Hey you guys!

Thank you so much for your comments on my last post! There was so much good advice and so many things to consider. I did talk to Brady on Sunday night when he got home and it was a good talk, probably one of the best we’ve had. I don’t know if Brady just doesn’t know what a relationship is supposed to look like, but he was kind of in denial that something is wrong. How can anyone think this is normal, lol? But he finally agreed that something must change. We just need to figure out exactly what.

So I somehow talked to him into taking next week off from work to spend with me! AN ENTIRE WEEK. We are flying to Houston on Saturday night and spending Valentine’s Day with my wacky parents then traveling a bit throughout the week. I’m seriously shocked that he agreed to it. I plan on coming clean about everything – reading the messages, the gift from Marco, everything. I think if I want to seriously move forward with him then I really should.

Anyway, I have to take a break from the blog. It was really helping at first, I loved reading all the comments and advice and everything, but now I feel like it’s making me crazy. So until I figure my life out, y’all can find me via email or Twitter! Miss you already!

My life is so dramatic.

On Friday we were going out to celebrate my new job plus it was just an excuse to drink. We decided to have people over to pregame beforehand and I invited Luke. And he brought Stacey. Can you believe that? I didn’t think I would have to remind him that she was not invited, but apparently Luke wanted to force us to be friends.

I literally groaned when Luke walked in with Stacey trailing him. He had a 6-pack of beer with him and she waltzed in wearing a tight bodysuit and wide leg pants. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I wore wide leg pants to work last week and suddenly Stacey is wearing wide leg pants too. She’s a self proclaimed minimalist who usually wears the Express Columnist pants with a Portofino shirt.

“Hey Reese,” she said immediately. “Your boyfriend’s place is so nice!” And then she laughed. Because that’s all Stacey ever does.

I didn’t even acknowledge her. I poured the group a couple of shots and finished up getting getting ready. I was walking out of the bedroom when I caught Stacey and Luke getting something out of the little liquor cabinet Brady has at the end of the hallway. He keeps more expensive stuff in there and we hardly ever use it.

“Can you fucking not?” I screamed at them.

Stacey started laughing and Luke said, “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, are we not allowed to drink it?”

“Uh, no! Why would you think that’s allowed?” I said and snatched the bottle from him. Stacey continued laughing and grabbed Luke to go back to the kitchen where everyone was hanging out.

A little while later, we were finishing up our drinks and Stacey said something like, “Brady, do you share your alcohol you keep in the hallway? Can I have some?”

And since Brady is super nice so he said, “Uh, yeah. Of course.”

“No!” I exclaimed. “I told you no!”

Stacey rolled her eyes and said, “Reese, this is Brady’s house, not yours.”

“Fuck off, you don’t know anything,” I said.

“Reese,” Brady said, gently.

“See how mean she is to me?” Stacey pretended to sniffle.

“She’s so annoying, I literally hate her,” I said just to Brady.

“I know. Just ignore her. She does it just to piss you off,” he replied.

Luckily we left after that and headed to a bar in Old Town. When we were waiting to get in Luke grabbed my arm and whispered, “Hey, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know that alcohol was off limits. You aren’t mad, are you?”

“I’m over it, but I don’t like her,” I said.

“That isn’t nice. She likes you,” Luke said.

Funny that Luke would even think Stacey likes me after all this. We hate each other and that’s fine. I got a text from Marco asking what I was doing that night so I told him where we were and invited him to meet us. He was with a few friends and said he would stop by. Brady and Marco have never met and we were a little drunk so I figured we would all be able to get along smoothly.

Kendra and John were already inside at a table. Stacey and Luke said they were going to get drinks, but they ended up disappearing for the rest of the night which I was 100% okay with. When Marco showed up Brady and I had ours arms wrapped around each other.

“Oh my gosh, babe, this is my best friend, Marco,” I said, pulling away.

They shook hands and it was fine, no awkwardness or tension at all. Then Marco pulled me into a hug and said it had been way too long since we’ve seen each other. I was like, “Lol, okay.”

We don’t text as much anymore, but he usually texts me on the weekends and invites me out or asks if I want to do anything.

Brady ordered a round of shots for our table then almost immediately Marco ordered another on his tab. I didn’t realize at the time that it was a competition.

So we all just hung out for a little bit. Brady and Marco seemed to be getting along great so I ran around with Lexi and her friend Alyssa for a little while. I came back and squeezed in between Brady and Marco, putting my arms around either of them.

“I really want to get food after this,” I told them. “I want pancakes and an omelette.”

Brady laughed and Marco said, “I can take you to get food.”

“I want pizza,” I giggled.

“You can have whatever you want.” Brady and I were laughing and playful, but Marco wasn’t laughing. So I skipped off to get more drinks.

I came back a little bit later with a beer and a tray of tots because apparently the kitchen was still open. I sat down next to Kendra and started going to town.

“We’re probably gonna head out,” she told me.

I threw my tot down. “Already? We can go somewhere else if you want.”

“We’re just really tired, Reese,” she said in a disappointed teacher voice. “We had fun though. Congrats on the new job!” We hugged then she and John left.

Brady and Marco were still talking so I got up and grabbed Lexi to go to the bathroom. We stayed down there for a while because we made some friends and needed to take pics and exchange Snapchat names. As we walked back to our table both Brady and Marco just stared at me. They just watched me approach with straight faces. It was really weird.

I threw my arms around Brady’s neck and asked him if he was ready to leave too. He didn’t really hug me back and was just kind of stiff.

“I’m going to get my card,” he said and walked away.

I turned to Marco. “Thanks for coming out! We had so much fun, right?”

“Yeah, always. Are you coming to get food?” he said.

I glanced behind me. “No, I’m gonna wait for my boyf.”

Marco laughed and said, “Okay. Hit me up, all right?”

We hugged and then Marco and his friends left. Brady came back and was really short and called an Uber for us to go home. Obviously I was drunk and happy and didn’t realize something was wrong until we got home.

“What’s going on with you and Marco?” Brady asked when we walked through the front door.

“What do you mean? He’s my BFF,” I said.

“Really?” Brady appeared in front of me. “Your BFF? What does that mean?”

“Best friend forever,” I giggled.

“When you were drinking that beer, he said, ‘She’s good with her mouth, right?’ Did you do something with this dude?”

I don’t know why, but I gasped and then laughed. Probably because I was so uncomfortable. “No! Of course I didn’t.”

“He kept saying shit like that. Talking about your body. I told him to stop and he laughed.”

“What did he say about my body?” I had to know.

“I’m not repeating it. It was derogatory. Do you know what he said when I called you my girlfriend? He said, ‘I don’t know if she’s aware of that.”

I was confused. “He did? What’s that mean?”

“He obviously thinks there is more going on with you guys!” Brady yelled. “And you’ve been making him think that way!”

“I have not!” I shot back. “I haven’t even seen him in forever.”

“Yeah? But you text him, don’t you? Apparently you’re being so friendly that he thinks he has a chance with you!”

My heart started racing. “No! We are friends. I’ve told him all about you.”

Brady started walking toward the bedroom and I followed him. “You can literally go through my phone and read our messages.”

“I don’t want to read your messages, Reese. But I don’t think you should talk to him again. At least show me that much respect.”

I pulled out my phone and texted Marco, “What the fuck is wrong with you, you weirdo?”

Out loud I said, “Of course I won’t. I’m sorry. I had no idea he was so crazy.”

We hashed it out (or so I thought), hooked up and went to sleep. Brady woke me up early on Saturday morning so we could get breakfast then he was going to work for a few hours. The meal was fine and we didn’t mention Marco at all. Everything seemed to be back to normal. And by the way, Marco sent back a smiling emoji and didn’t bother explaining himself.

I took Brady to work then went home to hang out with my baby Tucker. We watched a ton of TV, made muffins and texted Carly. Later on in the evening, I got out the iPad to play the hair salon app and I thought it would be fun to check Brady’s messages. The first one at the top was Lindsey and I opened it. It didn’t take me long to realize they were talking about me.

“I think you really need to take a step back and think about what kind of relationship you deserve,” was the last thing she said.

I scrolled up and saw that Brady told her what happened on Friday night. Apparently Marco said things like, “Look, she has her tits our for me,” and “I love it when she bends over the table like that,” and “Looks like Reese has been doing her squats.” And when Brady tried to defend me, Marco just laughed.

Lindsey said, “Eww. What has she been doing with him that makes him think this is okay?”

Brady said, “That’s the thing, I don’t know.”

“I don’t like this situation at all. You deserve answers,” Lindsey said.

Ugh! I get that Brady is allowed to talk to his friends about our relationship (I do too), but he could at least talk to me about it too. I felt weird about all of it and especially gross that people were talking about me and thinking about me in that way. I cleaned the house from top to bottom then headed to get Brady from work.

“Hey,” Brady said, kissing me when he got in the car.

I started home and blurted out, “I think we should take a break.”

Brady threw his hands up like he was frustrated. “What? Why?”

“Because neither of us trust each other, we can’t communicate and we obviously don’t know what we want,” I explained.

“What?” he said again.

“We suck at this. You don’t want to go to therapy and we can’t figure out how to make this work on our own.”

“Oookkkayyy…”

“So I’ll move out.”

“Where are you going to go?”

“I’ll find somewhere to go obviously.”

“Reese, why are you doing this?”

I started crying. “Because! I don’t know how to have a normal relationship and you deserve better! Don’t pretend like you don’t agree! All your friends and family hates me, like it’s fine. We don’t have to force it.”

Brady didn’t say anything for a while and the only sound was me sniffling. Finally he said, “Fine. If that’s what you want.”

I nodded.

“You don’t have to leave.”

“I’ll stay downstairs,” I said.

We didn’t say anything the rest of the ride home. We ordered pizza for dinner and watched a movie, but then when it was time for bed, I took Tucker to the guest room to sleep. And obviously cried all night because I’m a crazy person.

Brady knocked on the door this morning and woke me up. I shouted for him to come in and he had breakfast. Ugh. Why is he so sweet to me? We decided to get up and go to church with Kendra and John and afterwards we grabbed a quick lunch with them. I asked Brady to drop me off at Nordstrom after that.

“Do you want me to wait in the car or come in with you?” he asked me.

“I’ll find a way home,” I told him.

He sighed dramatically. “Why are you doing this, Reese?”

“Because we need a break, Brady! You need to step back and think about the kind of relationship you deserve.”

He didn’t seem to catch that I’d repeated Lindsey’s text verbatim and said okay. So I walked around Nordstrom for a few hours just looking at everything. I didn’t even try anything on. I went to the beauty department and forced myself to buy a bunch of things I don’t need. Brady texted me saying he was going to a super bowl party and did I want to come? I told him to go ahead without me.

So he’s still out. I’m so confused and depressed. I don’t know what a “break” is supposed to do, but I really want to talk to Brady about it tonight when he gets home. I feel like I’m acting guilty and maybe I am a little bit. I can’t imagine my life without him and I don’t want to, but maybe us not being together would be for the best. As much as it pains me to say it. We just don’t know how to make this work and new issues come up every week. Why can’t we just have a normal relationship! Seriously! But I do think we should take a step back and regroup.

I took the job. Scott called me on Monday wanting an answer and I just took it. I figured if I asked for any more time I would talk myself out of it. So I just told him yes. I figured that even if I don’t love the job, I can’t get anymore unhappy than I am now. Scott was really happy and wouldn’t stop talking about excited he was to have me. Just the ego boost I needed. We discussed my target start date will be the second week in March.

I decided that even though I have like a month until the new job starts, I would still put in my notice right away. I need a damn break.

On Tuesday, Stacey called in sick again. She informed Dale via text message. Right in the middle of a short meeting in Dale’s office he got the text saying she wasn’t coming in. So right in the middle of our conversation, he looked down at his phone and said, “Oh, no.”

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

Dale looked up at me solemnly. “Stacey is sick.”

“Again? Her immune system is terrible,” I replied.

Dale didn’t say anything

“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe she isn’t really sick?”

He changed the subject after that because he knew I was right. Later that morning, a man that Stacey had been working with came in for their scheduled meeting, but obviously Stacey was too stupid to cancel it beforehand due to her being “sick.” So Dale asked me to run the meeting. This was about an hour before the investors were supposed to arrive and I was preparing for my presentation. So naturally I threw a fit.

“I don’t have time to cover for her! She’s not really sick and it’s not fair that she doesn’t have to do her job!” I ranted.

Dale just looked at me and nodded. He was probably thinking about what an uncooperative brat I was being, but I didn’t care.

So I refused to do the meeting and prepared for the presentation (which I killed). I decided to go see Brady for lunch because I was so annoyed. I also decided that I didn’t have time to go through all the other employees and have Brady paged and wait and stuff so I texted him, “I’m in the lobby, come down here right now.”

He showed up a few minutes later.

“Let’s go to lunch,” I demanded.

“Okay, um.” He looked around. “Okay. Let’s go.”

So we went to this place that’s attached to the hospital through an atrium.

“Listen to what happened today,” I said while we ate.

“I’m listening,” Brady replied.

I told him how Stacey called in and Dale didn’t care then had the nerve to ask me to run a meeting that I had no knowledge and definitely no time for. I got so worked up that I started crying.

Brady was like, “Are you okay?”

I was sobbing in the middle of lunch, so obviously not okay.

“I’m so miserable!” I cried.

“You’re going to be fine, Reese. You just have to make it another week and a half,” he said.

“A week and a half of hell!” I knew I was being a little bit over the top, but sometimes you just need to.

“Are you really going to let them make it hell for you?” Brady asked.

I nodded.

“Well, if you let them, then of course they will. Ultimately you’re in control of your own experiences.”

“You’re right,” I sniffled. “I just needed to cry.”

Brady smiled. “Cry as much as you need to.”

I thought this would be the perfect way to get into that gift shop. “You know what would make me feel better? Candy.”

“Okay. We can get candy.”

Brady works in a large hospital and there are at least three gift shops total. I wasn’t sure which one Hailey works in, but I just assumed it was the largest one that is closest to the main entrance. So we walked back in the hospital hand in hand and as we walked past the gift shop I said, “I’ll get candy in here. Is this where Hailey works?”

“Reese,” he groaned, already fully aware of what I was up to.

“What?” I feigned innocence. “Is something wrong?”

Brady let out a laugh that told me he wasn’t buying it and I was being ridiculous. I shrugged and led him into the gigantic gift shop. The candy was in the front of the store near the cash register. I did a quick scan of the place, spotting three employees huddled near the back talking. None of them appeared to be Hailey.

I took forever picking out what candy I wanted, finally deciding on a Twix bar, a bag of Sour Patch kids and gum. We left without seeing Hailey at all so I was disappointed. Brady and the girl who rang us up were really friendly and obviously knew each other. Maybe he spends a lot of time there.

After we left the gift shop, we ran into some of Brady’s colleagues on the way to the elevator. I think I’d met a couple of them before, but he still said, “Do you know Reese?” and introduced me to everyone. I met that woman who made him food once (and I threw a fit about). She’s a tiny half Asian girl with a bob and a laptop case. And Brady was right, she did have a huge rock on her finger so she’s clearly off the market and I have nothing to worry about.

A lot of them said things like, “Brady’s told us so much about you!” I wonder what he tells his smart friends about me. Things like, “My girlfriend spends all of her money on makeup and shoes, it’s actually pretty pathetic.”

They seemed genuinely interested in meeting me and hearing what I have to say though. We were talking about Super Bowl plans, predictions, etc when someone ran up to the side of Brady and squealed, “Boo!”

It fucking startled me and I jumped then looked over to see Hailey, wearing on the same little t-shirts the other girls in the gift shop were wearing. Out of pure reflex I glared at her.

“Hey!” Brady said, sounding surprised.

“Hey you!” she grinned and didn’t even acknowledge anyone else in the group. I noticed two chocolate bars in her hand (they looked like the expensive kind, not just Hershey’s).

“This is Reese,” Brady said. He gestured toward me and Hailey whipped around dramatically.

“Oh,” she said, still smiling. She quickly put her hands behind her back to hide the candy. “I’m Hailey!”

“Hi Hailey,” I said and took her in. Probably two inches shorter than me, super blonde, super small, definitely overdid it with the undereye highlight/concealer. She’s like 21, why is she even worried about eye bags yet? “Nice to meet you.”

“You too! I’ve heard a lot of good things about you!” she said. I noticed color rising to her cheeks. She was blushing.

“Aww,” I cooed, glancing at Brady. He seemed calm and collected, even checking his watch whereas Hailey was obviously stressed.

“You’re really pretty!” she blurted out.

Brady laughed and she did too once she realized how dumb she sounded.

“Thank you!” I smiled, trying not to make her feel more awkward. I actually felt bad for the girl.

Brady looked over Hailey’s little head at me and said, “I should get going. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Yeah, me too,” Hailey said.

Brady grabbed my forearm which is about as much PDA as we are going to engage in, sober and in the middle of a hospital lobby. All of his coworkers were walking onto the elevator and he jogged to catch up with them. Hailey was starting to walk back to the gift shop.

“Bye. It was nice to meet you!” I called after her.

She turned toward me and waved with one hand behind her back because she was still trying to hide the candy bars. “Okay, bye!”

I can’t believe I was ever worried about her. She’s a child, like an actual toddler. And it’s obvious that she has a childish crush on Brady, just like you guys said. I’m embarrassed that I thought she was a threat.

When I got back to work, I cornered Dave in his office. I’d told him that we needed to talk that morning and he told me to come find him after lunch.

“Hey,” I said, sitting in one of the armchairs in front of his desk.

“Reese! You wanted to talk? What’s up?” Dave said. He’s always so jolly. He’s such a nice man and I felt bad about having to quit to him a second time.

“I’m quitting,” I said, not beating around the bush.

Dave’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh no. Why?”

“I’m not even going to lie to you, I hate this place. It hasn’t been the same since Diana left and I’m really unhappy. I feel like I’ve worked really hard and tried to adjust, but I just can’t do it.”

Dave looked like all of this was news to him. “Wow. I don’t want you to feel that way about your job, Reese. Is there anything I could’ve done differently?”

I wanted to say, “Not hired that dumbass.”

But that wouldn’t be professional. So I said, “I just wish you would have taken my concerns seriously and investigated them a little more. That’s all.” I can think of at least two occasions where I told Dave that I didn’t like the way Dale worked and  I thought he sucked and Dave blew me off.

“Wow, I’m sorry about that. If we have a serious sit down meeting and things change, would you consider staying?”

I shook my head. “My mind is made up.”

I’m glad I stood my ground and didn’t let Dave talk me into staying. The last thing he said to me before I left his office was, “Thank you for all your hard work and everything you’ve done for this company. We wouldn’t be where we are now if it wasn’t for you.”

And that made me cry. Twice in one day! I ended up going home early because I’d had such a dramatic day.

There was a package there waiting for me. It was from Carly, asking me to be a bridesmaid! The box included a card, a bottle of glittery champagne, two bottles of nail polish that are her wedding colors (blush and the wine color like I suggested), and a tiny little glass trinket tray. It was so cute that I cried again.

So my last day is next Friday. I’m actually pretty sad about it. It’s bittersweet, but I am happy for a new challenge. I invited Brady, Luke, Preston (Joe) and Kendra (John) out to celebrate tonight so that will be fun.

Hey y’all!

I don’t know where to begin. I got offered another job. I met this British man named Scott a few weeks ago at Starbucks and he runs a luxury furniture and interior design firm here. They’re expanding their office and he suggested we exchange contact information. He’d been emailing me a lot trying to schedule a meeting and honestly, I was really dodgy. I guess I assumed he was hitting on me (get over yourself, Reese), but turns out, he was trying to recruit me.

So we met last week at a Starbucks before work. He had a black coffee waiting for me when I got there which is sweet, but I hate coffee. It was weird because he stood up and shook my hand, and we’d already met.

“So glad we could finally meet,” Scott said in his cute accent. He’s cute. Probably late 30s/early 40s, freckles, light blue eyes, dirty blonde, but graying hair. Wedding ring.

“Me too! I’ve been so busy!” I said, which was kind of true.

He started by going over the expansion, what the new office would look like and what kind of new positions they would be adding.

“I’m going to be upfront with you, Reese. I want you to take over our sales department. Now, that wouldn’t require you to cold call all day – we’ve got people to that,” Scott said.

“Oh,” I said back. I started getting really nervous, like shaky nervous and I don’t even know why.

“I’ve interviewed a lot of people and talked to some internal candidates, but I really think you’re going to be the best fit,” he went on.

Up until that point, Scott had only asked me like two or three actual interview questions (aside from the stuff he asked me via email). Although I guess you can tell a lot about if someone would be a good fit by just having a conversation with them.

“Does this sound like something you’d be interested in? I know this isn’t what you were expecting from our meeting today.”

“I mean, I need to know more. What would a typical day look like?” I said.

“Great question, Reese. You’re in charge of doing whatever it takes to drive sales and be as profitable as possible. If that means you have to fire your entire staff and start over, then do it. But you better have a fucking good explanation and a game plan.” He laughed. “So I’m not exactly sure what a typical day will look like. It’s really up to you.”

“What kind of results are you expecting?” I asked.

Scott looked like that wasn’t a question he was expecting. “Well, I want an increase in sales of course. We need more money flowing in. I want to see cash.”

I nodded, wondering if he meant actual cash or just figuratively.

“When you think of luxury, what do you think?” he asked.

“Hermés,” I replied.

Scott looked confused for a moment then he laughed. “I haven’t heard that one, but yeah. Definitely.”

I shrugged.

“How much would it take you to leave?” he asked.

I blurted out a number and Scott nodded then told me he was going to get another coffee and be right back. I didn’t want him to see me texting or playing with my phone so I just sat there and politely waited.

When Scott came back, he didn’t have a coffee with him and kind of seemed out of breath.

“We’d like to bring you on board,” he said, sitting down. “With the salary you mentioned.”

“Oh, thanks!” I said, beaming.

“What are you thinking? Do you want some time to think about it?” he asked.

“Yes, I’ll need some time,” I told him. I could feel that our conversation was wrapping up so I grabbed my purse from the back of my chair. “Just a day or so.”

“Okay, a day. Just shoot me an email when you make up your mind either way. You’re the only person I’ve offered anything to. I want you, Reese,” Scott said.

I waited until Brady and I were on the plane going to Florida to tell him the story.

“So at this point I’m so miserable that I just might take this guy up on his offer. Today Dale sent out a mass email about how ‘we’ all need to do a better job of record keeping and organization, but his office is a disaster. He can never find anything when I ask for it,” I said.

“Are you genuinely interested in the position or is it just your way out?” Brady asked.

Good question. Obviously I was interested, I wouldn’t have wasted my time talking to Scott if I wasn’t.

“A little bit of both. Anything has to be better than what I’m doing now. But I would like to get into a more marketing role again. I miss some of the stuff I used to do. Plus it’ll be nice to get away from fucking Dale and Stacey,” I said.

“You are in a bad mood every night,” Brady replied. “Who knows if the grass is greener on the other side, but maybe you should take a leap of faith.” So many cliches.

Funny, the last time I took a “leap of faith” in my career, I ended up running back to my old job. For some reason I really doubt Dale will let me come back if I quit.

I decided to just enjoy my weekend and make a decision later. Brady’s grandparents were away so we had the house to ourselves, thank goodness. We immediately got in and showered then headed out for dinner. There was a Cuban restaurant within “walking distance” (Brady waited until we were halfway there to tell me it was almost a mile) so we walked there. I complained the whole time because it was humid.

I got some rice dish with shrimp and we also got a margarita pitcher. It was really, really strong.

“Oh my gosh… That’s potent,” I said after my first sip. I literally felt the drink go through my entire body.

We were pretty drunk after the first pitcher and Brady flagged a waiter down to bring another. I also ordered a lychee mojito and this is weird, but do y’all remember that baseball player Eric that I dated? The last time I had a lychee drink I was with him and I suddenly got these flashbacks of being with him and it made me nauseous. I was such a hot mess when I was with him (good times). So I kept drinking. I remember ordering a third pitcher, shots and signing the bill and leaving a $100 tip. There was a Cuban dance club attached that we wanted to go to and I can’t remember anything beyond that.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, my ass was super sore and I couldn’t swallow. My entire body hurt. I rolled over and nudged Brady, but he just pulled me close and snuggled me. We got up a little later and went downstairs to eat. We hadn’t seen Daniela (his grandparents’ housekeeper) since arriving, but somehow she knew we were there and had breakfast waiting. Daniela is actually so pretty. She kind of looks like Selena Gomez, but with lighter hair and features. I don’t think she speaks English and she greeted me, “Hola, Miss Reese,” which was so adorable.

“Why does my ass hurt?” I asked Brady while we ate our pancakes.

He smirked. “I have no idea. Is it bad?”

“Yeah, kinda. It’s uncomfortable to sit,” I said. And my butt still hurts today. I don’t know if I fell or what, but fuck.

We laid by the pool for literally the entire day. It was cloudy all day which sucked, but it was still relaxing. On Thursday of last week, Brady and I got drinks with a kid he went to high school with who just moved to Chicago for his residency. He was with another guy they went to high school with (and Brady was also in a fraternity with) so the three of them mostly talked about work and medical school while I sat there being bored.

The first guy was nice enough to at least ask what I do and what I studied in school (although I felt a bit inadequate as I typically do around Brady’s friends). At one point, Brady was talking to our waitress and I heard one of the guys say something like, “I can’t believe Brady’s tapping that.”

Tapping that? Apparently his friends think I’m just some sort of bimbo or something, not a serious girlfriend. I glared at him and he looked mortified that I heard him.

So I waited until we were having a nice relaxing day by the pool to bring it up to Brady.

“I just don’t understand why your friends would think that’s okay to say,” I said.

“That’s just how guys are. He meant nothing by it,” Brady explained.

“He meant something by it otherwise he wouldn’t have said it,” I pointed out. “I’m super offended.”

“It was a compliment. That’s his way of saying you’re unnaturally hot.”

I smiled against my own will. But still, that’s rude though, right? I can’t get “tapping that” out of my head. Way to make me feel slutty.

When we finally got tired of the pool and went back inside, Daniela had frozen margaritas waiting for us. And she was with another girl in the same black and white maid outfit. The second girl looked older and was a little chunky, but just as pretty as Daniela. She greeted us in Spanish and held a short conversation with Brady. We sat down at the bar and Daniela said something to the second girl while they looked at me. The only words I picked up were “mujer” and “mañana” which I remember from high school Spanish class. Brady glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

“What?” I asked defensively.

He shrugged. “Nothing.”

I really wish I knew Spanish. There are few things more uncomfortable than having a room full of people talking about you and not knowing what they are saying. Actually, I can think of a lot of things (like the current state of my ass), but that isn’t the point.

I just barely missed Brady’s grandparents on Sunday. As we were leaving to go to the airport, his grandmother called to say they were on their way home. She was disappointed when Brady told her we were leaving because she really wanted to meet me! From the stories Brady tells me about her she seems kind of unpleasant, but I am curious to meet her too.

Brady didn’t respond to any of Hailey’s messages all weekend (at least he can respect me enough not to text her while we were on vacation together), but they messaged a bit today. She asked him where he was this afternoon then when he told her she said, “I’M COMING TO SEE YOU!” in all caps like that. Such a child. A few hours later she said, “I forgot to ask about your vacation! How was it?!?!” She sounds so annoying. Brady never replied so he must agree.

I really like the idea of popping up at the gift shop where she works with Brady (I can’t remember whose idea that was, but genius), but I just can’t figure out how to do it without being super obvious. I really just want to make my presence known because obviously this girl knows nothing about me.

Today I had an awful day at work which just makes me want to accept Scott’s offer that much more. We are having some investors come visit later this week and Dale is being a total dick about it. The both of us are doing presentations and he kept telling me what I should and shouldn’t say and do even though I’ve done a million of these presentations. He should be asking me for tips. But of course, he’s my boss so I smiled and nodded and tried to avoid him.

I haven’t told Kendra about my new job offer because she already got on to me last time I switched jobs.

“Reese, you change jobs more than I change underwear. You can’t move around this much and try to build a serious career!” she lectured me. I can only imagine what she would say now. But Brady (who has a fantastic career obviously) told me to go for it, and I trust his advice. Plus, it’s not like I’ve had that many jobs in my life.

How was everyone else’s weekend?