It was a Thursday afternoon, and I was just finishing putting away stock from a vendor delivery. The shelves looked a lot better. Veronica was giving me a hand, more out of boredom than actually wanting to help me. I had about an hour left in my day, and I was planning on leaving early tomorrow because I had the entire weekend off, a rare treat. I heard the door chime and turned as Julie was walking in.
"Hey, I know you have a rare whole weekend off, but I need a favor. There's an estate sale in Kentucky this weekend, and they have this grandfather clock that is identical to the one my mom lost in a fire when I was little. But the hubby is on call this weekend, so if you say yes, I will take care of food, transportation, and accommodations, and we will work out payment later. So, do you want to go on a road trip with your mean, boring, boss?"
Play it cool, play it cool, I thought to myself. An entire weekend with Julie, why would I say no? But agree too quickly and seem like a total kiss up, plus Veronica might sniff out what's going on. I counted to 20 in my head and let out a dejected sigh.
"Is this clock, like super rare or something? I asked playing the role.
"Yeah, they only made 200 of them in the mid 1800's I doubt there are more than 30 still in existence. They aren't popular, but I doubt I will ever find another one at least while my Mom is still alive"
Julie poured it on thick even puppy dog eyes, what an actor. I sighed again and looked at Veronica half expectantly like I resigned myself to be a white knight. Veronica turned to Julie.
"Fine I'll tell Chelsea that our plans are for two this weekend instead of three. You take advantage of his good nature too much." She turned back to the handyman's lounge and whispered as she walked by that I was a simp. She got swatted for that one. And she laughed on her way back to the lounge. Julie gave me a quizzical look and I just shook my head.
"Great thank you so much, I will be here around three tomorrow, we're going to take a work van, pack a bag for a couple days!" Julie headed to the back, either to go yell at Veronica or go up to the office. I finished my tasks in the store and was about to go upstairs when I noticed Julie pull out of the parking lot. Oh well I thought I will see her tomorrow.
I unlocked the door to the office, sat down and pulled up my work email. There was a message from Julie. Hey, we really are going to Kentucky for an estate sale, and there will be a little extra on your next paycheck, but that's not the only reward you're getting. Now, I was excited almost visibly. I deleted the email. Grabbed my backpack and decided to make a stop on my home to the adult play store. I browsed around for some goodies for the weekend. Condoms, massage oil, lube, and a couple of small toys for both me and her. All in all, I thought the condoms were least likely to get used. We're both clean, and I'm pretty sure she isn't going to be having any more kids, I wasn't sure if we were going to cross that line either, but better safe than sorry. I packed some clothes, my toiletry bag, and the goodies.
I parked my car in the secure lot behind the store, there are equal chances of the handymen and college kids messing with my car, but the handymen are usually less destructive. I had little to do today but help a few customers and wait. I was amusing myself by playing on my phone. Switching between Instagram and Pokemon Go. Yeah I'm in my mid 40s and still play what of it? It was almost three, Julie walked in from the back. I was ready, to go. Clocked out told everyone to have a better weekend than me. I left my work backpack in the office, grabbed my travel backpack out of my car, tossed it in the back of the empty work van. Julie was out a few minutes later with a bag of road trip treats and we hit the road.
We drove for about two hours, before we needed gas and to stretch our legs. We both got out of the van, Julie took a second to stretch, she was wearing basic black yoga pants and this form fitting athletic hoodie, it wasn't cotton but a performance fabric that hugged her body, plus it had little thumb holes in sleeves that looked really cute on her. She knew I was watching, and she held a few poses for me, then her silly side came out we were far from work and so no longer had any pretenses to uphold. She started posing against the vehicle but each pose was more and more awkward. We both started laughing. I walked over to her, wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in, her head tucked under my chin. We melted into each other for a minute. We broke apart and she filled the tank while I walked to the side of the building had a smoke. The pump clicked off just before I got back.
We walked into the gas station, making use of the facilities. Now, even though Julie is down to Earth she is still from a rich family from a very liberal college town. So normally she's an almond milk, alkaline water, vegan type, but what do I see? Mountain dew, beef jerky, and she grabbed a corndog of the roller machine. She looks at me and says: