“Baked u something good. Can I drop off?” she messaged.
“Ty too tired maybe 2mro,” he replied.
“Won’t stay long. I’ll just bring u treat,” she tried again.
“No ty,” he said in response.
Sighing, she dialed his number.
“Hello?” he answered, the noise of music and voices behind him.
“Hi. It’s Britt. I guess you’re out someplace.”
“Dave wanted to take me out to hear this band. He thought they might be good opening for us around the city before our new album drops. I thought it might cheer me up.”
If he needed cheering up, she would’ve been happy to help. She would have at least liked to be included in the outing so she could be with Jack.
“I hope it helps,” she said.
“Hey, thanks for the cookies.”
“You’re welcome.”
“This group is totally our jam.”
“That’s fantastic,” she said.
“I’ve gotta go.”
She said goodbye and hung up, shoving a cookie into her mouth, whole. Maybe he needed some space. She wouldn’t push. Her phone lit up and she hoped it was him, but it was Marj’s number on the phone.
“Hey, girl, since you weren’t there today, I didn’t know if you heard Fitzsimmons died,” she said.
“Yeah, I heard. It’s really sad.”
“Total shame, I know. Listen, we’re all chipping in to send a meat tray to the family. It’s ten bucks each. Are you in?”
“Sure. That’s a really nice idea.”
“We were gonna send a flower arrangement but we got to talking in the break room and Luke mentioned how much Fitzsimmons loved the bacon and stuff at his welcome party. So we thought, why not meat?”
“That’s nice. Very thoughtful.”
“It is. It’s really sudden, too.”
She tried to hold back a sniffle.
“Are you okay?” Marj asked.
“Yeah. It just makes me think about...mortality.”
“Wow, totally. It’s scary, how we could all be dead tomorrow. Like, boom, zombie apocalypse. Makes me want to seize the moment.”
“The moment or Luke?”
“Both, actually. I think I’ll go do just that.”
“Have fun. Thanks for calling me, Marj.”