Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Selena can’t help chortling at that.
“Sir, please,” the waiter says, as a big guy wearing a kitchen apron arrives to block Andre’s progress toward me.
“I’m leaving,” I say not only to the waiter pulling on my arm, but to all the wide-eyed diners staring at me in shock. “I’ve lost my appetite, anyway.” I check to see if Andre is still within earshot, and when it’s clear he is and I’ve got his full attention, I wet my lips suggestively with my tongue, wink at the asshole, and add, “For food, that is.” With that, I take Selena’s hand and pull her toward the front door like a Viking pillaging a small village, before glancing over my shoulder, one last time, to ensure Andre isn’t about to tackle me from behind. Thankfully, that big guy in an apron seems to have Andre under control, though he looks fit to be tied, so I kiss the top of Selena’s hand and lead her through the door.
As we step outside into the cool Seattle night, my skin barely registers the change in temperature, thanks to the massive amounts of adrenaline rushing through my veins. “Did you see his face at the end, when I made it clear I wanted to eat your pussy?” I say, laughing. “If that big guy wasn’t there, I swear he would have murdered me!”
To my surprise, Selena doesn’t laugh along with me, but instead looks distraught. “I’m so sorry about your job,” she says. “I had no idea you worked for Andre! You only said you work in IT.”
“Yeah, at his law firm, it turns out.” I take her hand again and we begin walking down the sidewalk toward my parked car. “Your last name is Diaz? Not De La Torre?”
“I went back to using my maiden name after the divorce.”
I can’t help chuckling at the crazy set of circumstances that led us to this moment. “Can you imagine if, at Captain’s, you’d said, ‘Hi, my name is Selena De La Torre!’ and I asked, ‘Any relation to Andre De La Torre’?”
“If the conversation had gone that way, you’d still have a job.”
“As far as I’m concerned, I got lucky I never found out the connection. If I had, it wouldn’t have stopped me, by the way. I just might not have suggested coming down here tonight.” I laugh again at the crazy coincidence.
“But your job, Grayson,” she says, still looking distraught. “You’ve got rent to pay! A car payment!”
“I’ll be fine. I meant what I said: I’d never want to work for a douchebag like him. This is a good thing.”
She gasps. “The promotion! The condo you’ve been saving to buy!”
I squeeze her hand. “Stop, Selena. I’ll be fine. I don’t need to buy a condo, any time soon. Honestly, this is for the best. It’s exactly the push I needed to do something I should have done a long time ago.”
It’s the truth. Now that I think about it, I only started saving for a condo because that’s what Audrey wanted. But now that I’m single and can do whatever the fuck I want, why not use my savings to finally bet on myself?
“What do you mean?” Selena asks.
“There’s this cool programing idea I’ve had for a long time. But I’ve always known I’d need to work on it full-time, probably for close to a year, to develop and test it. Before now, I could never figure out how to carve out enough time and money for me to go for it, so I put it on the back burner. But now, thanks to a lucky twist of fate, I’ve suddenly got all the time in the world and some money in the bank!”
We’ve arrived at my car now, so I open the passenger door for Selena before jogging around the back bumper to the driver’s side. Despite what I just now said to Selena, I admit I feel a bit anxious about my sudden lack of employment. I’ve never quit a job without notice or having another job lined up.
But with each loping step I take around my car, my nerves calm down and certainty solidifies that tonight’s crazy events were a blessing disguised as a curse. Now that I’m single, why on earth would I want to saddle myself with a mortgage? I’d much rather use that money to invest in myself. Even if I’m ultimately unsuccessful—if I run out of money before my app is completed—or if my completed app turns out to be a total failure—at least I won’t have to go through the rest of my life, wondering, “What if?”
I settle into my driver’s seat, latch my safety belt, and wink at Selena. “Don’t worry about me, okay? This is gonna be great.”
She smiles tentatively but says nothing, so I pull my car away from the curb.