“Buy one get one free milkshakes.”
“How did I not know that?” she asked breathlessly.
“I’m so disappointed in you,” I said mockingly. “What about a night on a weekend? A Saturday night maybe?”
“That might work. Advertising a gallery evening on a Saturday night would allow me to gauge that as a possible evening to have another art therapy session.”
“Another one?” I asked.
“I’ve sort of gotten one off the ground for Monday evenings, but it seems to really be a conflict with people. I’ve been searching for another night, but I’ve really got no way to gauge the community as a whole. Having a gallery on a Saturday night would serve a dual purpose for me.”
“Wow, I’ve got half a mind to bring you into my company once Drew leaves,” I said.
“Wait, what?”
I held her gaze for a while as the tone of the conversation quickly shifted.
“Drew’s leaving?” she asked
“He’s thinking about it. He’s had this dream for a long time to own his own tattoo shop. I thought we talked about this?”
“If we did, I don’t remember, so I’m sorry if we have. My mind’s been a bit preoccupied.”
“It’s all right. We’ve had a lot thrown at us the past couple of weeks. Yeah, we’ve been talking about liquidating his share of the business, so he can take the money and open up his own shop.”
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“He’s my best friend. I’m genuinely happy for him. We started this construction business because we both had the skill sets to do something in the community no one else was doing. We didn’t start it because we wanted to be in construction our entire lives. We started it because we knew our skill set could help people.”
“You started a company to help people,” she said.
“Yeah. I mean, more construction companies should build houses more people can afford. We give one away to someone in the homeless community every time we start building up a site. We’ve got the funds to absorb the loss, so why not? More companies should do that kind of shit anyway. That’s how we saw it, so we built a company that did it.”
“You’re incredible,” she said as she shook her head.
“Hardly. Just tired of seeing corporations and this world as a whole take advantage of people and not give anything back,” I said.
“So, Drew hasn’t agreed to anything yet?” she asked.
“He’s all but said it. I think he’s worried about how it’ll affect me. But, I know he’s been pricing buildings, and I’ve been placing some phone calls on his behalf. He’s been looking up inventory prices and distributors. Things like that.”
“Sounds like he’s headed down that road,” she said. “What does that mean for your company? It’ll only be you running it.”
“And that’s what I’ll do for a while, I guess,” I said, shrugging. “I’ll take it a day at a time and go from there.”
The two of us picked at the rest of the food on our plates. I could tell Hailey was awaiting my final decision, but my mind was swirling with thoughts of her, how beautiful she looked in the candlelight and how the night time had finally blanketed the whole of San Diego. I thought about the curtains pulled back in my room. I thought about how wonderful the moonlight would drench her pale skin. I thought about the softness radiating from her supple curves while her lips curled around the fork she was using to eat the meal we’d cooked together.
And suddenly, the answer I had to give her seemed like a no-brainer.
“I think we should go for the story,” I said.
“Really?” she asked.
“Really. Give her a call and pitch her the content. Let me know what she says. As for the gallery showing, any Saturday evening is fine with me. I’ll rearrange my schedule around whichever you pick.”
“Okay,” she said, smiling. “I’ll give her a call once I get to work tomorrow.”
“Now,” I said as I wiped off my mouth, “I believe I’m ready for dessert. What about you?”