With one week left before retiring Ryan was looking forward to getting home and enjoying what would essentially be his last weekend.
“It’ll be Saturdays and Sundays for the rest of my days,” said Ryan to his co-worker Ben. “You’ll be joining me soon enough. What, another year or two?”
“I wish,” replied Ben. “I wasn’t putting money into retirement on day one like you were. I’ll be here another four, or five depending on if my daughter will still need some help with her student loans. She just scored a gig at the hospital though, so who knows. Maybe she’ll be working alongside your daughter someday. I’m happy for you, Ryan. It’s not going to be the same around here without you. I mean, who will tell me every morning that if I don’t drink my coffee black I may as well not drink it at all?”
“You’ll have to start muttering it to yourself, unless the next person you find yourself sitting next to has impeccable taste like I do.” Ryan winked and grabbed his suitcase. “I’m going to miss this cubicle of ours.”
“We’ll have to share a cup of coffee someday in the gazebo my wife and I just put up in the backyard. It’ll be just like old times, and it’ll ease my mind that it at least serves a purpose outside of emptying my wallet.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Have a good one, Ryan. Tell Lindsay I said hi.”
“Will do.”
It was the standard Friday ritual that Ryan pick up a pizza on his way home from work. When the kids were younger it made sense, since he could feed a family of four on a little over twenty dollars, but with the kid’s moved out he still did it out of habit, albeit he’d get a medium instead of a large. Lindsay would sometimes eat a piece or two, but even with the smaller size he’d still often have some leftovers for lunch the next day.
What Ryan was really looking forward to was Sunday dinner. Sundays were the only day of the week where he knew he’d see his children and they’d all sit down for a family dinner like they used to. His two daughters, his youngest recently married, would bring their significant others and the house would be bustling into the night. The late night antics would leave Ryan feeling tired most Monday mornings. With retirement on the horizon he’d only have to endure one more groggy start to his work week.
Saturday afternoon Ryan sat down at the kitchen table and sank his teeth into a slice of cold pizza. He’d thought about heating it up, even considering the “hack” he’d saw on the internet where someone placed the slice into a sauce pan with a little water and covered it for around 2 minutes, but there was something special about cold pizza, perhaps it was just the uncomplicated nature of it.
“Ryan,” said his wife from the hallway leading towards the kitchen. “Ryan.” Her voice was growing closer.
“Yes?” he replied.
“Rachel and Dillan won’t be able to make it tomorrow night. Apparently Dillon starts a new job on Monday and they want to make sure he gets enough sleep.”
“The both of them can’t make it? Well that’s a bummer. Tomorrow is going to be my last Sunday dinner that leads into a work day. It should be its own holiday.” Ryan stopped talking when he heard his phone go off on the table. He looked down to see a message from his oldest. “Megan can’t make it either. She has to go in an hour early on Monday.”
“I’m so sorry, Sweets. I know this Sunday means a lot to you. We could invite over Harvey and Sue from down the street. Or maybe your brother and his wife.”
“No, no. It’ll be okay. When’s the last time we had a Sunday dinner just the two of us?”
“Not since Megan was born. Even when they were in college neither lived so far that they couldn’t make it home for dinner.”
“And laundry.”
“And laundry.” Lindsey smiled. “So it’ll be the two of us.”
Ryan smirked and returned to his frozen slice of pepperoni and black olives.
Sunday night Ryan was feeling saddened by the lack of family filling the house with commotion. He poured two glasses of red wine and set them at the table as the pot on the stove was beginning to boil over.
“Lindsay,” he called out. “The pasta is almost finished.” He opened the oven door. “I’m going to turn the stove off too, the garlic bread looks just about done.”
Lindsay stepped into the kitchen and sauntered over to the table. Ryan turned around and his eyes grew wide when he saw her.
“What’s got you so dressed up?” he asked. He placed the strainer in the sink and tended to the pasta.
“You go upstairs and change,” she said. “I’ll finish up here. It’s our first Sunday dinner just the two of us in thirty years. We deserve to live it up a little, don’t you think?”
Ryan nodded and took his leave to the upstairs bedroom.
When he returned to the kitchen he was wearing a blue dress shirt and tie, dark slacks, and his best pair of shoes.
“Allow me,” he said while pulling out Lindsay’s chair.
“What a gentleman. Everything looks so good.”
“I’ve had a few years to practice. I hope you like the garlic bread, I tried something a little different. Instead of just the garlic paste I added a little bit of a smoky maple spice I found at the supermarket this morning.”
“You spoil me.” She picked up her glass of wine. “A cheers. To still sitting down for Spaghetti Sunday all these years later. I love you.”
“I love you too,” he replied. “Cheers.”
Thank you for reading this week’s Friday Romance!
If you’re interested you can find more of my writing on both Kindle and Kindle Vella:
Abigail Bloom's life is thrown into a sweeping romance when a new deputy rolls into the small town of Brooks Landing, but when her ex-husband enters back into her life, she's unsure if she can hold onto her new chance at true love. A break-in in the small town causes Abigail's ex to suspect the new deputy - Can she trust her new love interest or is he using her as an alibi?
My Kindle Vella stories (including the serial romance “One Town Over”)
John Prince's life in Peak Creek seems perfect. He's been seeing Cassandra Queen for six months and hopes to move in together. However, Cassandra resists the change, putting John's romantic future into question. When an opportunity to advance at work opens up, John feels his luck turning around. Katie Young, a recent transfer at the firm, has other plans. Their rivalry collides when they have to co-present during a company retreat.
Find even more via my link tree!