Page 5 of Ctrl+Alt Submit

The grin that spreads across my face is genuine.

“Sure as hell wasn’t. He was drawing a nominal salary because he expected a windfall in stock when we went public.

As long as the company did good until his lockup period expired and he could sell, Tyler was going to be a very rich man.

But that was contingent on there being stock shares for him to sell. ”

Errol has his elbows on the bar, looking engrossed in the story. “You sold it out from under him first.”

“I sure as hell did.”

Errol’s quiet for a minute, digesting that. “So what happens now? You already walked away?”

“Everything’s been signed. The actual handover process will take, oh, I don’t know how long. I’ve never done this before.”

I scrub my hand over my eyes with a groan.

“So at some point, I’m going to have to go back down to New York City, or maybe even out to California.

They probably all hate my guts, because I heard through the grapevine he wants to fire most of the top managers and bring in his own team.

I don’t care.” I scowl down at the dregs of sugar sludge in my coffee cup.

“Eliza can go fucking pound salt. I swear to God, if I could erase her entire existence from my memory, I’d be happier. ”

Errol doesn’t say anything for another moment before piping up, “So, did you make a huge amount of money on it? Or was it some kind of stock deal or a thing where your shares are all locked up or whatever it’s called?”

It’s an obvious attempt to change the subject, but I welcome it. “Nah, it was pretty straightforward. I think Marcus wanted to integrate it into a bigger platform rollout they’re doing, so they just kind of… absorbed it. We’re small potatoes to them.”

Errol shrugs and walks back to refill my coffee cup. “Small potatoes for them sounds like a windfall for you,” he says.

“That’s true,” I acknowledge.

Errol kind of sighs. “At least you left this town in the first place,” he says quietly. “You got out and saw things. You did stuff —successful stuff.” He shrugs and kind of makes a face.

I feel like an asshole, suddenly realizing what my bitching must sound like from his perspective — oh, poor me, whining about being a freaking millionaire .

“Sorry,” I mutter.

“For what?”

I shrug. “Oh, I don’t even know. My mind is all over the place. I mean — shit, Errol. I rented a car and drove up here without any kind of a plan at all . I didn’t even make a hotel reservation ahead of time!” I let out a bitter laugh. “It’s a good metaphor for my entire fucking life right now.”

Errol gets a contemplative look on his face. “So where are you staying, then?”

“One of those extended-stay hotels out by the airport. It’s… fine, I guess.”

“I told you I inherited my Gran’s house, right?”

That’s out-of-the-blue . “Yeah.” I nod. My brain starts to turn over Errol’s non-sequitur, my thoughts rapidly gaining speed until my mind is spinning… He can’t — he’s not going to —

“Would you want to stay with me?”

It’s only after Errol says the words that the full weight of how badly I’d wanted to hear them crashes down on me. I blow out a sigh of relief.

“Um, I guess —I mean, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Errol looks like he’s elated and trying to hide it. “Of course not. Staying in a crappy hotel by yourself after a breakup sounds terrible. Come on over to my place and you can distract yourself. Do you still play video games?”

“Not so much anymore,” I admit. “If I’m in front of a screen, I’m working.” I have no idea what I’m going to do with myself now that I don’t have to do that anymore.

Errol gives me a conspiratorial little grin. “That’s OK. I’m sure we can find ways to entertain ourselves.” I smirk and he flushes. “You know, just to get your mind off Eliza.”

I’m suddenly and intensely grateful for Errol. I might be stumbling around in the wilderness, but at least I’ve got my best friend by my side again. “You’re aces —you know that? A real lifesaver.” I reach my hand out for a fist bump and Errol doesn’t leave me hanging.

He disappears into the kitchen. There’s a smile on his face when he returns a minute later. “OK, you don’t need to be wasting all day sitting in a bar. We can get out of here in just a few.”

I look at the time. “Is your shift over?”

“Nope. But I just got in touch with my boss, AJ — he owns the place and lives upstairs — and asked if he could come in and cover the rest of my shift for me.” As my eyebrows raise, he quickly adds, “It’s OK —I literally never do this, and I’m always willing to come in if he’s in a pinch, so it’s not a big deal. ”

“What did you tell him?”

“The truth. Told him my best friend made a surprise reappearance and needed a place to land after a breakup.” He frowns a little.

“I hope you don’t mind that I mentioned that.

It was kind of important, and I might’ve exaggerated your emotional state juuust a little, so, I don’t know — maybe rub your eyes or look really sad or something when you see him. ”

“Got it.” Even though I actually could cry from thinking about this whole fucked-up situation, I don’t want to admit that to Errol. The silence between us feels too big, and I realize what’s missing.

“Thanks, man. Really — thank you.” The words don’t seem like enough, but I don’t have any others.

Errol comes around from behind the bar and wordlessly wraps me in a warm, solid embrace. Logically, my brain tells me this should feel strange. But it’s Errol, so it’s OK. Familiar. Safe. “Hey, I got you, Ran,” he says in my ear.

A wave of gratitude sweeps through me. “I know you do. I appreciate you.” As I hug Errol back, I catch a whiff of cologne, something musky and amber-ish. Huh. Errol didn’t strike me as being a cologne guy.

The realization that he might have grown up to become someone unfamiliar is strange and unsettling.

We were so close for so long, it felt like we knew each other’s thoughts.

My brain spins, trying to reconcile the memory of the boy I used to know with this broad-shouldered man whose arms are now around me.

My jumbled thoughts are interrupted by a noise behind us.

Errol releases me and takes a step back as a guy who I guess is AJ comes through the swinging door that leads to the kitchen.

He looks like a Viking, with a dirty-blond ponytail and a beard to match.

Both brawny arms are tattooed from his knuckles all the way up to where they’re covered by his T-shirt.

“Hey, thanks so much for coming in,” Errol greets him. “I seriously owe you one. This is Ran,” he says, indicating me with a wave of his hand before turning towards me. “Ran, this is AJ —owner of Finnegan’s Wake and all-around good guy.”

“No problem, pal,” AJ says as he walks up to us. “You’ve always been willing to step up, so I don’t mind repaying the favor.” He approaches me and extends a hand that’s just as big as the rest of him. “Nice to meet you, dude.”

“Likewise,” I tell him. “So, AJ… Finnegan?”

AJ lets out a guffaw. “Hardly. Do I look Irish?” he says with a snicker. I have to admit that no, he does not. “AJ Hansen. I bought the bar from Finnegan almost five years ago now. Scraped up every cent I had and sold my house to buy it off him.”

“Wow —so this was a place that meant a lot to you?”

AJ nods. “Uh-huh. Got a ton of memories here. It’s too much of a —a community, I guess you’d say. I couldn’t let it just close. And this guy —” He drops his big mitt of a hand on Errol’s shoulder, “I couldn’t ask for a better bar manager.”

“Manager ? Good for you. I thought you were just a bartender.”

Errol squirms. “I mean, it’s not that big of a deal.” He points his thumb towards AJ. “This guy doesn’t like to delegate much,” he says with an awkward chuckle.

AJ shakes his head. “Not true — I couldn’t run this place without you, man.”

“ Pfft .” Errol bats away the compliment with his hand, but he looks flattered.

AJ evaluates me for another moment. “So, your old lady kicked you out?” I don’t have a chance to reply before he continues.

“Sorry to hear it, man. I know that shit sucks —I’ve been there, too.

When my ex-wife decided she wanted a divorce, she left me with practically nothing but the clothes on my back and my Harley.

I was literally sleeping, like, on friends’ couches because I didn’t even have enough scratch to rent an apartment at first.”

Behind AJ, Errol’s face looks like he’s trying to hold in a snicker.

I just put on a rueful grimace and nod. AJ seems like a nice guy; I wouldn’t gain anything from letting him know that as soon as the sale is completed and my money’s out of escrow, I could basically buy this place outright.

Because that would also mean explaining that what I’m desperate for right now isn’t a roof over my head, but a friend who will stick by me while I lick my wounded ego and try to figure out what the hell I’m going to do with my life.

After we walk out of the bar, Errol leaves me to my thoughts as we head to my rental car. When I got into town yesterday,it didn’t feel like coming home. Even when I drove past my parents’ old house, there was nothing. I was afraid I’d feel detached about everything forever.

As I walk next to Errol, a sense of peace settles over me. I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m home.