When I woke up on Monday morning, I had a text from Brady that said, “Have a great day.”

It was from 4:35 AM and I couldn’t tell if Brady was 1. up early for work, 2. up late because he couldn’t sleep or 3. randomly woke up and decided to text me. I wasn’t sure how to feel though. After not talking all day on Sunday, that’s all he had to say?

I waited until I got to work to text back and asked if he wanted to meet for dinner. He replied yes and I told him the name of the restaurant I wanted to go to.

I got a text from Kate a little while later that said, “I’m heading into a meeting. What are your salary requirements? I think you got it.”

I always told myself that I wouldn’t leave my current job unless I was getting at least a ten or fifteen percent raise. It seems like a lot, but I love my job. I’m not going to take some other job for a few extra dollars a month. Plus maybe if my salary request is too high, they won’t offer me the job and I won’t even have to worry about it. I quickly texted Kate my number and she said, “That’s exactly within our range. I’ll let you know.”

I didn’t hear from Kate for the rest of the day and worked up until it was time for dinner with Brady. I planned on going in there and demanding answers about Saturday night and why he didn’t stand up to Paul. I waltzed into the restaurant with determination and found Brady standing near the door. He looked so adorable in his glasses and his little checkered shirt. I couldn’t possibly be mean to him.

“Hi,” I said. 

Brady smiled and said, “Hey. There’s a wait.”

I grabbed his hand because I couldn’t help myself. He’s just so cute. After we were seated and ordered, we talked about our respective days for a little while. Then when I couldn’t hold it in any longer, I said, “I’m not going to lie, I’m still a little irritated about Saturday night.”

Brady looked confused. “Saturday night?”

“Uh yeah,” I said. “When you were supposed to meet us at the bar and you went home…”

“Oh. Yeah,” Brady said, nodding.

“I mean, I know I’m not your mother, but it would have been nice if you would have let me know you were going home. I had no idea if you were even okay.”

Brady was looking down at the table, avoiding eye contact and just said, “Yeah.”

I wanted to reach across the table and strangle him.

“Is that reasonable?” I asked through clenched teeth. “I obviously don’t need to know your every move, but letting me know that you were going home would be the courteous thing to do.”

“That’s reasonable. I dropped the ball-” Brady started.

“And I just thought after you saw my reaction when you left your phone at the bar, you would’ve learned…” 

Brady’s neck started turning red and I suddenly felt like I was lecturing him and decided to steer the conversation toward a lighter subject: Brady’s birthday. It’s on Christmas Eve which is so inconvenient. I bet growing up it sucked having a birthday so close to Christmas. Do you get double gifts? Brady said he never really minded. He said he would probably go home to Massachusetts for the holidays although he hasn’t made any official plans yet. And he told me that last year for the holidays he didn’t even go home to see his family, he went to like Brazil or something. Which is really weird. Maybe if he isn’t too enthused about going to see his parents, he can come to Texas with me?

On Tuesday, Preston called me after work and invited himself over. He stormed into my apartment wearing a black ensemble and Chelsea boots and ripped his sunglasses off his face (it was dark out).

“I have so fucking much to tell you,” he said dramatically.

“Spill,” I automatically said.

“I don’t want to tell this story a million times. Call the girls, will you?” Preston was pacing around my living room and kitchen, clearly on edge.

I rolled my eyes, but still texted Kendra and Carly to see if they could stop by. Carly was out in the suburbs, but Kendra said she would be over in half an hour. While we waited for Kendra, Preston kept mumbling stuff like, “I should’ve known,” and “He won’t get away with this.” I didn’t even bother trying to get anything out of him.

Before Kendra could even get her coat off, Preston said, “My voice of reason. I’ve never been so happy to see you,” and hugged her tight.

Kendra gave me a weird look as she hugged him back. “What’s going on?”

Preston sat down on the couch and chewed on his nails a little bit. “I don’t even know where to begin. Dillon has been texting Mr. Murphy.”

“And?” Kendra asked.

“And Dillon told Murph that I asked him to have sex with me. Basically blaming the whole thing on me.”

“But you guys have already had sex…” I said.

“I know!” Preston said, already out of breath. “But Dillon didn’t want Murph to know that…because they had sex on Thanksgiving.”

“Wait. What?”

“I know!” Preston exclaimed. “Mr. Murphy confronted me about seeing Dillon behind his back so I confronted Dillon about talking to my boyfriend. Dillon told me everything. He said that he and Mr. Murphy have been secretly texting for weeks, but they just now had sex.”

“So Mr. Murphy has no idea that you and Dillon have been sleeping together?” 

“No. He thinks Dillon and I are just friends. Well, thought. And now he thinks I tried to cheat on him with Dillon, but he beat me to it.”

We were all silent as we let this all sink in. I could barely keep up.

“Honestly Preston,” Kendra said after a moment “Serves you right.”

Preston gasped. “Kendra!”

“What? You tried to play both of them and you got played yourself. You got exactly what you deserve.”

“And get this,” Preston said, completely ignoring her. “All that shit Dillon told us, about how his house burned down and everything, it’s all a fucking lie. His parents are rich and are putting him through school and paying for his $1,700 a month apartment. He was never homeless or in any movies.”

I started laughing uncontrollably. Who lies about that kind of stuff? That’s serious psychological/personality issues.

I didn’t hear from Kate again until Wednesday afternoon. She sent me a text around 3:00 PM that said, “Check your email :-)”

And I found an official offer letter with the job description, the benefits, and of course the salary, which was $15,000 more than I asked for. I blinked a few times. I quickly texted Kate back to make sure I was seeing it correctly.

She replied, “Andrew put your offer together. He must really want you on board.”

Remember how I said I could see myself convincing him to give me extra vacation days? I can already see him getting wrapped around my finger.

Then reality set in. The offer is significantly more than I’m making now. So I wasn’t exactly sure what to do. I waited two hours to text Kate back, “Can I have some time to think?”

She said yes and I told her that I would have an answer by Friday. Then I worked my ass off until it was time to go meet Brady for drinks. I couldn’t wait to get his thoughts. I quickly changed into leggings and Rag & Bone boots then waited for him to pick me up. 

Just so you know, Brady is the one who immediately started ordering tequila. It was supposed to be a lowkey night. I told him about the job offer and asked what he thought i should do.

“What’s stopping you from taking it?” Brady asked.

“Well, I like my job. I think it’s risky to just go for another job when I’m completely comfortable and happy with my current job,” I said.

“Okay, that’s easy. Then why are you considering leaving?”

“Because.” I took a long sip of my drink. “They’re going to pay me a lot more. Plus I’ll get to travel and everyone in the company is young and fun.”

“You realize you aren’t going to be traveling for leisure? You’ll be working and you most likely won’t have time to enjoy your trips,” Brady pointed out.

I gave him a look.

“I’m just throwing that out there. I know people who have to travel for work often and it’s actually sometimes more of a hassle than anything.”

“Yeah. But I also just have a good feeling about this company. Everyone I’ve met so far has given me good vibes. Except that one bitchy interviewer…”

He asked me more questions and I realized that I was trying to defend this new position. Every time he would point out a negative, I would explain why I didn’t care or mind or why it doesn’t matter. Maybe that means I want to take it?

After a few hours and too many drinks, we left. We were both pretty drunk, but Brady insisted he could drive. Thank God we made it to his place in one piece (after a pit stop at McDonald’s) and we sat on the kitchen counter eating our McNuggets.

I was sipping on my (disgusting) strawberry milkshake when Brady hopped off the counter. He turned to face me and pulled me to the edge so I was straddling him.

“Want some of my shake?” I asked sweetly.

He didn’t answer my question, but instead reached into the waistband of my leggings and pulled them off in one motion.

“What are you doing?” I asked, giggling

“I want some of you,” he mumbled and then he started eating me out right there on the kitchen counter. I feel like we’ve christened his entire duplex. I wonder if poor Chris knows.

Anyways, today is Friday and I have get back to Kate with an answer. I plan on ambushing Diana after our staff meeting at 3:00 PM. I still don’t even know what I want to do. Help!!!!!!!!!