There was some static on the line and it didn’t take long for either of them to realize they were losing their connection. “I’ll either call or text you later and let you know what’s going on, Mal. I love you!”
“Love you too, Mom!” And when they hung up, Mallory reached for the remote and turned the volume back on so she could hear the updates.
For hours, nothing changed. The only updates on-screen were the images and, considering the size of the storm, it wasn’t only Magnolia Sound that was getting hit. Mallory sat patiently and tried to work and not obsess about things she couldn’t change, but…
Grabbing her phone, she tried to call Pops again and unfortunately had the same results. It was maddening. She received texts from her mother and other than sitting back and accepting the fact that there was nothing she could do, well…there was literally nothing she could do other than work.
Which sucked because her eyes couldn’t seem to focus on the reports she was reading and the last thing on her mind was computer system optimization.
Closing the laptop, Mallory stood and stretched, then called in an order for Chinese takeout. “No sandwich for me tonight,” she said, feeling proud of herself for remembering that she needed to eat. And as she sat back down on the couch, that opened a whole other can of worms for her.
Her life.
What was she doing with her life? It was work, work, and more work. Her social life was almost as non-existent as her sex life. Sure there had been Mark, but that lasted less than a month and they’d never gotten to the bedroom.
Not for lack of trying on his part, but lack of enthusiasm on hers. He was a nice enough guy and they both worked in the same field and had a lot to talk about, but there wasn’t anything about him that got her excited or even remotely thinking sexy thoughts of him.
Yeah, something had to give. Soon. This was so not her dream life. Sure, things were beginning to look up at work and she was really excited about this new position, but she was tired of being alone–missed being in a relationship and having some companionship.
And she really missed sex.
With a weary sigh, she let her head rest back against the cushions. What else could she possibly do? She took her job seriously and had a strong work ethic. It wasn’t a crime, right? But it certainly didn’t leave a lot of time for a social life. Hopefully that would change, but…even if she suddenly had an abundance of time on her hands, how was she supposed to go about meeting people again? Dating apps? Bars? Joining a sports league or something? Or maybe…something along the lines of finding a hobby?
A hobby!
Sitting up, she felt the first twinges of excitement. A hobby would be the absolute perfect thing to keep her from spending her free time reading technical magazines and reports and meeting new people! But what did she want to do…
Her mind immediately went to the work she had done on the boathouse at Pops’ place. Doing the decorating had been something she enjoyed so much and as she looked around her condo, Mallory smiled at what she created there as well. Decorating certainly wasn’t a hobby–after all, how many times could she possibly re-do her own place?–and it wouldn’t particularly lead to meeting eligible men.
“Okay, scratch that idea,” she muttered, then looked over at the color on the opposite wall and thought about maybe re-doing that, at least. “Great, there’s four hours of my time to play around with.”
Ugh…it shouldn’t be this hard, she thought. People had hobbies, right? She had friends who did crafty things like scrapbooking and painting, and then there were more of the activity variety like yoga or Zumba…maybe she should join a gym! That was also a great place to meet single guys and make new friends!
Her excitement lasted all of one minute before the thought of it exhausted her. She’d have to remember to bring a gym bag and a change of clothes to work every day. Then she remembered how out of shape she was and worried she’d make a fool out of herself and fall off a treadmill or something. Plus, at the end of a long work day, the last thing she was going to want to do was work out and get sweaty.
And…scratch another idea.
Glancing at the clock, Mallory saw she still had another twenty minutes before her food would arrive. She didn’t want to open her computer and work, and she didn’t want to simply sit and stare at the TV and listen to more bad news.
When her cellphone rang, she let out a loud scream. Sam’s name came up on the screen and she instantly relaxed. Swiping the screen, she said, “And you say twin telepathy isn’t a thing!”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“I was just sitting here trying to think of something to do and then here you are–calling me!” She curled up on the sofa, tucking her feet under her to get comfortable. “So how are you?”
Chuckling, he replied, “You’re so damn weird, but yeah, you were on my mind and I figured I’d give you a call while I was driving. What’s going on?”
“I’m sitting here freaking out while watching the news.”
“Then turn off the TV, dork,” he said, still laughing.
“Sam…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. This storm is bad and you’re worried about everyone, but Mom says it’s all under control. She’s at Aunt Georgia’s place and other than the power flickering, they’re all okay. What’s freaking you out?”
“They’re not all okay, you idiot!” she cried. “Pops refused to leave! So he’s at home and probably has no power by now and I hate it! Just the thought of it makes me want to cry!”
“Oh, right. Yeah, she told me about that, but you know Pops, Mal. He’s as tough as they come and storms like this don’t freak him out.”
“That’s just the thing, Sam. Magnolia Sound has never had a storm like this! He has no idea what he’s in for and I can’t believe no one would force him to leave!”
“He’s not completely alone. Jake’s there with him…”
She groaned. “Great. So if something happens, they’ll both be in danger. Way to make me feel better, Sam.”
He let out a long breath. “What do you want me to say, Mal?” he said irritably. “I get it. You’re worried. We all are. But there’s nothing we can do but hope they’re going to be all right, so…let’s talk about something else, okay?”
“Fine,” she grumbled, knowing her brother was right. It was a vicious cycle to keep obsessing about the storm and her family’s safety. “Who are you going to visit in the mountains?”
“How’d you know about that?”
“Mom told me.”
“Oh. One of the guys I work with has a cabin and we’re going to do some fishing. We figured it was better to get away for the weekend than to sit here and deal with this weather. There’s about five of us going so…you know…guys’ weekend.”
“Nice. Maybe I should look into planning a girls’ weekend.”
A snort of laughter came out before he spoke. “Right. Like you’d take time off for something so frivolous.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded.
“It means you are a bit of an obsessive workaholic. The only time you take time off is when we have some sort of family thing down by Pops. So while I think it’s adorable that you’re even mentioning a girls’ weekend, we both know it’s never going to happen. Unless you’re counting hanging out with Parker and Peyton while you’re already visiting with everyone.”