laughs, says he knows, and plants a big kiss on the top of my head.
"Okay, so now what should we do?" he asks.
"Tonight, we're in. Pizza and ice cream with..." I tip my head from side to side, "I'm thinking Newsies . We can go out on the town tomorrow. Plus, now that I've given you amazing advice, I basically need you to figure out my life for me before we can do anything else."
"How so?"
It's my turn to let my head fall back into the couch. "Ugh! It's this super-hot Captain America guy. Seriously, could he have shown up at a worse time? Besides the fact that he helped us by finding Kaylee, he's been distracting the heck out of me!"
Joel doesn't waste time asking why I can't date Andrew. He knows about the money I owe, the bills that are starting to pile up in the mail, and what it would mean to me if this all fails.
Instead he nods and says, "Right, the moratorium." Then he sits up straight. "Okay. You call in the pizza. I'm finding that movie. Who knows, maybe the answer to your question will lie in Christian Bale's eyes. Plus, I'm having a sneaking suspicion that it would be pretty awesome to propose while recreating the dance from Santa Fe . By the end of this musical, maybe both our problems will be solved, dammit!"
5
When Life Gives you a Lemon
"Andrew did say he thought I would change my opinion of Kaylee once she started working." I shrug my shoulders and look over at the passenger seat where Em sits, picking at her nails as we drive into work on Monday.
She widens her eyes. "Have we ever. I don't even mind that I'm having to do most of the computer work. Putting her on the phones was the best idea ever. She's already booked almost our whole first week by calling the patients Sarah's been able to bring with her from Dr. Leroy's practice."
Our little blond-headed Sarah was one of the few hygienists at the old office that left when Dr. Leroy retired, not wanting to work with a big corporation any more than half of his patients wanted to be treated by one. It worked out great since she was able to talk up our place (secretively, of course) and let them know there would soon be another small practice option in the area.
"I talked to no less than three people who raved about Kaylee on the phone when they called back to set up appointments while she was at lunch Saturday," Em continues.
"Thanks, by the way, for letting me bow out and spend time with J." I smile real big over at my friend and business partner, showing her I totally owe her. "I feel super bad about being the only one who didn't come in on Saturday."
Em shakes her head and waves a no-worries hand at me. "Family is family. And Joel rocks. Everyone totally understood. Did he leave this morning?"
I shake my head. "Yesterday. Had a flight to -- fly?" I tip my head, wondering if that's how you would say that.
"And he just came to hang out?"
"Partly. He and Nick had a fight and he needed a little space, but they'll be fine."
"See, it was important that you spent that time with him. This is what I'm saying. You can have relationships AND a business. You can have them both."
Even though I am still not very sure about that, I shrug and say, "Well, thanks just the same. That's good news about Kaylee, too." I pull into our parking lot and after I shut off the car I open my hands and hold them out in front of me. "What we thought was going to be a lemon turns out to be just a pleasant lemony fresh scent."
Em laughs and we go unlock the office to get ready for the list of things we have only one week left to take care of. We sigh as we look around at a mostly ready office. I go into the back and lose myself in learning the ins and outs of the particular brand of dental chairs we had installed last week while Em calls our bank to confirm Kaylee's been added to our payroll.
About an hour later, Sarah shows up, followed a few minutes later by Neve. Both of them look exhausted and I wonder if that's what Em and I look like (or possibly
Learning to Kill: Stories