Fire Whiskey for My Soul

Chapter Four

Brad was relieved he had gotten the whole truth from Paige, even though it was uncomfortable for both of them- her apparently more than him, though he felt slightly sick at the thought of Steve having sex with her. At least she thought it was terrible. That cheered him some.

She absolutely didn't strike him as promiscuous and he agreed with why she did things the way she did. Not connecting with someone physically could lead to cheating in a marriage, as far as he could guess. What did he know, though, really? His longest relationship was about three months. He didn't want to be involved, didn't want to connect with anyone. Somehow he had connected with Paige, though, without trying, or even understanding how it had happened so fast.

Brad used the afternoon to place a call to his supervisor and let them know of his intent to resign. Then he had to speak with his HR department, and they decided what would work best is if he cashed out his PTO to be paid for the next two weeks and didn't return to work. He had a factory line position there, easily filled, and the corporations were often touchy about people who were leaving stirring the pot to steal other workers away with them.

He started searching online for apartments in the surrounding areas and was delighted to see that he could get the same size apartment for less than half what he was paying per month in the city.

At the appointed time of five minutes to five, he was at the entrance to the security wing, waiting for Steve, who emerged at 5:02pm with several coworkers to introduce him to, and Steve seemed genuinely happy to hear that he had accepted a position.

As they drove to Steve's in his silver extended cab, they talked about a game plan. Brad would stick around until Saturday evening so hopefully he could look at apartments during the day. Tomorrow he would fill out paperwork and go through orientation packets in Paige's department, and spend time calling to set up times to look.

Steve seemed excited to have his friend around and talked about going fishing and hunting on future weekends.

The guys got home and Steve followed Paige's detailed instructions for getting the meal going. Then Steve asked if Brad felt like lifting, so they both changed into some of Steve's old comfy clothes and went out to the garage to do that. The detached garage had been built some time after the house. There was plenty of space for the weight bench, leg press, and both vehicles, as they also had a stand-alone shed for tools and lawn equipment.

.............................................................................

I got home around seven and headed straight to the kitchen where I could hear the guys talking. "Everything go okay?", I asked.

"Of course", Steve laughed. "The post-its have never steered me wrong".

"I heard you accepted the offer?", I beamed at Brad.

"Yes, ma'am", he smiled back.

"He's stayin' 'till Saturday so he can look for apartments", Steve prompted.

"I was hoping you guys could go with me", Brad piped up, looking at me. "Seeing as I don't know the area".

I could feel my eyes light up. Shopping for anything, even rentals, was one of my favorite things! "Oooh, yes!", I exclaimed. "I would love it!"

Steve hesitated. "Yeah, I dunno, Brad. That's more Paigie's thing. She's really good at that stuff and I would probably get in the way and slow ya down".

He hated doing things like that. I couldn't believe he had actually bought a house on his own.

"I have a bunch picked out already", Brad continued.