Page 31 of Mending Me
One that made it feel like a thousand butterflies had taken flight.
One that made me excited for his call.
But most importantly, one that made me feel safe and one that told me I could trust him with anything.
1 my beautiful girl
2 beautiful girl
18
HANK
After running home to shower and change, I immediately hopped back on my bike to head downtown and try to make it into work before my absence was noticed too much. As I slipped in, I peered across the hall towards Kolbi’s office to see if he was in yet, but it looked empty. I took a breath as I sat down at my desk to check in with my team, grateful that I had escaped the third-degree for being late. I had just started to go through my email, trying to act as if I didn’t show up almost an hour late, when my best friend’s voice came from behind me.
“Care to share why you were late this morning?” His voice came out low and smooth next to my head and I could feel his breath on the back of my neck.
“Jeezus dude.” I flinched in my seat. “Don’t sneak up on me. You do remember that I’ve been trained to be able to snap someone’s neck, right? You just seriously put your life in danger.”
“Even if you could snap my neck, it wouldn’t get you out of explaining why you were late this morning. You’re never late. Ever. You’re the golden boy of rule following, it’s why you madesuch a good soldier.” He moved to the front of my desk and set both hands down on its edge, leaning in so his face was level to mine. “Spill it, Martínez.”
I pursed my lips together, internally debating whether or not I should tell him about my night with Bailey. I loved all my friends equally, but out of all of them, I knew I could talk to Kolbi about this and he wouldn’t give me a hard time or ask stupid questions. He was the kind of friend you went to when you had things like this to share. You went to Malcolm for an ego-boost and to Conrad for a logical brain to talk things through with. I was the one you went to if you needed someone to help you get out of a tough spot. We all had our roles in the group and we all played them well.
“Hank?” He leaned further on my desk, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Listen, we’re at work, and I would really appreciate it if we could not talk about personal things while we’re here, Kolb. Can we talk over lunch?”
He gave me a look out of the corner of his eye, standing up from leaning on my desk.
“Sure. Everything okay though?” Leave it to Kolbi to always act like the concerned older brother.
“Yeah, everything’s good.”
“Alright, over lunch then.”
He walked away and headed towards his office. Once he was gone, I took a deep breath and finally started to get into my work for the day.
It had beenseveral hours and I was deep into setting up schedules for security teams for the different events around thecity when Kolbi walked up to my desk and tossed a brown paper bag down in front of me.
“Time for lunch, brother.” I looked up at him and saw his signature smile on his face. The one he gave you when he knew you were about to spill your guts to him. I hadn’t seen it since I told him I had enlisted. He was the first of my friends I told because I knew that he would be quickest to get on board with my decision.
“Hang on let me?—”
“Now. I’m the boss, remember? Let’s go.” He walked away from my desk, leaving me with the brown paper bag he’d dumped on my desk.
I guess it was time for lunch.
I followed him down the hallway and into the elevator, neither of us saying anything the entire ride down. We exited the building our offices were in and walked down the street. Once we hit the park that faced the water, he took a seat on one of the benches. I was thankful he chose one under a large oak tree that created a fair amount of shade because in the mid-June heat, sitting in the sun would have been unbearable.
“So, how’s Bailey?” He took a bite of the sandwich he’d pulled out of the bag and kept his eyes fixed on the water. I looked at my friend and could feel my mouth hanging open.
“How the fu?—”
“I’ve known you since the third grade, Hank Martínez. Not once in your entire life have you been late for anything. I knew there had to be a good reason, or a good person, for you to be late today.” He took another bite of his sandwich. “Plus, I put a tracker on your bike and looked her up to find out where she lives after we met her a few weeks ago at the bar.”
I looked at my friend, stunned by what he had just told me.
“Don’t worry, I have a tracker on Malcolm and Conrad’s cars too. I don’t do it to be a creep, I do it to make sure you’re all safe.You guys are like my brothers and I like to know none of you are out doing anything stupid. I never look at where you are unless you aren’t where you’re supposed to be. Like this morning, when you were late to work. I waited half an hour and then pinged your tracker. When it pinged from the same street her condo is on, I put two and two together.” He took the last bite of his sandwich and glanced over at me with a grin.
