COME ALONG WITH YOUR PARTNER

“You’re going to have to make a third version,” I decide. “I want half of each.”

Her fingers fly across the keyboard as she makes notes to herself.

This time there’s not an eye roll in sight.

The lunch hour goes faster than I want it to. I’m surprised to realize I like working with Nicole. On the outside she’s all wild hair, fluttering dresses, and an inappropriately expressive face that couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it.

But when it comes to her work, she’s sharp, fast, and effective. I almost want her to stick around at coleman Marketing, instead of launching out on her own whenever she’s saved up enough. Except I’m pretty sure that if Nicole stays at Coleman too long, she’ll lose some of her spark.

And while her spark is strictly speaking annoying as fuck, I don’t want to be the grumpy asshole that squashes it.

On the other hand, the realities of running a business might douse that spark even faster. I learned the hard way you can’t gamble on a wish. You need to be