Page 119 of Out on a Limb

“Just give it time, Walker. I have to get back to my desk.”

“We had something, Cameron.”

Cameron gripped the phone tighter, hoping that maybe he could feel a hair from Walker’s beard rustle in the connection.

“We had a moment in time. And it passed.” Cameron slipped his phone in his pocket.

He cried a little more. He dabbed his tears on toilet paper. A minute later, he was ready to get back to work and show Arthur Brandt how great an assistant he could be. He would show his boss, and himself, how much he wanted this.

CHAPTER thirty-Eight

Walker

Walker hadn’t been back to The Complex since he quit. He had flashes of post-traumatic stress from his old job as he crossed the parking lot. He wished he hadn’t wasted so many years at his old job. He couldn’t get that time back. The first breeze of fall flitted in the air.

He waited for Lucy in the Starbucks in the north building. A different Starbucks untarnished with memories of Cameron. Lucy waved with both hands and practically ran over to Walker.

“It’s so good to see you!” She said while hugging him. She pulled away and blatantly checked him out. “You look great. Being CEO of your own company has its perks.”

“I’m not at CEO yet. Just a humble business owner, but thank you.” Because of his more flexible schedule, and because he wasn’t stuck inside a cubicle every day, Walker had developed a golden tan. He was more active throughout the day. Now that Hobie was in school, he could go to the gym when it was empty. It was like his old college body was back, albeit with more effort and less hair.

“I wanted to scream at work when I saw the online ad for Ribs & Co. Did you design their menus, too?”

“Guilty. The client’s even talking about doing a commercial, and he wants me to create it. I’ve never written or directed anything before in my life!”

“You’ll be great! So you love working for yourself?”

Walker nodded and nodded. “It’s scary knowing that everything rests on my shoulders, but also exhilarating.”

Lucy examined him again, but this time seemed to be checking out something deeper than a tan. “It suits you well.”

They ordered drinks and grabbed one of the few empty tables by the window. The large oak tree outside had some orange and red leaves hidden in the green. Lucy proceeded to give Walker all the requisite office gossip. He had this small hope that everything fell apart once he left, but reality was not as satisfying.

“The new you is so boring!”Lucy rolled her eyes. “She’s nice, but she has no personality and only wants to talk about work. She and Patricia get along fabulously.”

“How is Patricia?”

“She’s doing her Patricia thing.”

“Sounds about right.”

Lucy swirled her coffee stick in her drink and raised an eyebrow at Walker.

“What?” He asked.

“So your career is flourishing. But how about your love life?”

“Wow. Subtlety is so not your forte.”

“I want to know. We may not be working together, but I still need to live vicariously through you.”

“It’s…pretty much nonexistent.” Walker gave a hapless shrug. Lucy and her husband probably had a better sex life than him at the moment, a thought he never wanted to think about again.

“I’m just busy with the business,” he added. “I’m going to concentrate on that for a while.”

She shot him a look. “You and I both know that’s complete bullshit.”

He was taken aback by her honesty and cursing. The usual jolliness of her words evaporated.