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“I’m glad that you wanted to meet up again,” Grace said as she came in. “Truth be told, I wasn’t sure how to tell you that I wanted to do something like this as well without sounding… needy.”
“You could never sound needy to me, Grace,” I assured her. “After spending so much extra time with you, my life’s felt kind of quiet without you.” I motioned her towards the table. “Have a seat, the lasagna is just ready. I want to know what’s happened in the two weeks since we got back.”
“Well, first off, I love lasagna. It smells delicious. You… you made it from scratch?”
“I made some fresh noodles yesterday,” I said with a soft smile. “Cooking is one of my hobbies, and unfortunately, we didn’t have the chance to enjoy it while we were out in Corinth and Dawn.”
“A lack of power will make that happen,” Grace joked. “Has business been good since you got back? I know you had to cancel quite a few trips on clients last minute, and that never goes well.”
“Well, I can’t exactly control the weather. Most of my clients are understanding. Those that don’t understand just have to rebook with the refund for either a different date or a different airline. That’s usually only entitled managers who believe they have the right to fly private for the same price as the underlings they send to conferences on a commercial airline, all economy of course.”
I shook my head.
“Those who hadn’t rebooked decided to take commercial flights, and those who did were happy to hear that I was safe. Most of my clients are repeat business, so it’s a great way to make sure that people know that I know what I’m doing. I don’t cancel a trip without a good reason.”
“That’s good to hear.”
By this point, we had already gotten into the food, and I was more than happy to let her talk my ear off about whatever her boss was making her do.
“And what about you, Grace?” I looked at her. “I saw the tourism column got started. The photos all turned out beautifully online.”
“Thank you, Gabe,” Grace said with a bit of a beaming face. “The article did so well that my boss wants me to write another one as soon as possible. He’s gotten a list of places off the internet, but there are a few on there that I don’t think are worth covering. I’m heading out to Montana next to cover an abandoned theme park that only opens for a few months during the summers.” She smiled. “With the weather cooperating, I should be able to get some good photos while they’re closed on a Sunday if I talk to them. I just have to get out there. There’s no phone number to call on their site; just a place to order tickets.”
“Well, that’s a bummer. What are you supposed to do if you have an issue with a ticket or an order?” I frowned. “Does the site have online support staff?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, but that’ll be alright. If nothing else, I’ll buy a ticket in line like everyone else who doesn’t plan ahead and get my photos the old-fashioned way – by waiting until I have a decent shot of what I want that doesn’t have a ton of people in the background.”
I nodded slowly.
“And do you have a plan for getting up to Montana? Most of those airports are small, and they don’t take a lot of commercial flights,” I mentioned. “I have one repeat customer who goes to Montana all the time so I’m pretty familiar with a lot of the smaller airports.”
“Well, if you aren’t incredibly busy, I’d like to get up there sometime in June.,” she said. “Do you have an opening in the summer? They’re only open this year until August 31st.”
“I could fly you up next weekend if they’re open by then, but you’d have to make your trip quick, or call me to arrange a trip home,” I replied. “I have other trips that week too, but I can fit you in.”
“Sign me up!”
“I’ll text you the details, but just meet me at the airport like you did last time. I’ll file the flight plan and get you all squared away.”
Grace started to dig in her purse as I spoke, and I just waited until she turned around to hand me a card to run.
“No charge, Grace,” I said with a smile.
This took her by surprise, which is not exactly what I wanted, but it would facilitate the kind of discussion I had been hoping to start. Instead of saying anything immediately, she put the card away and finished her lasagna. I finished mine as well, taking her cue.
“What do you mean, no charge? Isn’t this how you make a living?”
“Sure, but I’ll be fine without charging my girlfriend for rides,” I replied. I hadn’t meant to say it quite so bluntly. “Unless… you don’t feel the same way. I just want to spend time with you as you and not as a client.”
I watched Grace intently for a reaction to what I had said. First, her cheeks turned bright pink, and then bright red as she really internalized what I had said. Either she hadn’t thought I felt this way about her, or she hadn’t thought she felt this way about me. I didn’t press her for an answer immediately, though.
The last thing I wanted to do was pressure her into an answer. Instead, I simply continued to eat my garlic bread. It sopped up the last of the marinara sauce on my plate. I was considering seconds, but this conversation was definitely more important, and I couldn’t get up from the table now.
Eating while having this conversation was perhaps not the best idea. At least, until she had decided on what she was going to tell me now that I had let the cat out of the bag.
“You feel that way about me? Truly?” She couldn’t manage to look me in the eye, but she did appear to be looking at my face as she asked this.
I nodded.
