Getting My Business Done

Getting My Business Done- Gospel Choir from The Middle.

Thursday, I finally met my brother Cam at his work for lunch. After checking in at the reception desk, I made my way to Cam's office. I knocked, before opening the door. I texted him from the car that I was coming in, but there's another guy in his office with him.

"Hey beautiful." Cam said to me.

 I waved and smiled politely at both of them, a little thrown off by the greeting. Maybe being grossly affectionate was something he picked up in therapy. Or his girlfriend. Or both. The other guy looked me over, before excusing himself.

"Have a seat. Give me 5 minutes." He said, apologetically.

"Take your time." I said, continuing to stand. "In fact, should I go get Trevor?"

"Nope, Craig's most likely taking care of that right now." Cam smiled, mischievously.

"Craig?" I asked, sitting down. Before he could answer, the door opened again. It's Trevor, as well as the guy from before.

Trevor's eyes widened at the sight of me, then he turned to the guy. "Craig, that's his sister! Not a hot date."

"Oh, I didn't know. He said he had a lunch date. I didn't know his sister looks like that." Craig exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

"Yeah, this is my lunch date. My sister Lily. What do you mean 'looks like that'?" Cam asked, putting the guy on the spot.

When he turned red, Trevor started laughing. I can't help but join in. Cam just smiled at us.

"I have work to do. Enjoy your lunch." Craig said, before exiting the room.

"That was mean." I said, shaking my head.

"That's what he gets. I'll be right back." Cam said, hopping up from the desk and leaving too.

"So... y'all finally made up? That's why he was busy Saturday?" Trevor asked me.

"Yep. Thank you for making that happen. I can't even be mad at you for keeping me in the dark about what was going on with Cam."

"Hey, I tried. I came to California to try to knock some sense into you. Not my fault you didn't listen."

"I would have listened if you would have told me Cam was going Incredible Hulk at his job!" I exclaimed.

Trevor laughed. "That was so funny. Not why it happened. But the actual event? Hilarious."

Cam then joined us in the office. "Ready when you two are."

"Just a second. I wanna tell her about Josh. " Trevor said.

Cam shook his head. "Please don't."

"He had it coming." Trevor continued, ignoring Cam. "He always slacked off. We couldn't finish a project on time, so he told our supervisor at the time it was due to bad time management. And Cam just exploded. It was everything everyone was thinking and thought about him. I only wish I could have recorded it!"

"It was embarrassing. Can we go now?" Cam asked.

"It was awesome!" Trevor declared, as we headed to the parking lot.

"You know what sounds awesome? That pho place." I commented.

Trevor makes a face, but doesn't say anything.

"No complaints?" Cam asked him.

"No, I'll suck it up. I know y'all haven't been in a while." Trevor sighed.

"We went there last weekend." Cam replied, nonchalantly.

"What? No way then. We're going to Chili's" Trevor announced.

At Chili's, it was like nothing had ever changed between us.

---------------------------
After lunch, I went back to work for my last appointment. Then I headed home for the day.

"Hey Lily." Rocky surprised me from the couch.

She's never home this early. She's still in her work clothes, so I'm sure she's not sick.

"Hey you. You're home early."

"Yeah, they were getting on my nerves today. I needed to get outta there." Rocky sighed, stretching.

I smiled. "Well, I have some good news for you." I said, flopping onto the couch with her.

"Let's hear it." She rotated on the couch to face me.

"Sammy and I looked at apartments. Our application got approved." I smiled.

Her face stayed neutral. "Ok. That's great."

"Geez, don't be too excited." I snapped at her. I know we called a truce, but her lame attitude is getting old. "I don't know why you think I can't handle Sammy. I handle you just fine."

She nodded and smiled, sadly. "Yeah, you do. I would be proud if it wasn't against me."

This attitude is more upsetting than her going off on me. At least I was used to that. "What's going on Rocky? I thought you would be glad to get your house back. So you can get naked with your man again."

"Yeah. Make up sex is the best. It's all the arguing I'm not looking forward to." She sighed.

What?!?!?

"Explain..." I prompted her.

"We were arguing all the time before you moved in. It's like we skipped the honeymoon phase and went straight to bickering."

This is news to me. She never told me while I was in California that they were having issues.

"It was just an adjustment phase. Y'all get along great now!" I reassured her.

"Sure, because Brandon actually likes living with you. You don't know how many times he would push my buttons, just so we could argue and he could leave. You're our buffer." Rocky explained.

I shook my head. "I don't think that's it. I'm a guest here. You both are on y'all's best behavior. That just tells me y'all need to treat each other better. And I love you Rocky, but you are not the easiest person to live with or get along with."

"I know. I also know I'm not going to change."

I understood that. Her mom taught her to be strong, independent, and never ever EVER take shit from anyone. Especially a man. Empathy, compromise, and understanding were not high on the priority list, if they were on it at all.

"Rocky, I'm not saying you should change. I love you. And obviously Brandon loves you too. He went through a lot just to win you over. All I'm saying is tone it down. Rake it in. Choose your battles. Stop being a crazy bitch."

She smirked. "I can try."

"No, no trying. Do. Just ask yourself do you wanna be right? Or do you wanna be happy?"

She rolled her eyes at that. "Alright Dr. Phil."

I grinned. "They don't call him doctor for nothing."

She finally cracked a smile. "I don't get it. We're able to compromise. Why can't I with Brandon?"

I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "Maybe because we don't really compromise. I cave or bury my feelings." I admitted.

She winced. "Oh god-"

"But that's not all your fault. I'll take the blame on that. You teach people how to treat you. That's another Dr. Phil gem of wisdom."

"Ok. We'll both work on it."

"Absolutely."



After our heart to heart, we sat down and watched reruns of The Middle (Rocky's guilty pleasure). One of the episodes is about the family inspired by a new church to get their business done. The episode, especially the choir singing, inspired us. It inspired Rocky to find a church. And it inspired me to finally get my business done.

I pulled out my phone and composed a text to Ethan.

Me: Hey. Is it Megan's weekend with EJ? If so, can we meet up? If you're free.

Before I could second guess myself, I pressed send.