Page 139 of Fly's Path

Fly

What were you like as a kid?

Sheri

Mostly invisible.

Those words give me bad vibes.

Fly

What do you mean?

During the long pause in the conversation, I make my way onto the long trail…which needs to become my short one soon if I’m going to have a chance of keeping up with Sheri.

Sheri

Outside.

I immediately dial her number and pop in my earbuds. “Good morning, My Royal Highness.”

She giggles. “You’re way too cheerful early in the morning.”

“How many cups of coffee before you cheer up, or should I ask how many miles?”

“I only drink coffee when it’s going to be one of those days. Otherwise, I don’t know, seven, maybe ten miles. Sometimes more.”

“But rarely less?”

“Are you that afraid of how much I run?”

“No…yes. I keep thinking we could be cuddling and sleeping in every morning, jog five to seven miles, have a leisurely breakfast, and then go for a ride.” That feels like the perfect morning for us.

She snorts a giggle. “Do people actually live like that?”

“What would your ideal day be then?”

“Exactly that. But it’s more of a dream or a vacation. Not reality.”

“We could make it real.”

“How? In the real world, people have to cook, do laundry, clean that monstrosity of a house of yours, actually work for ten to twelve hours a day, then get up and do it all over again.”

What? “How long do you work?”

“I don’t know. Most days ten to twelve hours, plus a couple hours for social media, and an hour or two for administrative stuff. What about you? It must be at least ten or twelve hours a day?”

Sheri’s life is way too much. She’s going to burn herself out. How do I explain my life? “I keep busy.”

“Are we speaking in code here?”

Maybe, sort of. Giving people a straight answer isn’t always easy for me. “I don’t have a nine-to-five type job, but I spend quite a bit of my time working at the club.”

“Did you retire at thirty or something?”

“Twenty-five, actually. But I don’t sit around all day. Like I said, the club keeps me busy.”

“Wait, really? I was kidding. Though I guess I’m not too surprised. What did you do to retire at twenty-five…rob a bank?”