22: ɢᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ

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𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦: 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐓𝐨: 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐫

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𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦: 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐢
𝐓𝐨: 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐫

𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞. 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭? 𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭.

This is the most random thing ever. I stare at the text as I walk, wondering how to respond. Should I even respond? Something about Ricci leaves a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I know it's probably because of the whole abandonment thing, but I have to keep reminding myself that it wasn't entirely his fault.

Still a hard pill to swallow.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦: 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐫
𝐓𝐨: 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐢

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧?

He doesn't take long to respond.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦: 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐢
𝐓𝐨: 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐫

𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲?

Against my better judgment, I start to feel bad for him. Only a little bit.

I can't fault him for trying to bond with me.

Sighing deeply, I tug Liam's arm to stop. "Hey do you want to go to lunch with Ricci and me?"

He looks surprised, but answers quickly. "Nah, I don't want to get in the way of you two."

"Please Liam? I'm not ready to be alone with him yet. Please?" I put on my best puppy dog look, begging him with my eyes. He groans loudly. "Ugh, fine fine, I'll come with you. Just stop making that face." I drop the expression and hug Liam. "Thank you!"

We continue to walk and I text Ricci back.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦: 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐫
𝐓𝐨: 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐢

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦: 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐢
𝐓𝐨: 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐫

𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭! 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐢. 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬.

When we get back to the car, I tell Li the address. I thought he would use gps, but he's insisting that he's going to find it on his own. Ricci shouldn't mind that I'm bringing Liam along. If he does, then that'll just be too bad.

I need to get my brain off of this upcoming meeting. At least for a little while. "Hey, I meant to ask. How's the rebuilding going?"

Liam's entire face lights up at my question. "It's actually going really well! I hired someone from Canada to manage and oversee the building while I'm here. So far, she's doing great and she even has been giving me ideas for the buildings."

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