Howdy! Another installment to Cecily and Vince, I hope you guys are doing well! I'm out on these streets with a brand new β¨Bachelor's Degreeβ¨, hope I get a job before summer's end, lol! Congrats to all you other virtual graduates, hope you enjoy Vince getting on Cecily's last nerve.
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"Y'all gotta both stop talking at once, Pop, I can't hear anything you're saying."
The other day my father called me freaking out about a lump my mother found in her breast, and now, early Thursday morning with them both on the phone, I'm trying hard not to do the same. She has a doctor's appointment next week. Are they going to try and do a biopsy? She just had a mammogram, right? Why wasn't it caught then?
My primary thought, though, is that I might have to go back home and take care of them both.
"I told your dad that he's fussing over nothing right now, we have to wait and see what the doctor says."
"Cassie, don't tell me not to fuss, my wife might have breast cancer," my father gruffs.
"Well, Charlie, that's the thing, I might have it. You getting all riled up-"
"I get to be riled up because I done told you so many times to take them Echinacea pills I got in the cabinet, and now look-"
"Charles you think some immune system pills is supposed to prevent cancer?!"
I listen to them go at it while I get ready to leave for work, chanting "keys, wallet, phone, charger" in my head and swiftly checking to make sure I have each one.
My mother is a little too chill and "sleep it off" for her own good, and my father is probably going to drive her up a wall by dumping his cure-all, onions and garlic, into every meal. I remember days when I had to stay home sick with him - sometimes he'd try to get me to eat an onion like an apple.
"Ma, I've gotta go, okay? Please keep me updated about your appointment, don't just try to fix everything with CBD oil again."
She stops bantering with my father long enough to respond. "Okay, girlie, go on and have fun flirting with them loud boys at your job."
I stop in my tracks, halfway out the door, and almost stumble over my own feet. There's no way Aunt Gina dreamt about that - she's gotta be bluffing. I chuckle. "Okay, Ma, I will," I say, smiling as wide as I can, transmitting my Daughter's Poker Face through the wires all the way back to North Carolina.
"Mmhmm. Be safe."
I hear the amusement in her voice, and as I slide my phone to my back pocket I remind myself to call Aunt Gina sometime this week.
. . .
I see Vince leaned up against my desk from the hallway as I step out of the stairwell, and my mind flips back and forth between annoyance and content. I feel myself settle on heavy tolerance with a chance of mild irritation as he looks me up and down with a self-satisfied smirk, watching me walk around the front of my desk to sit in my little chair.
"Morning, Vincent," I say, exerting myself to deviate from my usual dry tone. I'm going to be clapping my ass back on him sooner rather than later; I could stand to be a little nicer.
"Hey, babe," he grins. He flips around and leans his elbows on the countertop in his usual position, playing with the cup of pens that I battle to keep full in the struggle against petty thieves.
I frown, just a little bit. I'm not one for public displays of affection, even pet names. I cringe when people have to kiss in front of their families at weddings. "Please don't call me that in public," I mutter.
He cocks his head in dramatized confusion, eyebrows coming together. "Why not?"
"At least not at the office," I say. "I know we can't avoid people talking, but I think we can prevent half the Sales department from coming up and asking if you've popped the question."
"Is that a hint?"
"That's me telling you to keep your mouth shut." Be nice, Cecily. "Please."
He nods, eyebrows raised. "Oh," he says. And then he turns around and calls over Liza, who's passing by with her head bent over her phone.
"Morning, guys," she says, curious. I take my eyes from the side of Vince's head to smile at her.
"Heyyy, Liz," Vince sparkles. "Quick question, where do you think I should take Cecily for our date on Saturday?"
Her blue eyes bug out of her head and she smiles. "Well... mini-golf's a good idea, since the weather's gonna be pretty good this weekend." She looks to me, I think, but I can't say for sure since my eyes are back to drilling a hole into the side of Vince's dumb, giant blond head. Her next words are almost a giggle. "Anyway, I should get going. Have fun, guys."
Vince watches her retreat and I nod my head in understanding, opening up the three emails I've already gotten from Harley, who I can see glancing at us through her open blinds. "Vince, I'm curious. What do you think I'm going to do if you keep going?"
He clinks the pens together in the mug, straightfaced. "I think you're gonna have a great time. I could ask Trey what he thinks too, he's right there." Trey, walking towards Harley's office, looks over at the mention of his name. I shake my head slightly, letting a little bit of the murder in my mind show on my face, and he hustles on his way into Harley's office. "Oh, you scared him away."
Vince and I stare each other down for a few moments, a smile on his face and a scowl on mine.
He speaks. "So, mini-golf?"
The elevator doors ding down the hall and I hear the telltale clicking of Paula's cane. I lean back in my chair, silently daring him to call her over. He doesn't have to.
"Hey, you two," Paula says slyly, coming to a stop beside Vince. "How's married life?"
I chuckle dryly and Vince gives her a shit-eating grin, twirling a pen between his fingers. "Swell, Paula, I was just looking at Cecily and thinking how lucky I am to come home to such a hot little piece every night."
My grip tightens so suddenly on my mouse that I accidentally click out of the drafted response I had typed out to Harley's latest message: "Please refrain from threatening your coworkers, even the ones you're romantically involved with ;)". Probably for the best, actually, since "Bitch, you can get it too" would've needed a few rewrites anyway.
Paula looks at me. "Be careful Vince, luck runs out, you know," she laughs.
I finally decide on a mood: deceptively good-natured. I straighten up at my seat and open my email back up. "I don't know, Paula, I kind of like the way he dances across every nerve in my body," I pipe. "What a man, you know?"