Reboot U - Pt. 02

A "polar vortex" settled over Toronto, the snow continued to fall and the streets remained a challenge to anyone besides foolhardy drivers manning all-terrain Hummers and SUVs.

It was Carly Chen's good fortune to know one of those daredevils, but it wasn't by chance that Hal White materialized out of the snowdrifts every morning over the following week as she struggled to the curb while the city dug out. Hal knew his old friend was a creature of habit, almost annoyingly punctual, determined to be first at the office to shame everyone else. She didn't punch the clock so much as she body-slammed it.

Carly was no fool and quickly figured his fortuitous appearances weren't coincidental. She looked forward to their short commutes together and was relieved the topic of conversation rarely strayed to Hal's former lover and Carly's podcast sidekick Jillian Andersen (NOT that one), now living the globetrotting life as the companion to internationally renowned lifestyle sage Dr. Orion Vance.

Just a month had passed but already the disappointment and anger of their splits was beginning to dissipate. Carly's sound engineering wizardry was appreciated by management, dismayed at first in losing their highly rated Reboot U podcast but delighted to have her full attention on other popular productions. Her boss, Alice Menzies, kept hinting at "bigger and better things to come" for her, but for the moment Carly was content to serve other projects and go about the business of grieving the loss of her best friend off the clock.

The best-bud vacancy was swiftly and amply filled by the man at her elbow, the cackling, road-ragey devil-may-care pilot fishtailing and skidding his way through downtown rush hour traffic. At first Carly would just close her eyes and feign confidence in her pal's driving prowess, but soon she was wide-eyed and howling in glee as Hal defied accidents and injury through his deftness behind the wheel. He'd grown up in northern Ontario and was ready to meet the moment on the tamer thoroughfares of the big city. She dubbed him her "White Knight."

Even when the swirling snows abated and icy sidewalks were salted, sanded and cleared, and Carly was able to resume rolling to work in her sports wheelchair, Hal still rolled up to her door promptly at 8:40 a. m. and she gratefully accepted the lift. It became their thing -- there was always something to talk about with his work as a physiotherapist and he was genuinely interested in her company's programming. She was impressed that he could spot the touches she added.

Carly plied him with occasional homemade treats to show her appreciation along the way, but insisted they'd never be square for his gallantry unless he allowed her to treat him to dinner at the hot Michelin-starred fusion restaurant he'd been dying to try. Carly called in a couple favours and a date was arrived at.

Except it was definitely NOT a "date-date," she hastened to add. Hal looked at her skeptically. "Sure, lady," he said. "I may be a small-town dog sled driver but I know a come-on when I hear it."

It was a Thursday night when they met at Yūgen. From outside the restaurant glowed like an amber jewel, tucked away on a quiet side street behind frosted glass and dark oak. Inside, the space was hushed without being stifling -- candlelight flickered on bronze walls, and the scent of lemongrass and seared scallops hung in the air like perfume.

Hal was already seated when Carly rolled in, dressed in a sleek black top and tailored trousers that lifted her spirits after countless hours of second-guessing herself. She looked pretty kick-ass, she thought -- not Jillian gorgeous, of course, but this wasn't the time to compare herself to old ghosts, especially when the other woman left them both in the dust.

Hal's eyes widened as she glided to the table, the breeze wafting her silky black tresses behind her. He stood automatically, awkwardly, before remembering she wasn't someone he swiped right to meet.

"You know you don't have to do that," she said, amused.

"Yeah," he replied, pulling a chair off to the side to make way for Carly's rig. "Guess I'm old school. Or maybe just old."

"You're not old," she assured him. "You're well-marinated."

He grinned. "That better be a food pun. We're at a place with a waitlist longer than my last relationship."

Carly laughed as she scanned the tasting menu. "This was my treat, remember? For being my chauffeur all spring."

"You mean for driving you 10 whole blocks to the studio?"

"And listening to me complain about the egos I need to navigate in there for eight of them."

"I rather like those talks," Hal said, sipping his water. "Makes me feel like I'm part of the action. How you pick guests and prepare for them."

"Hey, you've made some terrific suggestions!" Carly said enthusiastically. "Your boss better be warned -- I'm going to snatch you out of that clinic and stick you in a booth."

He smiled. "I'm ready to be snatched."

A pause. Carly blushed and pretended to be engrossed in the frilly food fare.

"Anyway," she said, "you clean up nice. I almost forgot what you look like when you're not in coffee-stained smocks."

Hal looked mock wounded. "I will have you know those are curated coffee stains. From fair trade selected beans."

Carly chuckled. "Well, send my regards to Juan Valdez."

The server arrived with their amuse-bouche -- tiny bites of compressed watermelon with smoked sea salt and basil foam. Carly eyed it like it was an alien artifact. She took a gingerly bite.

"Why does it look like art and taste like a dare?"

Hal popped his into his mouth. "That's the kind of thing Jill--" He caught himself and resumed chewing.

"The kind of thing Jillian used to say, you mean."

Hal closed his eyes tight. "Dammit. And I promised!"

Carly reached across the table and tapped his arm. "You're still gonna have to put a quarter in the Jillian jar."

She didn't remove her hand from his sleeve immediately, and fondled the fine fabric of his jacket. Carly couldn't help noticing Hal looked effortlessly sharp in a charcoal sport coat over a crisp white dress shirt, open at the collar. The jacket hugged his shoulders just right -- structured but not stuffy -- and his slate-blue slacks brought out the color in his eyes, which always seemed to shift between gray and green under certain lights.

He'd shaved, or at least made the effort, leaving just enough stubble to remind Carly he wasn't trying too hard. On his wrist, a simple leather-band watch, the one she gave him as a birthday gift in college, all she could afford at the time. On his feet, dark brown brogues, polished but lived-in. It wasn't flashy -- just well-chosen, understated, and quietly handsome. As always.

The kind of look that said: I took this seriously.

Carly sampled the hors d'oeuvre and wrinkled her nose.

Hal leaned forward in suspense. "And the verdict?"

"My bouche? Not amused."

"That's because you're paying three figures to feel underdressed and unqualified."

They both chuckled, then sat back as the next course arrived -- poached langoustine in coconut-lime broth.

"So," Hal said, picking up his spoon, "look at us, dressed to the nines, candle on the table, real cloth napkins in our laps, soft music in the air, out on our not-date."

"Careful there, Tiger," Carly grinned. "People are gonna look and think they're seeing something a little bit more than two buddy commuters grousing about downtown T. O. traffic."

They ate quietly for about a minute before Carly reached for her purse and popped it open. She rummaged around for a moment and produced a quarter, held it up so Hal could see, and placed it on the table between them.

"Not that anyone with almost single-digit body fat could be compared to an elephant in any room, but we do need to talk about her," Carly said finally.

Hal frowned. "What needs to be said?"

Carly took a breath. "I miss her. Not every day, like in the beginning, but every now and then. Alice will say something and I'll think, oh boy Jillian will have a bird when she hears about this and..."

"That happens to me too," he said softly.

"And then some days I don't miss her at all. I just feel... relieved. Like it's time to move on to the next chapter."

Hal looked up. "Or a whole new book."

The silence stretched, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It felt like an old coat they'd both shrugged into again -- worn, warm, still a little roomy in the sleeves.

"You know," Carly said, swirling her wine, "there was a time I thought we'd end up together."

Hal's expression didn't change, but his eyes met hers and held.

"I thought about it too," he said. "A lot."

"That's my fault," she said, not teasing now. "You were there for me when all this happened," tapping the arms of her wheelchair. "But I couldn't take you with me on that journey. It wouldn't have been fair."

Hal shook his head. "It's a journey I would have taken in a heartbeat."

Carly began to tear, and not from the pungent broth she was struggling to digest. "I couldn't let you."

"Why?"

She looked at him stricken. It was time for the truth.

"Because I loved you!" she cried. Of course she chose that moment for her dramatic declaration just as the server arrived at her side with the main course, skillfully dodging her dramatic arm spreading. Carly and Hal sat quietly as the plates were lowered before them and nodded as they were warned the plates were hot. Like their customers' conversation.

Carly stared at her food as though willing it to become a thick New York steak with baked potato and all the toppings. Fretting always made her peckish. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Hal reached out and tenderly put his hand over hers. "There's enough blame to go around. I let you go. I made it look like I bought the whole 'need my space' story. And Carly, if one more person tells me they're going on 'a journey' and there's not an actual plane ticket and hotel reservations, I swear I will... eat that snail."

Carly wiped the tears from her cheeks and laughed. "Sorry," she said. "You have to understand, I'm part of the 'feeling your feels' industrial complex. It's an occupational hazard."

"I guess I... just thought I was getting in the way," Hal added, struggling for words, hailing back to a time he evidently regretted.

Carly looked down at her hand, now clasping his. "My gawd, you were never in the way. You were the one person I could be myself around."

He smiled faintly. "Still true?"

She looked up. "I have to tell you something else. The highlight of my day -- every day -- is when you lift me out of this chair. And for a fleeting moment, I'm not the gimp girl. I'm flying. With you."

Hal smiled. "That's funny. Because the highlight of my day is holding you. You're light as a feather. I'm flying too."

There was nothing left to say. They held hands and escaped into each other's warm loving gaze. A server quietly left a dessert menu at Carly's elbow and when she noticed they hadn't bothered to open in, finally brought the bill. The love in Carly's swelling heart was likely responsible from preventing cardiac arrest when she finally turned to look it. The smell of melting plastic entwined with the lemongrass.

They were back to small talk as Hal drove Carly home, neither wanting the evening to end while not wanting to spoil it. It was, technically, a first date although they'd known each other forever. Carly was nervous and knew she would have to make the first move, already complicated with the logistics of making love to a disabled woman, having to diagram the play for a probably equally nervous partner who had never bedded a lover in her situation.

As they pulled up to Carly's building, Hal turned to her and smiled. "So now: the moment of truth."

Carly looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

He pushed a button on the dash to turn off the vehicle. "The first kiss."

"Ah," she said. "Yes. VERY important. We don't want to blow this, do we?"

"You know," Hal said, half-laughing, "I almost kissed you once. The night we graduated. Remember? You, me and That Person We Shall Not Name Because I'm Outta Change were sitting on the grass in the quad with that ridiculous champagne bottle and you were telling me we were going to own the world."

She struggled to remember the moment. It was years ago and the champagne bottle was nearly dry at that point. "Why didn't you kiss me then?"

"I homed in, I turned my head to the side... and you burped mid-sentence and then passed out in my lap. Intense dry-cleaning ensued."

Carly cracked up. "Now there's a memory! Romance lives and dies by timing."

"I thought maybe I missed my shot."

She shook her head, smiling. "You didn't. We just hit pause."

"Maybe it's time to hit Play."

The time had come. He reached out, just one hand, slow and sure, cradling the side of her face. His thumb grazed her cheekbone, light as breath. She leaned into it, eyes fluttering shut for a moment.

And then he kissed her.

No fireworks, no soaring soundtrack -- just the heat of lips meeting lips after too long apart. Gentle at first, reverent. A question asked, and then answered when she kissed him back, deeper, anchoring him with one hand curled in the lapel of his jacket. All the years, the pauses, the detours, dissolved between them in that one quiet, perfect kiss.

When they finally withdrew, just inches apart, Carly's eyes stayed closed a second longer.

"Well," she murmured, smiling slightly, "what took you so long?"

Hal's forehead rested lightly against hers. "Some things are worth the wait."

They faced other expectantly, the memorable first kiss in the books, anticipating the second. Maybe a third. Then they both turned and caught the disapproving glare of the concierge by the door, pointing urgently to the NO PARKING/NO STANDING sign.

Carly turned to Hal. "Well there goes Khalid's Christmas bonus."

He chuckled and popped the trunk. "I'll get the chair."

She took him by the arm before he could get out of the SUV. "No, you're going to have to park in the garage," she insisted.

Hal thought the closing credits were rolling on a date to remember. "Oh?"

"Yes, I'm going to need you to come upstairs. It's a disaster area, I have no snacks, maybe half a beer in the fridge, and there's a decent chance the super didn't drop by to unclog the toilet."

"Uh, are you sure?"

"Oh yeah, he's the worst. In fact, you may have to pee in the sink."

Hal chuckled. "I mean, are you sure we should do this... so soon? I don't want to rush you."

Carly held Hal's face in her hands. "Listen mister, I just bought you a very expensive dinner at a Michelin star restaurant so you're just going to have to come across, you understand me?"

"Oh yeah? Is that how it works now?"

"Men have been using that lame-ass excuse as a pretext to get women into bed for disappointing sex for centuries," she said. "Now it's my turn."

"So you're promising me disappointing sex?"

"You'll get the college try." She leaned in for the second kiss.

When they came up for the air, Khalid now pointing to his watch, Hal nodded his ascent to the proposition. "Okay, but no way this is going to be disappointing," he said.

"You should know I've got the 'lame' part down pat," Carly warned him.

Hal stroked her hair back, plotting the third kiss. "I am going to bed with the woman I love. There's no way you can let me down."

As they entered Carly's place, she knew there were a lot of ways things could go wrong. While she was grateful the fall from the balance beam left her mind sharp and her lips and hands agile, her decommissioned southern hemisphere made sex a whole other thing. But as old, long-oversharing friends, Hal already gathered from Carly that planning and communication would be critical before getting naked in the dark with his lady on wheels.

He had inside information. Carly already supplied it. And it all stemmed back to that That Night We Nearly Did It.

At first it was just another one of those evenings with the Three Amigos emptying bottle after bottle of wine as Carly hilariously delivered the play-by-play of her latest "date from hell." Jillian, off the market at the time, had encouraged her to bed the hunky but generally clueless guy from sales and Carly, no shrinking violet, accepted the challenge.

Jillian had watched her in action in the break room. Carly's voice dropped to a husky octave, head tilted, playfully swishing her hair back behind her ears, riveting Aaron with her large dark brown eyes, providing her full attention as he gamely attempted to complete sentences using words with multiple syllables, nodding in agreement while delivering long, meaningful touches.

He was putty in her hands and it didn't take long to wangle a date. He took her to a Chinese restaurant ("I want you to be comfortable!") and over dim sum it didn't take long to conclude he was truly some dim. But she was more than halfway there.

Back at his place it started well with sloppy kissing but before he could get the engine purring he insisted on immediately checking under the hood. That's because he was "a cunning linguist" with a perfect track record of delivering any woman to the throes of ecstasy. Ignoring the polite suggestion that her results may vary, he was finally allowed his fool's errand and after he emerged 30 minutes later with chapped lips and a cramped tongue, she offered up her elbow and suggested he try sucking that for all the good it would do either of them.

Hal spurted cheap plonk out of his nose as Jillian howled.

"Men are lazy fucks with a fully operational model," Carly concluded. "Fucking me is hard, hard work, y'know? A little foreplay, please. In my case, a LOT, please and thank you. Because you know what the biggest sex organ is, right?"

Jillian threw her arm up in the air. "Oh! Oh! I know the answer to this one. It's Hal's!"

"Gahhhh!" both Hal and Carly screamed.

"C'mon Hal, you KNOW it's true!"

Carly covered her ears. "Stop it! TMI! The correct answer is the brain."

Hal puffed his cheeks and blew out. "Wow -- TWO big organs. Every kid in America is going to wish he was me."

Jillian leaned over to her gal pal. "So, girl, tell us, what lights your fire?"

"Not going there!"

"Hey, you started it! Inquiring minds want to know!"

Jillian had clearly thrown open the door to a crude joke or clever innuendo, and the convo could have drifted elsewhere. But instead Carly gathered a couch pillow in front of her as she pondered the question. Hell if she didn't answer. For Hal, it was like that Kevin Costner monologue at the end of Bull Durham.

Carly raised her index finger and once she had her audience's wrapt attention, she slowly placed it on her lips. Look at me now.

"Give me passionate kisses. Your lips. Your tongue. And then explore my body. My earlobes. The back of my neck, right here. My nipples. It gets sketchy the further south you roam. But I feel the pressure. The urgency. The gusts of your ragged breath. MY hitching breath. And then let me explore you -- and help me get there! Bringing you pleasure gives me pleasure -- tell me what you want. The story builds and you're literally blowing my mind. The circuits start firing and the juices flow. And I want you inside of me and feel the rhythms. Experiment. Ask questions -- don't be shy. I love a challenge and gawd knows I'm going to challenge you. I hope you're up for it."

Carly closed her eyes, lowered her head and raised her arms. Hal and Jillian sat stock still across from her.

"Well, I am wet and hard now," she finally pronounced.

"Carly, that's beautiful," Hal said more diplomatically while playfully slapping his partner's arm.

Jillian rose and sat next to Carly, drawing her in for a warm hug, kissing her tenderly on the cheek. "And here I am throwing you at dorks like Aaron so I can get recon reports."

"That's okay," Carly said, tipsy, unsteady and slowing sliding down into the gravity well that was Jillian's cleavage. "Sex can be fun. I've got notches on my bedpost like anyone else. Great sex, though, is transcendent."

"I know what you mean," Jillian said, winking at Hal.

"Yeah, I'll bet you do," Carly smiled, coincidentally winking at Hal too.

She looked up at her friend and touched her cheek. "I love you, girl."

Jillian blushed and to her and Carly's surprise she dipped down and kissed her lightly. Lips locked. Hal watched dumbfounded. This was better than Pornhub.

When Jillian finally lifted her head, Carly grinned and turned to Hal. "Wow, Hal, now I see what all the shouting's about!"

"I know, right?" he croaked.

"I kissed a girl and I liked it," Jillian crooned, trying to lift the mood out of the erogenous zone the evening had somehow slipped into.

Carly struggled to get vertical and needed Jillian's assistance. Hal rose to help.

"We," she pronounced, "are all drunk, every one of us. We should go to bed. This is where Hal picks me up."

Hal looked at Jillian and then lifted his friend. Normally a light load and easy carry, tonight Carly was like a dummy filled with sand and difficult to gather. Good thing they were taking a short trip.

"We're going to sleep," Carly continued. "Together. No funny business, okay?"

"Sure, sweetie," Jillian assured her, staggering to her feet and falling into the weaving conga line to the bedroom.

"And Hal? Hal!" Carly whispered hoarsely while pulling his head in close. "This could be your big chance to get that butt sex we all talked about last week. Don't worry about me -- I'll never know!"

They all broke up laughing which got louder as the three collided in a heap in a bed barely wide enough for two, let alone three, drunken sots. They slept, they snored and when they got up 10 hours later, spoke of it never again. On to other wacky gatherings that could only happen to them. But none more erotic.

Now Hal was back as half of a panting couple instead of third of an ill-starred throuple, the bed a little less crowded but just as messy and unmade. He gently lowered Carly onto the mattress and rose to start shedding his clothes as she drank in the view.

"Pinch me," she purred as she began unbuttoning her blouse.

"Right, pinching, check," Hal nodded as he fumbled with his belt. "I'm guessing squeezing, kissing, gentle nibbling is on the menu too?"

Carly smiled slyly, sat up, and deftly pulled Hal's belt free, spinning him around. She snapped it like a whip and laughed, tossing it into a pile of her laundry in the corner, and watched as his pants slipped to the floor.

"I see you've done this before," Hal said as he completed his strip tease without her assistance.

"Never like this," she breathed. "Come here. Now."

Hal descended to the bed and their mouths merged again, now well into the double digits if you're keeping score at home. He relieved Carly of her bra and recalled her earlier instructions on proceeding with caution and care. His lips migrated to her eyelids, her earlobes, her neck, to that spot there. She shivered and gasped. He kneaded her modest breasts, he kissed her hardened nipples. She arched her back to signal her desire for more in-depth attention. She whispered his name as he traced her broad areolae with his tongue and he could feel her thrumming heart through his lips.

He dwelt there for awhile, his hands furtively straying into the terra incognita by her belly and below. This would normally be the point his fingers would begin exploring her pussy but mindful of the doomed voyage of Aaron from sales, he waited for instructions. On cue, his sighing lover directed his willing fingers inside and outlined the land of the lay. Hal was a quick learner and was soon rewarded for his attention to her detail.

"Yes, there!" she blurted. "Like that!" She withdrew her hand from his, the trailing wheels off. He was getting the hang of it and enjoying the sensations within.

Hal could feel her tensing, her rasping breath, her nails digging into his shoulders, relieved that Carly had that nasty nail chewing habit Jillian railed about. He immediately put his old lover's image out of his head -- Carly was nothing like Jillian, her body an undiscovered country he was anxious to explore, her sounds of pleasure restrained and genuine. He felt his own excitement building as hers peaked.

"Ohhhh," she murmured, her hands slackening, her body becoming limp below him. He withdrew his moist fingers, sampled their tang. "See what you do to me?" she chuckled quietly.

She then directed his face to hers, and he beheld a sweet smile of satisfaction. "Kiss me, lover," she whispered. And he did. He was getting the hang of that too.

In a minute he could feel her fingers begin to grasp and stroke his cock. "Mmmmmm," she breathed. His turn.

"Inside me. Now."

Hal could only obey, again curious what sensations awaited. Carly had joked, again under the influence, that one of her lovers compared her to a sex doll that needed work back in the shop. "It can be a dry gulch," she admitted then. Not surprisingly, when Hal looked over at her bedside table, he spotted the lube. Always the girl scout, always prepared.

"Good boy," she chuckled. Quickly applied, gently entered, delightfully snug. His turn to gasp in delight. Carly brought whatever muscles remaining in her control to bear and Hal appreciated the effort. He pumped evenly and slowly, wanting to prolong the sensation for as long as he could. But it felt so good, the blood rushed and he could hold out no longer. She could feel her pleasure as he exploded within her.

Hal slumped onto her chest before realizing he might be a little heavy for a small woman. Then he felt her arms gather him in tighter, he could nearly hear her heart firing in her chest as his own throbbed in third gear. They breathed as one. And kissed again.

He lay down beside her and they faced each other in post-coital bliss.

"That was amazing," he said. "And you are an amazing teacher."

Carly chuckled. "Well, I've never heard that one before! Well, except for that roleplay thing with the pigtails and short plaid skirt."

"Stop it already!" Hal protested. "I'm trying to tell you something. You made me want to please and you showed me how... which made it so much better for me. I didn't know it could be like this. And the clichés just keep on coming."

"Like I told you," Carly said, cuddling closer. "The brain is the biggest sex organ."

"Lady, if that's true, you are very well hung," Hal replied. "Where have you been all my life?"

"Oh, I've been down here all along," she said, "hiding in the weeds, biding my time."

"To think I nearly got through my twenties without experiencing this."

"Worth the wait?"

"Oh yeah!"

She looked up at him and touched his lips. "Get ready for the dirty thirties," she warned him as she submerged below the sheets. His cock sprung to attention with the sensation of her moist lips kissing his glans, her tongue teasing his frenulum and her small hands gripping his shaft. School was back in.

The honeymoon continued and they were soon inseparable. She indulged his culinary quest to hit every fine dining establishment in Toronto and accompanied him on the waterfront trail for his morning runs, urging him on from her racing chair. That would always be punctuated with a hot, sweaty roll in bed before he continued chauffeuring her to the office.

They texted each other 50 times a day and it was beginning to get embarrassing -- especially that time when Carly sexted him and Hal returned to the rehab gym at the clinic and found his co-workers gathered around the phone he'd left behind. He nearly got them to believe what they were looking at was the contents of a smoked meat sandwich Carly enjoyed at lunch.

Two months into their courtship, it was time for a change. Hal, who always hated Carly's cramped crib, suggested she move in with him as she was hanging at his place more often than not anyway. He didn't get the chance to complete his proposal -- she accepted his offer with indecent haste.

"No lie Hal, I'm gonna miss Khalid and having to flash my tits at the super to get a bulb changed, but I'll get over it," she told him. She loved the huge closets, the sweeping view of the waterfront and the big, big bed. Her lonely toothbrush and change of underwear were soon joined with the rest of Carly's worldly possessions.

Even work was going great. She was put in charge of a few new podcasts which got her creative juices flowing and her boss Alice continued to tease her with hints that she was dreaming up "an exciting new project" that would "better put your special skills to work." She was always light on the details and had a talent for fleeing a room after these teasing utterances. Carly considered bringing her racing chair to work to follow up.

Her patience paid off a few weeks later when Carly was summoned to Alice's office. Aaron, newly promoted to head of marketing, was waiting in there with her. Carly wondered acidly if he went down on Alice to get the gig, but now was no time for such thoughts.

"So, Carly," Alice began as she closed the door to her office, "we have a very interesting proposition for you."

"Oh?" Carly replied, getting a little unnerved by Aaron's cheeky grin. That's when she noticed a shiny wet film on his upper lip -- oh no he didn't!

"Aaron has been talking to our leading advertisers, and Polar Latex has come back to us with a very interesting idea," she gushed. "You. Are. Going. To. Love. It."

"What. The. Hell. Is. It?" Carly replied.

"Reboot U V.2," Aaron boomed, getting into the conversation. "Learn with a burn!"

Carly's jaw dropped. "You want to put that podcast back on the air? With me?"

"Aaaaaaaaand," Alice said with Aaron annoyingly rapping her desk like a drum roll. "Jillian."

Oh no, you didn't, Carly thought as her heart sank and stomach roiled. She was pretty sure there'd be a little something waiting in her incontinence briefs later on.

"Please tell me you mean Gillian Anderson, the X-Files actress," she said hopefully.

"Um, no, y'know, our Jillian," Aaron sputtered. "Your old sidekick."

It was Carly's turn to sputter. "How... how... why... she took off, she's, she's with that Orion Vance guy dancing naked on a rock in Bali! What would she want doing a podcast with us?"

Alice sat down next to her. "I can see you're surprised." No shit Sherlock, Carly thought.

"We were surprised, too," Aaron jumped in. "But she approached us last week. It appears she and Dr. Vance have had a parting of the ways and she pitched us on a new show."

"We rejected it, of course," Alice assured her. "Now, the two of you had one of the most popular podcasts this side of Mel Robbins. Your chemistry was unbeatable, your numbers through the roof. The very idea of reuniting the two of you has touched off a feeding frenzy amongst our advertisers."

"We're talking Lamborghini!" Aaron cried as he jumped to his feet.

Carly frowned. "They want to sponsor the show?"

"Ah, no," he mumbled as he sank back into his chair. "I meant a Lamborghini... for me."

"Well, I'm glad our priorities are straight here," Carly groused as she turned to her boss. "You cannot be serious. She fucked off on us when we were at the top of our game, and you want to give her another shot? The sign on the back of this chair reads I'LL LET YOU PUSH ME AROUND, not KICK ME WHEN I'M DOWN."

Alice shrugged. "Except... you're not down, are you?"

Carly thought on that. "Actually Alice, until this moment, my life has never been better."

"Okay, then. She's sorry. She knows what she did. She says she's been trying to call you--"

"I blocked her. On everything. Like months ago."

Alice nodded and returned to her desk. From buddy to boss, like that.

"Look, Carly, who amongst us hasn't done something completely stupid and turned others' lives upside down? Doesn't everyone deserve a second chance?"

Carly glared at Aaron's still-glistening upper lip, now wondering if he turned Alice upside down on that very desk. She slumped into her chair, shaking her head like it was an Etch A Sketch and she could erase the images before her.

"I dunno Alice. This is a lot."

"Just talk to her, Carly. Hear her out," Alice said. "And I'll tell you what -- do one show. One! One more time in the studio, you ask the questions. Jillian Andersen spent, what, five months with one of the world's leading lifestyle gurus? She's seen a lot in that time. Learned a lot. Her face has been all over media."

"To say nothing of her tits," Carly spat.

"What did she learn? Was it all bullshit? Where does her voyage of self-discovery go from here?"

Into the fucking Bermuda Triangle, for all I care, Carly thought to herself. But she'd long prided herself in making rational decisions. She needed time to consider. And consult.

"Look, can I think about this? I also need to talk to Hal. For all the obvious reasons."

"For sure. Hal's a pretty smart guy, the two of you are going great, but see what he says. And then maybe you could have a chat with..."

"I'll talk to him tonight," Carly snapped. "And then I can talk to Jill tomorrow. Alright?"

Alice and Aaron both beamed. Hey Aaron, she might even be up for anal now, Carly thought to herself. Her inner monologue was running a little blue today.

"That's all we ask," Alice said as she and Aaron rose.

Carly turned her chair and rolled back to her cubicle. On the wall by the front desk she passed the poster of Reboot U which they never did get around to replacing. She saw the image of the two of them laughing in the studio. It wasn't a pose for the camera, they were into it. Good times with a trusted partner.

Back at her desk Carly looked at the picture she had tacked on the wall of Hal and her hugging. She hated selfies but loved this one, in tight, every freckle on that lovely face of his. Every time she looked at it, her heart swelled, the man of her dreams holding her like he'd never let her go. She reached over and touched it. It was for real.

She picked up the phone, started punching in numbers and then dropped the handset back in the cradle. What does she even say? Oh hey Hal, listen, remember that tall, blonde stacked uber- able-bodied ex who fucked off on you last winter? Funny story, turns out she is coming back to town and wants to hit Command Z, whaddya say?

Carly smiled to herself. Well, when you put it that way.

She made the call and he picked it up on the second ring as he normally did.

"Hey, I was just thinking about you!" he said.

"Really?"

"Well, actually, I was hungry and thinking about a juicy smoked meat sandwich."

"Oh ha-ha, I'll never live that down, will I?" Carly groaned. She made a note to wear pants the next time she visited the clinic.

"Nope -- it's a classic! But y'know, I could eat. What do wanna do about dinner?"

Carly bit her lip. Now was not the time to pick up Thai and face off in the living room in front of the big screen. This called for someplace neutral, where civility was more or less a requirement. With a long wide runway to the door for a ready escape in case things went rear-shaped. She knew just the place.

"I'm thinking Georgio's," she said.

"I could do Italian," Hal said agreeably. "Six?"

"Six it is," Carly said, already making a reservation on Open Table. "We're set, baby."

"Looking forward it, m'love. How's your day going?'

Carly took a deep breath. "Oh I'm having one, alright. That's why I suggested dinner. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Oh? Is everything okay in the office?"

"Well, Alice finally made the big reveal on her plans for me," she admitted.

"Don't tell me -- they're finally giving you a show of your own! I knew it! You're perfect for it! I'm so proud of you, honey," Hal blurted.

"That's the half of it," Carly allowed.

Silence. "What's the other half?"

Time for the bomb. "It's Jillian."

-30-