Hell, you'll probably have problems doing it when you're forty. 'There's no way you'll be able to lift a grown man when you're fifty, Joe, and if you think so then you're crazy. He decided to get rid of the bullshit pleasantries and get to the point. 'Yes,' she said with absolutely no hesitation and made his job of convincing her to do something else more difficult. 'Well,' he said, clearing his throat and feeling a little uncomfortable under her glare, 'you know you couldn't do this forever.' She cocked a brow at that little announcement so he added, 'Could you really see yourself doing this job when you were fifty?'

When she only sat there glaring at him he decided that perhaps he needed to explain the situation a little better before she decided to go for his balls. 'This isn't the way I planned on doing this, but I've been thinking that maybe it was time for you to move on and do something else with the rest of your life,' he explained. 'From what I hear you tried to unload me on Nathan.' Her tone was friendly, but the look she was giving him was anything but. 'That's what it sounded like to me,' she said, leaning back in chair as she crossed her arms over her chest. 'I'm not trying to get rid of you, Joe,' he said, feeling exhaustion threaten to knock him on his ass. 'You want to tell me why you want to get rid of me?' Joe asked when he finished his third helping. They had back to back calls all night and the only thing he'd eaten was a stale packet of peanuts he managed to wrestle from a vending machine. Other than a murmured 'Thank you' she didn't say much to him as they ate for which he was immensely relieved. He placed one by her plate and sat down across from her at the small round table.

He grabbed an ice pack for his shoulder and thought about grabbing a couple of beers, but he didn't want her to drink in case she took a painkiller. Joe was just starting to fill their plates when he walked past her on his way to the refrigerator. He just wanted to eat and get this conversation out of the way so that they could focus on her future. He stripped out of his clothes and jumped in the shower, wishing he could take a nice long leisurely shower to work the strain out of his muscles, but he was starving and wanted to take advantage of Joe's receptive mood while he could.įive minutes later he walked into Joe's kitchen, feeling slightly better. On the way to her bathroom he grabbed a pair of his grey boxer briefs out of her bureau. He could have used the guest bathroom, but he preferred hers. 'I'll be right back,' he said around a yawn as he walked down the long hallway towards her bedroom.

Sudden Response by R.L. Mathewson