“Toby! I can’t believe it!”
“Mr. Zack! Hi! How are you enjoying retirement?”
“Never worked so hard in my life. Janet has me remodeling the entire house, now that I’m a lazy bum and not working for a living.” Mr. Zack cooed at Garrett in Sarah’s arms. “Wow, he’s a handsome little lad, isn’t he?”
“You say that like you’re surprised,” Sarah said with a grin.
“Nothing surprises me less! So, Toby, I keep checking the newspapers for you!”
“Yeah, I’m still working on it.”
“What was that one you were in? The Cocktail?”
“The Blender. It ended up going under.”
“Did you get your ten bucks?”
“Five bucks. No.”
“You keep working at it. Those successful youngsters, they have meltdowns. When you make it big, it is going to be the sweetest fruit you’ve ever tasted, and you’ll be able to give your lovely wife and your lovely son a life of luxury.”
“We do okay,” said Sarah with a smile. “He’s doing great at the newspaper, and I’ve started selling songs.”
“Songs? You sing?”
“I write them.”
“That’s great! Anything I would’ve heard?”
“Do you listen to folk music?”
“No, I sure don’t, but I’ll start. Hey, I think your son is about to spit up, so I’m going to bid you adieu, but it was great talking to you.”
Garrett puked all over Sarah’s shirt.
Larry and Nick stayed away. Toby thought about them a lot, but in the past tense.
“Like that-just like that!” Sarah urged as Toby thrust into her. “Oh, yeah, that’s perfect-right there-oh, yeah, right there-don’t stop-oh, God, I’m gonna come-if the baby doesn’t cry I’m gonna come-!”
“Dear Mr. Florren…”
Toby crumpled up the rejection letter and threw it against the wall. “It’s one r, asshole!”