[chapter nineteen]
Disclaimer: If you've heard of them, I don't own them. Everything else is mine, so no stealing, pretty please. ;-)
**
"Man."
"Yeah." Robby said, watching carefully for Jimmie's reaction to his news.
"I don't know what to say."
"S'okay. I'm a little freaked myself."
"I'm happy for you, man. I really am. And you know if you ask Faye, she'll totally help you with this." Jimmie said, clapping a hand onto the older man's shoulder.
Robby smiled. "I hope so - I need all the help I can get." Robby paused, then grinned again. "And then hey, maybe sometime soon, Alexa can return the favour?" He teased.
Jimmie blushed and ducked his head. "That's sorta the plan, yeah."
**
"Richard?" Robby asked, knocking on his boss's door. "You got a sec?"
"Sure, Robby, come on in." Richard said genially, smiling at his fiery driver.
Formerly fiery driver. In the last few months, Richard had detected a change in Robby's countenance. Suddenly he was controlling his temper more. Smiling more often. Keeping his outbursts on and off the track in check. He was curious what had affected the transformation.
"Listen, there's something I have to tell you. I've hated keeping a secret from you, but I felt like I had to." Robby admitted, sitting down across from Richard.
"What's that?" Richard asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I broke one of your office rules. But it's the best thing that's ever happened to me." Robby said before amending his words. "Other than coming to work here, of course."
"Of course." Richard smiled. "Which rule?"
"You know that rule you have about not dating fellow employees? Well, I kinda…"
**
Robby nervously paced the length of the family room, chewing his bottom lip.
He glanced at the clock, mentally calculating to the minute when Alexa would be home from campus for the day.
38 minutes.
He didn't know if he could wait that long.
He couldn't believe he'd ever come to feel that way about someone.
That he'd have that look Phoenix does when someone walks through the door.
Except that only person that made him that dopey and happy was Alexa.
37 minutes.
He couldn't wait to see her, and it had only been 8 hours since she left.
Talk about having it bad.
He stalked across the room again, mentally working out the speech he needed to recite for her.
36 minutes.