“She is! She’s written ten books. They’re cozy mysteries and…”
“What’s her name?”
“Olivia Ashley.”
“No!”
“Excuse me?”
“Is that really her name?”
I hesitate before saying, “Yes…”
“Your mother loves her books! She’s reading one right now! Her book club assigned it this month and she was talking about it over dinner! She is going to be so excited when I tell her that our son is dating Olivia Ashley!”
“Well, that’s…”
“Do you think she’d come and speak at the book club?” he asks, and I think he’s possibly more excited about this than my mother is going to be. “We could take you both out to dinner beforehand and then you and I can find something to do while our girls talk books! It will be so much fun!”
“Okay, sure. That does sound fun, but I think we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves, don’t you? This could take a few months to happen.”
“You’re right, you’re right. But it’s still going to be awesome.” He pauses. “And…why don’t her parents approve again?”
“They’re both doctors. Orthopedic surgeons, actually. Olivia can’t stand the sight of blood so…”
“Ah. Got it. They wanted her to follow in the family's footsteps. Did her brother?”
“Yup.”
“Yikes. Poor girl didn’t stand a chance. That’s really too bad. I hear her books are fantastic. Do you know what she’s working on now?”
I don’t feel like it’s my place to say anything, especially since she’s kind of struggling with it, so I kindly fib. “No. Not really. She was on vacation and wasn’t working.”
“Well, drats. Your mother would have loved getting some secret information.”
I really feel like I’ve opened a can of worms here.
“Okay, so Olivia’s moving back to North Carolina. Does that mean you’re going to be traveling less? Is your boss finally going to give you a break?”
Ugh…
“I just got my potential travel itinerary for the next three months,” I say.
“And?”
“And…it’s a lot.”
“Sebastian,” he whines. “Why don’t you stand up for yourself? There are plenty of other guys who can take some of these trips. Why is it always you?”
“I never really minded before. The traveling didn’t bother me. And, to be fair, this whole thing with Olivia really just happened, so I haven’t had time to talk to my boss about it.”
“Where are they sending you to this time?”
“After I get back from Dallas, I’ll possibly be going to San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Kansas City, Chicago, and Boston.”
“Ho-ly. I’m hoping there are breaks in between.”
“There are, and this is just a potential schedule. No one’s saying it’s all going to happen.”
