20. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
D espite my rising worries, Tina hadn’t made good on her threat at work. But because of the looming cutbacks, I behaved myself better while on the clock. No more back alley rendezvouses with Beau over the lunch hour.
Tina did, however, cut corners. We usually had a sharpener come for the paper cutter every few months. Tina was trying to double the time, and we were paying for it. I had to reprint and cut a batch of business cards as the cutter gave them a cute little curve. It wasn't noticeable staring at an individual card, but as a giant stack of business cards inclined up the storage box, yeah, it was pretty obvious. Orders were going to take longer to fulfill since I could only use half the paper cutter, the half that didn’t fuck up orders.
Despite the after-dinner, bill-paying hiccough, Beau and I quickly became domesticated. Instead of coming over to mine for just sex, we added things like cooking dinner together three times a week. What would normally be leftovers for my lunch became Beau’s serving, and I enjoyed how my condo wasn’t quiet anymore. But we didn’t talk about the restaurant bill snafu.
I decided to handle the bill blowback by having my actions speak louder than words. The next weekend, I offered to join him and his parents for dinner but only after we completed Beau’s chores. Further, on my lunch breaks from The Mighty Pen, I’d go walk another sandwich to Beau at the gym. It was so wholesome being the woman who brought him his lunch. Onlookers would have no idea that he made me come from slapping my ass or my titties.
We had finished one of our parking lot quickies. He adjusted the waistband of his green gym shorts as I straightened my new corduroy skirt I picked up at the thrift store near the gym. In addition to wearing skirts to make the parking lot quickies quicker, I also had to keep buying more of them, so I wasn’t always washing the same three skirts that I owned.
Beau ran his fingers through his hair so it could achieve its telltale voluminous curve. “We should probably stop doing this at the gym.”
I was surprised how much the disappointment stung. I liked how a fresh round of sex added a youthful blush to my skin. “Oh yeah? Margie catching on?” I buttoned my mouth to one side to stop an oncoming frown. I wouldn’t want to explain to Beau that I liked this more than just the orgasms. I liked spending an unhealthy amount of time with him. To hide my reaction, I reapplied makeup in my compact. “The fogged over windows are clueing her in? Or was it the time you touched my taint when you corrected my downward dog?”
His crooked smile creased his handsome face. “No, it’s… How do I put this?” He sighed and scratched at the back of his neck. “I’ve applied to audition for the EverGreen & Fit app.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’d have to go to the San Francisco studios and audition. ”
“Yeah, but what does it mean about your stint here?”
“If I got offered a spot on the app, I wouldn’t be here anymore. I’d be possibly commuting. The pay is enough that I may consider a new living situation, my own place in the city.”
I needed a word to describe enjoying that he was always a few blocks away from me for lunch and sex. If he was all the way in San Francisco, he could no longer be my personal trainer. Without that aspect of the relationship drawing us together, it might not be so likely he’d still come by late in the evening after a long commute. But he might be more professionally fulfilled, and that mattered more than any of my complicated feelings, adding way too much weight to this news. “Wow, you’ve really thought about this.”
“But I need you to help me be on my best behavior.” He wagged his finger at me. I grabbed it and bit the tip. “And you’re already failing.”
“So corporate is keeping a watchful eye.” My stomach lurched at the next idea. Play time might be over even before a possible move to the city.
He checked his reflection in the rearview mirror and nibbled on his bottom lip. “I was wondering if you’d help me after classes to work on my audition. Music, banter, solid fake woos to real woo ratio.”
I had warned him that appealing to my weirdo demographic would be a black hole to bottom lines. “You think I’d be good for that kind of feedback?”
“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”
Damn, he was turning me into a blushing emoji.
“I have to warn you,” he said, “Helping me with my audition would probably happen at night after evening classes are finished.”
“And then we’d debrief at my place.”
“Very much so.” He held my chin and kissed me.