Maybe Later(9)

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From: A. Walker

To: J. Spearman

Subject: Signing off

Friday, April 1st, 2:30 p.m. EST



It’s finally Friday. We made it through another week. Surprisingly, you haven’t threatened to fire me or sue me. However, if you ever feel the need to send another letter to my supervisor, let me know. I’ll write it for you. Praises and kudos should go directly to my inbox.

I’m attaching this week’s report along with next week’s schedule. Your flight is scheduled to depart tomorrow morning from JFK, but with the storm hitting the east coast, I’d suggest you change it for later today or Monday. Let me know via chat if you need assistance. I made a reservation at Clear Creek for eight. It’s a few blocks from your hotel. They serve the best sushi in town.

Check the scrabble app. Mrly is not a word.



Amy



P. S. Feel lucky because you are alive to see a new month. Feel lucky because your chances of achieving dreams aren’t dead. — Anonymous.





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From: J. Spearman

To: A. Walker

Subject: Cheater

Friday, April 1st, 3:01 p.m. EST



Thank you for the advice, Miss Walker. Next week’s schedule is light on Monday. Are you assuming I won’t make it home on time? I might surprise you. You erased the a. It was Marley. Did your developer friend delete the vowels?



J



P. S. Only a few know the real you. –Niccolò Machiavelli





Chapter Five





Saturday, April 2nd, 7:03 a.m. EST



JSpear84: What can I do during the weekend in New York?

AWalk90: I’m not Siri, Alexa, Cordana or … you get my drift.

JSpear84: It’s Cortana.

AWalk90: You’d know, they’re your best friends.

JSpear84: Isn’t it too early to be sassy?

AWalk90: You haven’t seen sassy yet, Spearman. Did you forget to change your flight?

JSpear84: No, you haven’t checked your emails?

AWalk90: It’s five o’clock my time.

JSpear84: That’s mountain standard time. Where do you live?

AWalk90: Wouldn’t you like to know?

JSpear84: We might finish the negotiations for the acquisition next week. I didn’t see the point of heading back home and then coming back. The storm factored into my decision.

AWalk90: And now you’re bored.

JSpear84: Well, there’s not much to do because there’s a blizzard outside.

AWalk90: Read a book.

JSpear84: What kind of book?

AWalk90: Well, since you read The Prince, I think you’ll enjoy The Godfather.

JSpear84: I already read it and watched the movie. Is there something from this century you’d like to recommend?

AWalk90: I would if I knew you better. Is Harry Potter off the table?

JSpear84: Read it too many times already.

AWalk90: That’s what I thought. Do you read sci-fi, biographies, fiction …? If you like dystopian stories, I’d recommend The Dog Stars. The Martian is a great sci-fi. I didn’t read it. The movie was great. It proves that Matt Damon doesn’t suck as an actor. He has a shitty agent and doesn’t know how to pick roles.

JSpear84: That’s all you got from the movie?

AWalk90: No, it confirmed that I should never move to Mars—or go on vacation to another planet.

JSpear84: When was the last time you went on vacation?

AWalk90: How about A Man called Ove? It’s appropriate for you.

JSpear84: Why me?

AWalk90: It’s about a bitter old man with a sad story, whose life changes when a couple moves next door to him.

JSpear84: Are you calling me a bitter old man?

AWalk90: You’re not a ray of sunshine.

JSpear84: You don’t know me.

AWalk90: And yet, I hit a sore spot, didn’t I?

JSpear84: What happens to this guy after the couple moves in?

AWalk90: No wait, this Ove is nothing like you, I hope. He’s had a rough life. Poor guy.

JSpear84: How do you know all this?

AWalk90: Well, first I read the reviews. Then, I pulled the spark notes, and it’s a sad story. The poor man lost too much.

JSpear84: You want me to read a depressing story for the weekend.

AWalk90: No, that’s why I checked the spark notes.

JSpear84: What are you reading?

AWalk90: I’m reading, Postcards from A Stranger.

JSpear84: Romance?

AWalk90: No, it’s about a woman who finds postcards of her presumably dead mother.

JSpear84: Love letters to her father?

AWalk90: No, POSTCARDS to the children. Just saying that she loves them. They’re postmarked after her death, and the last one arrives when the youngest turned eighteen. It’s getting pretty interesting. I think the mom is alive. It was a bad divorce, and he got the children.

JSpear84: All divorces are bad.

AWalk90: How would you know?

JSpear84: I just do.

AWalk90: Relationships are complicated, aren’t they? I wonder if I’ll ever find someone who I can be with for the rest of my life.

JSpear84: Some do, my parents have been together for almost forty years.