipped around on that asshole so fast. “Forgot? You never tell me about anything like this. You never tell me when I need to know what days I need to take off with my schedule.”
He threw his hands into the air. “Well, it’s not my fault if you keep forgetting things. I told you about this cookout. The guys have been planning it for weeks!”
“Had you told me about it,” I said as I tried to keep my voice even, “I would have taken off for it. You know I need three weeks’ notice for stuff like that.”
“When in the hell does anyone know three weeks in advance about a cookout?”
“Then, it must not be a very important cookout. I have to work, but give everyone my best.”
He charged me, pointing his finger into my face. “You’re not going to embarrass me this time. Everyone already thinks you’re nothing but a workaholic. All I’m asking is for a Saturday afternoon.”
“I’m a nurse in the middle of a pandem--.”
“The pandemic is over, Naomi! You can’t keep using that as an excuse to not get together with me and my friends! I get that they’re not your cup of tea, but I stomach entire weekends with you and your father sitting there doing absolutely nothing but watching television and laughing at Judge Judy. You’d thing you’d be excited to get together with people your age!”
I folded my arms across my chest. “I can’t just take off for a three-hour cookout I knew nothing about beforehand. I’m a nurse--.”
He nodded. “That’s right. You’re a nurse, not a doctor. They’ll find someone to cover for you.”
His words took my breath away. “Well, if you want to play that game this morning, then why don’t we start with the fact that it’s my paycheck that pays for this massive house you wanted.”
“Don’t start with me.”
I barked with laughter. “Start with you? Start with you!? I’m not the one who dropped a bomb about my own schedule on me before my first cup of coffee, Gordon! Start with you? I’m not the one who constantly makes last-minute plans and then expects my partner to pivot around them as if my life doesn’t matter!”
He gripped my upper arms. “All I’m asking for is an afternoon. Why is that so hard for you to give me? Do you know how many sick days I’ve called in without question because you wanted me at the house? Can you really not repay the favor, just once?”
I tried not to let the guilt flood me. It was his go-to tactic, after all. Guilt-tripping me into bullshit like that. But, it wasn’t as if he didn’t have a point. Every time I needed him there, he was always there, no matter the consequence to his job.
Especially over these past few months with Dad’s health deteriorating so badly.
“I’ll have to call someone, but I think I’ve got a couple more sick days to use up,” I said.
He sighed as his hands slid down to mine. “Thank you. Was that so hard?”
I ground my teeth together to keep from legitimately biting his head off. “Will you be able to help--?”
“Whatever you need, financially, you know I’ve always got you. I know it’ll short out your check a little bit, and I’m always willing to help. Just let me know what you need, okay?”
Can’t ask for anymore more, right? “Thanks.”
Right?
Gordon kissed my forehead. “I need to get to work. I’m running behind. Thank you so much for this, seriously. Everyone is going to be so excited that you’re coming. Especially Billy’s wife. She thinks you’re amazing.”
I wrinkled my nose. “She does?”
“Yes,” he said before he kissed my forehead again, “but, I need to run. See you around dinner time?”
