top “Thank you for meeting me here, Mr.Spencer. I’ve been awaiting your arrival.” He took in how Shawna was reclined in the puffy swivel chair as she spoke. Part of her sandy brown hair balanced on her top lip to form a sloppy mustache. A black cat lay curled in her lap, golden eyes watching him and ears twitching.
Gus Spencer took in the sight before him. It humbled him somewhere between the anger and shock that she hadn’t changed. Or so it seemed to him thus far.
Four years ago Gus might have laughed at this. Maybe he would have smiled at how Shawna perched her muddy boots on top of a relatively new looking desk. He was caught between not knowing what to say and wanting to say everything. Then again if he opened his mouth he’d probably strangle her.
In this instance his only response was the practice of restraint, crossing his arms, and finally taking a look around. The poor-excuse of a barn still looked more like a giant live-in shed. Though the support beams were sturdier. The walls had life within the color once again. For once the roof didn’t look like it could cave in. What surprised him the most, was that the map wall hadn’t changed. Scribbled x’s and writing were all over the place. Ships that never hit the water to sail. It was marred by push pins that dotted every place only one of them had seen.
Shawna let out an Oscar-worthy dramatic sigh. “Oh c’mon Gus. Gus. Gusto? You really don’t have anything to say? It’s been-” her breath hitched searching for lighter words. He caught the hesitation in her eye. “A while…”
“Four years, Shawna. Four.” He needed to take a breath. He adjusted his suit jacket, pulling back his foot to try and recreate his artfully united front. Though the bricks he wished made a wall was held together with scotch tape. “And you pick here, of all places.” Gus knew he deserved to be mad. He wanted to be angry.
“The city was gonna tear it down! I had to save our old hideout. You know just as well as I, every serial killer needs a cool HQ.”
Gus shook his head, seriously considering walking out.
“This renovation was a long time coming. Awesome stuff still needs to happen. I just so happen to have a proposition…. Or six.”
He was a brick wall. A successful, respectable, brick wall. Playing cute wasn’t going to work for her this time.
Shawna looked beside herself in that usual over the top cheerful way. “And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling kids!” She glanced down. “And the cat!”
Gus sighed to himself, pushing a small clump of straw with the toe of his polished oxford. It hit hard how this would have been hilarious four years ago. He heard a thunk as Shawna sat up, feet finally on the floor.
“You’ve done a lot of work to the place.”
“There’ll be even more done by the end of the month.” He could hear the smile in her voice. He knew that grin too well. “My very own Batcave! And, yours too.” She tossed a key to him.
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“How long are you staying?” He gritted out. Rip off the band-aid.
I can’t take this again. The first time was enough.
Shawna moved her chair, donning a smidge of shock. “I’m not leaving.”
Gus huffed and looked away, clenching his fists. That’s what you said the first time.
“If I left then my ‘told ya so’ would be meaningless.” She stood, placing the cat on the desk. It followed her hand, seeking attention. “I mean I got my good luck charm here,” she scratched the cat’s chin. Then her free hand disappeared, pulling out a sketchbook. “And this.”
Gus took a hesitant step forward. “Let me guess, this ended up being one of your 20 jobs in just as many countries?” He took in the mock blueprints of the stuffed animal.
“A little hurtful.” Shawna pinched her fingers together. “Actually this was the last of my many jobs. Just so we clear the record I had 27 jobs in 28 countries.”
He lifted a glare in time to catch a gecko stuffed animal.
“Yeah, I’m still trying to figure that one out too. Feel free to keep that. I got plenty more in the storage room.”
“So you finally did it?” He dropped both items back onto his friend’s desk.
The cat made a reappearance, lowly hissing at the slap of the sketchbook on the wood. When Gus reopened the gap between them, he pulled on the hem on his suit jacket.
“Having all kinds of odd jobs gives you a lot of ideas and perspective, Guster.” She almost sounded mature for all of five seconds. “I’ve been telling you for years that they are basically the animal version of Spiderman. Just, ya know, better. I mean that’d be a useful thing, being able to turn the stickiness of their feet off and on at will.” Gus could hear the cat purring from where he stood. “This one was just a prototype. The manufacturers let me keep it when I got nostalgic.”
Gus let out a disbelieving chuckle. “Still a book of random information I see.” He shook his head, recrossing his arms.
“Well, at least this is better in the sense that this animal-superhero-character-dude is more true to life. Think of the coyote and roadrunner. Plenty of people watched that growing up. They loved it even though it was wrong! I mean c’mon, coyotes outpace roadrunners by 23 miles per hour.”
“Yeah, and the one episode the coyote caught the roadrunner, he asked the audience ‘now what do you want me to do?’” He hated that he took the bait. Though it was riding a bike, slipping back into the same banter from four years prior.
“Oh, I’m the book of random facts?” Shawna laughed and shrugged. “I pitched the idea while I was in Germany. That’s where I found this dude. In Germany, it’s considered good luck for a black cat to cross your path. Specifically from left to right. That’s why I named him Lucky. Well... that’s his middle name anyway.”
“Shawna,” Gus stepped forward. The curve of his lip flattened into a frown. He hated this part. He needed the real answer. “It’s great that you’ve found something. It’s just-”
Her smile dropped. “When am I gonna run away again?”
It hurt to see a smidge of anger in her frown. Gus could feel the regret bubble in his stomach. He hadn’t wanted to come here and fight. He wanted to see his friend after four years. What surprised him the most was when her shoulders lost tension. He saw clearly at that moment, the anger wasn’t aimed at him.
“I deserved that.” She blew her hair out of her face. “Adventuring alone isn’t as fun as you think. Not many employers like seeing a record of 39 jobs. Best friends aren’t supposed to-” she grew quiet, “leave without saying goodbye.”
The air was heavy. Four years sat between them still smoldering. It was smoking and suffocating in superfluidity of strong emotion. It was too much, even for Gus.
So he took a chance and stepped forward. He started to grin. “So one more adventure?” He held out his fist.
Shawna glanced up, her eyes shone in her surprise.
“Are we gonna do the thing or not?”
Finally, she grinned too. “Hell yeah!”
Their fists connected.