Brooks was pressuring her to agree to a visit during Easter weekend. She had Good Friday off, which would give her three days to spend with him in D.C. Marie was nervous about such a long stretch of time in his house. Alone. With him. She would no doubt make a fool of herself, especially if he crawled into bed with her again. It was Tuesday and she was still on the fence about the visit. Derrick was firmly in the visit camp. He thought she should go in there and tip her hand, ask Brooks what he wanted with her. Marie wasn’t about to open that can of worms because she knew the answer to that was friendship. He just seemed so lonely sometimes.

“Marie, can I talk to you?” Christine asked. The woman was in her fifties and ran the human resources department of the company. Marie had a great relationship with her; Christine felt like her second mother sometimes.

“What’s up?” she asked, settling into an armchair in front of Christine’s desk.

Christine’s eyes were wide and she drummed her fingers on the desk. “We’ve got some great news, and I wanted to talk to you first. The estimating department has put out quite a few quotes in the surrounding area in an attempt to drum up some more work. Upper management is pushing hard to expand. After we got that bridge job in D.C., we started flooding that area with bids.”

“Did we get another project there?” Marie was more than a little excited. Another excuse to visit Brooks.

Christine sat back in her seat. “Actually, we got three. One of them is huge. We just got word on it yesterday afternoon. The client is a private firm and they want us to start right away.”

Marie raised her eyebrows. Did this mean she was going back to D.C. for another hiring spree tomorrow?

“John is hyped up about this because he’s been thinking of opening a branch office. The market in D.C. is great and we really think this is an amazing chance to grow the company.”

“What are you saying?”

Christine leaned forward and folded her hands on the desk. “I’m saying that we’re opening a D.C. area office. Exact location remains to be seen, but we’ve got a month to figure it out.”

“Wow,” Marie said. “So, I guess I won’t be going out there to hire on location in the construction trailer anymore.”

“That’s what I want to talk to you about. We need someone to head up the H.R. department in D.C. The only person who has more seniority than you is Deb and she has three kids and a husband. How do you feel about moving to D.C. and getting a big, fat promotion?” Christine was smiling at Marie, her eyes wide and excited.

Marie felt everything recede down a tunnel. All she could hear was a deafening roar in her ears. “Really?” Her voice was far away, echoing.

Christine nodded. “Really. You can think about it, of course. But it’d be a promotion, a significant raise, and you’d be your own boss. You’d only answer to me and John here in corporate. So will you think about it?”

“Yes,” Marie said.

“Yes, you’ll sleep on it?”

She swallowed. “Yes, I’ll do it. I’m in.” Simple as pie. This could be the best thing to ever happen to her. Or the worst. Brooks aside, the opportunity itself was phenomenal. She just hoped she could keep her distance and maintain their friendship while living in the same city as her hockey player.

When she walked out of Christine’s office, she kept going until she was outside. The sky was cloudy today and threatening a late-season snow. She called Brooks, expecting to get his voicemail. He answered instead.

"Hey, penguin.” Always the the term of endearment. He knew how to melt her heart with two words.

“I have weird news.”

“Good weird or bad weird?”

“Good weird, I hope.”

She could tell he was smiling at her when he replied, “Hit me.”

“Apparently, I’m moving to D.C.”

One second stretched into two, and then those two seconds doubled. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he said, “Are you serious?”

Marie faltered. What if he didn’t really want her in the same city cramping his style? Maybe their friendship was best left long distance with a few visits a year. Maybe he thought she was just going to stalk him around town and make it impossible for him to find a girlfriend. “Serious,” she said softly, feeling sick to her stomach. “The company I work for is opening a satellite office in the D.C. area. I’m getting a promotion if I agree to transfer there.”

His breath whooshed out against the mouthpiece of his phone. “Penguin, that’s great. That’s amazing.” He seemed relieved. Maybe even happy. “When are you moving?”

“The end of the April. I don’t think I’ve wrapped my head around this yet. That’s not a lot of time.”

“I’ll help you.”

“You’re busy, Brooks. You’ll be knee-deep in the play-offs by then.”

He shushed her. “I’ll make it work. Besides, my shoulder might keep me out.”

“This is scary,” she admitted.

“This is good,” Brooks replied.

************************************

Marie felt guilty after she hung up with Brooks. She’d told him before she’d told her own family. Derrick’s reaction was mixed. It was going to be difficult to be away from him; he’d been her rock for so long. But he understood this was an opportunity of a lifetime for her. Although, it did take quite a bit of convincing for Marie to make him understand this wasn’t just about Brooks.

Was it? she thought. It was about her career, not a boy. Maybe the boy factored in there somewhere, though. Or maybe she was just delusional because the boy was actually a man and the man wasn’t interested in her as anything but a friend.

Brooks texted her that evening and asked her to call him when she got home. She dutifully did.

“We need to plan your move,” he said as soon as he picked up the phone.

Marie laughed. “I need to plan my move. And I need to get rid of approximately seventy-four percent of my shit before I do or I’ll need two U-Haul trucks.”

“Are you still coming this weekend?”

She sat down on the couch. “I don’t think so. I have a gazillion things to do here. The timeline is starting to freak me out.”

“Do you know where you’re living when you get here?”

She laughed again. He was even further along than she was in thinking about what she was going to do to make this move work. “I don’t know. I figured I’d put my furniture in storage and just rent a furnished efficiency by the week until I can get an apartment. D.C. is way more expensive than Pittsburgh.”

“Stay with me.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“Stay with me until you can find a place. I’ve got the extra bedroom and you already know I’m not a murderer.”

“Brooksy, I don’t know. I don’t want to cramp your style.”

“I don’t have any style.”

She snorted. “You do so. I’ve seen those sexy Boss suits.”

“Mmm, sexy? Really?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know it, twenty-one.”

“I just like to hear you say it. So, you’re staying with me until you can find a place, right?”

“I...”

“It would make the move so much easier...” he said.

Marie sighed. He was right; it would make things so much easier. She could store her furniture in his garage and take her time finding an apartment that suited her. “Only if you let me pay you rent.”

He scoffed. “Dinner once a week. That’s the going rate for my guest room.”

“Brooks.”

“Marie.”

She sighed again. “Fine. You’re the cheapest place in town. I hope you don’t have roaches.”

“Just creepy guys that will sneak into your bed at night for cuddles.”

Marie laughed and told him to stop overdosing on his pain medication before she said goodnight and hung up.

**************************************

April was almost over. It had felt like the longest month of Marie’s life. She was sitting on her sofa, surrounded by boxes. The windows felt bare without curtains framing them. And she could no longer cook anything because all her dishes were carefully packed away in newspaper and cardboard. Brooks was still on injured reserve because of his shoulder, and Marie hadjust watched the Caps lose the first series to Boston. It stung.

She wasn’t sure when she started rooting for them, but she wasn’t about to admit it to Brooks or he’d know he had succeeded in turning her into a fan. She picked up her phone and texted him.

Marie: I’m sorry, twenty-one.

Twenty minutes later, he texted her back.

Brooks: Next season.

Marie: Definitely.

She carried the phone into the bathroom so she could brush her teeth and wash her face. After her nightly rituals were done, she crawled into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin and shoving her face into the pillow next to her. She was ashamed to admit that sometimes she imagined the pillow was Brooks. Except it was a poor replacement for his muscular chest and strong arms.

Just before midnight, her phone rang. He was the only one who called her this late.

“Hey, Brooksy,” she said softly.

“Hey, baby. Did I wake you?”

Marie opened her mouth and then closed it. She’d been drifting off to sleep and it was possible she heard wrong. Did he just call her baby? “No,” she replied, finding her voice again. “I was still up. How are you doing?”

“Frustrated. I wanted to play.”

“Next season.”

He sighed heavily. “Yeah, I know.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t be sorry, Penguin.” He paused and then brightened his tone. “Hey, are you ready to move to civilization?”

“Pittsburgh is hardly the boonies.”

“D.C. is so much better. You’ll see. I have so many places I want to show you.”

She laughed at his enthusiasm. “I’m taking baby steps. First order of business is to pack the U-Haul tomorrow. I’m so nervous.”

“Don’t be nervous. It’ll be fine. Listen to an album with me since you’ll be here in a couple days.”

“Your choice. Tell me what I need.”

“Bruce Peninsula. Small Town Murder Songs.”

“Sounds scary,” she said as she pulled her computer into bed with her and searched iTunes for the album. It downloaded in seconds.

“It’s amazing,” he said.

She rolled over in bed in her empty room and listened to the rhythmic music driven by drums and powerful vocals. It was dark music that was laced with faith and hope. And it was absolutely, undeniably powerful.

“Good choice,” Marie said after the first three songs had played.

“I can’t wait to see you,” Brooks replied.

“Right back at you, twenty-one.”

Notes

If you'd like to hear a couple songs form the album by Bruce Peninsula mentioned at the end of the chapter, you can do so here:
As Long As I Live
Rosie