Drop and Give Me 50

Chapter 25: And Life Goes On

Despite my mind racing, my body was exhausted, and I slept soundly. Going into Monday, my anxiety about seeing Brent was high but we slipped into “Just-The-Way-It-Always-Was” mode with relative ease and managed to interact in what appeared to the outside world to be totally normal. When safe, we managed a sly smile to each other here and there. At least for day one, the task of keeping things under wraps didn’t seem as daunting in reality as it seemed in our heads just a day before. Brent suspected his parents had installed a text mirror program on his phone, so we agreed that only calls or in person situations were safe.

After practice, I headed to the airport to pick up Dr. Grant and Darren. Driving a Lexus to school certainly turned a few heads. It was a sweet ride. I loaded the Southwest app on my phone and tracked their arrival. Three minutes early. With just weekend bags, they were down at the arrivals area in no time.

Me: Welcome home!

Dr. Grant: Thanks. It was a good trip. Thanks for picking us up.

I tossed the keys to Dr. Grant who immediately tossed them to Darren. After the bags were loaded, I got in the back seat. Darren drove, and Dr. Grant rode shotgun.

Dr. Grant: So, how did it go with Brent?

Me: It was great.

Dr. Grant: Really? That’s all?

Darren: They fucked each other’s brains out. I saw it all on the home security system.

Seeing the look of sheer horror on my face, Dr. Grant quickly jumped in.

Dr. Grant: He’s teasing. The only camera in the house is on the doorbell.

Me: I’m relieved to hear that. But yeah, we fucked each other’s brains out. It was awesome. We essentially came out to each other, and we agreed to be boyfriends. We are keeping it on the down low, but to say it was a life-changing weekend would be selling it short.

Darren: See. I told you so.

Dr. Grant: Shhh. I’m really happy for you. That’s great news. On to more important things. What the hell did you do to our cat?

Me: No clue. Sunday morning, we woke up and she was asleep between our feet.

Darren: What are you? The Devil Whisperer?

Me: Oh, she was pretty mean at first. She shit on the kitchen counter twice. I have no idea what changed her outlook.

Dr. Grant: Well, you have the house sitter position any time you want it. Here’s $200 for a job well done.

Me: Gee. That’s a lot. Especially considering the amount of food and. . . . we ate.

Dr. Grant: You are a patient. We need to keep this all above board. It’s payment for services rendered. And based on how Grumpy has behaved her entire life, consider it compensation well earned.

Darren: I guess we need to stop by the liquor store.

Dr. Grant: How many times do I need to shhh you?

Darren pulled into the garage. As we came in through the mud room, Grumpy ran up to me and rubbed her head up against my leg. As Darren passed by with the bags, she hissed loudly and bolted deep into the house.

Darren: I guess all is back to normal.

Me: I need to get home. But I just wanted to say how thankful I am for this weekend. Seriously, it changed my life.

Dr. Grant: Happy we could help. I’ll see you on Wednesday, and you better be ready to show some real progress.

Me: I have a new gym partner. So, I think my training will be quite rigorous.

Dr. Grant: Good man!