"Uh, yes, hi. Hello. Yes, I'm available."
"Wonderful. The investigation has concluded and we would like for you to return to work. However, we would like to see you in the Chicago office tomorrow afternoon. Could you please advise your current personal email for airfare confirmation?"
Stunned, she spells out her email address, still staring at me.
"Thank you. We look forward to seeing you in the Chicago office tomorrow. You'll be meeting with myself and Peter Navarro at three in the afternoon. We'll have a car pick you up at O'Hare, and lodging accommodations will be provided. An email will be sent to you shortly with all relevant details. Thank you for your patience during the investigation, and we look forward to your future successes."
"Um, thank you." Brooke blinks.
"Have a pleasant day."Click.
"What the fuck just happened?" she asks with panicked eyes.
"Honestly? I have no idea."
We both sit in stunned silence for several minutes. What she said to me beforehercall still rings in my ears. She's right—I will be okay. And it does feel horrific right now. But right now is not forever.
If there's a silver lining, it's that Brooke was here when I got the news. I'm so grateful for her. If I were alone today, I imagine I'd get some liquor delivered and drink myself asleep, alone. But she's here. And my heart feels a little fuller when she wriggles herself closer. The warmth of her body heals my anxious mind with every heartbeat.
I'm going to be okay. Brooke's going to be okay.
We're going to be okay.
"Hey, Dustin?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I get a ride to the airport tomorrow? They said they're going to send a car to pick me up, and… well, it's probably best they don't know I'm here right now, right?" She picks at a hangnail on her thumb nervously.
"Yeah, of course. We'll get you to the airport."
I don't know how, but we eventually went back to sleep after our employment-based awakening. And waking up with Brooke snuggled up to me, our limbs tangled together,is one of life's greatest joys. I could do this forever. I want to do this forever.
The thought of her moving in with me is still fresh on my mind. She's right; I shouldn't have brought it up like that, all spur of the moment and panic-based. I'd be lying if I said Ididn'twant her here permanently, but maybe a bit down the line? A little further in the future? Like, next month, maybe?
Huey, too. I want that little orange menace stalking around the halls. I want him to nap happily in sunbeams and watch the city go by. Do cats like high-rise buildings? Do they know they're up high? I know they love to climb—does living on the eleventh floor count as climbing? I hope I get to find out.
Brooke silently rolls out of bed after kissing my cheek, and a few moments later, I hear the sound of my coffee machine gurgling to life. Which, in turn, springs me out of bed because I need to show her where the brown sugar is. But I'm stopped in my tracks as I emerge from the hall.
There she is. Contentedly moving around the kitchen like she's always been here. I know in my heart that she belongs here.
"Move in with me," I blurt out again. "Bring Huey."
She looks up at me with surprise. "Dustin, if you think I'd abandon Huey in New York, you don't know me at all."
"No! I know you wouldn't. I just… I don't know, I want you here. I want him here. I want this—" I gesture to the space around us. "—to be ours. Will you?"
"You're sure this isn't just a trauma response from losing the job?" she asks, sipping from her steaming coffee mug.
"I'm sure. I want you both here. I want this to be us. I want you, all of you. I wanna hold your hair back when you're sick. I wanna buy you tampons."
"Wh—Oh, honey. Did you talk about this to Alicia? That sounds like Alicia." She laughs. "I want that, too. But I don't think you need tampons."
"I don't," I agree. "Maybe bandages?"
"Sure. I'll buy you bandages, babe. Yes, I will move in with you, but not quite this second. I need to figure out this Atmosphere thing and my sublease back home." She pauses. "You really want this?"
"I really do."
