Chad
“Maybe Mr. Van Buren really enjoys that dynamic,” Bitsy said after we were sitting on the porch with some takeaway Thai food. “But feels pressured to pretend otherwise to fit in with corporate culture.”
“Maybe,” I said, “but at this point I don’t give a fuck. I’m just glad to get the hell away from that toxic environment.”
She squeezed my arm and I kissed her curly blue pigtails, heaving a huge sigh of thankfulness.
So maybe I didn’t have a job, per se, but I would start sending applications out tomorrow.
“What happened, son?” Hayes asked.
He, Junior, and Thirds were all sitting on the steps whittling wood, and whittling wood was a very nice occupation as far as it went, but it was also very messy.
However, I had learned a fucking thing or two in the last several very painful weeks. And one thing I’d learned was that most about what I cared about had been bullshit.
I could chase the corporate ladder all I wanted, but if I didn’t have my wife, it didn’t matter.
And part of giving my wife a happy life was getting along with her family.
“I quit my job,” I said. “I should have done it a long time ago with some of the asshole stuff my boss was saying. But I got too greedy and was willing to put up with it just to climb the corporate ladder. It wasn’t until I almost lost Bitsy that I realized what a mistake I’d made.”
“Well, now, never mind that ol’ bastard, son,” Hayes said easily. “I wonder why he’s so attached to that old school style? Young people these days want to be at home with their spouses.”
“He’s the only golf course in town,” I said. “There’s another one closer to city center that was abandoned several years ago and no one seems to have enough money to revive the place. Sucks because it’s in such a prime location.”
“Not enough money, you say?” Hayes said, stroking his beard. “Hmmm. I wonder. . . and your Granny does need a little project. . .”
Before I could ask what that meant, Bitsy was pulling on the hem of my shirt and dragging me cutely into the kitchen after her.
“I’m really proud of you, Chadley,” she said. “Take your time finding another job. I don’t mind a sexy house husband for a while.”
“House husband, you say?” I asked, feeling tears prickle at the corner of my eyes, and I had to wipe them away, but at least they were happy ones this time. “Arm candy has to earn his keep. Is there anything I can do for you or to you, madam?”
“I have a few ideas,” Bitsy whispered in my ear as I picked her up in my arms and carried her into the bedroom.