Page 33 of Bulletproof

Ticks of silence went by. I had been getting that a lot.

“Oh! Yes, Jory. He told me you … I thought we were⁠—”

“I just have a quick thing to say to him if I could.”

There was coughing, then, “Yes, um, sure, yeah, hold on.”

I grabbed the shallots and the mango chutney as I waited.

“J?”

“Hey.” I smiled into the phone. “When people ask you who your partner is, say it’s me, okay?”

“What?”

“I just talked to Mr. Rowe, and he said that⁠—”

“Becker called you? Why?”

“Becker?” I teased him. “I thought that was funny earlier ’cause I mean, shit, you were on a first-name basis with our old boss, you know?”

“Just—what did he want, Jory?”

“Something about there being a mistake. I dunno. I wasn’t really listening, but he said he knew you were going to Benchmark, but he didn’t know I was going with you. So, do me a favor and say it, okay? Tell people we’re a team. Strauss and Harcourt—it sounds good, right?”

He sounded hoarse when he spoke. “Yes, Jory, it does.”

“So, say that, all right?”

“I will.”

“Okay, so that’s⁠—”

“Becker,” he said, cutting me off, “he didn’t change your mind?”

“Change my mind about what?”

“C’mon, Jory. He wants you back.”

“Maybe, but not really, and he for sure doesn’t like me. He just puts up with me. And this morning, he said all kinds of crap about me that he felt was actually true, or he wouldn’t have said it in the first place, so it’s fine. I couldn’t go back, and I don’t wanna go back. If you don’t want me around, I don’t wanna be around, ya know?”

“Yes, I do know.”

“Okay.”

He sighed deeply.

“We’re still on for Saturday, right?” I asked.

“Saturday, for sure, but how ’bout tonight as well? I have friends coming over. They’re congratulating me for taking the plunge to get my career on track. Why don’t you join us?”

That sounded good actually. “Yeah? You sure?”

“Very.”

“Well, I’m actually at the store if you wanna tell me what you need.”

“Are you kidding?”