"I May be Broken but Stronger than you Think"

Jensen: Yeah? Awesome.

Jensen: Do you have a time that works best for you?

Alex: How about Noon?

Jensen: Hey, Alex!

Jensen: I have time on Friday and Saturday if either of those days works for you?

Alex: Those days work perfectly

Cal chuckled. “I happen to love puns myself,” he said. “Especially in business names. It lets you know that the owner has a sense of humor, I feel like that’s nice.” He smiled. “But I’m sure it’ll all feel worth it in the end.” 

“I usually am.” Alexandria replied, sending him a wink. As she took in their surroundings, she was amazed with all of the effort that Alex had put in. “So, it you think it’s my favorite than it is BBQ Chicken Pizza then.”

   “I know. You’re always right and by the way women are always right,” he replied with a grin as a chuckle escaped his lips. “I got some hot dogs and desserts. Then I owe you BBQ Chicken Pizza on our next date.”

Alex: Hi. This is Alex

Alex: We met a few days ago

Jensen felt her phone vibrate from her pocket as he told her he sent the message. “Awesome, thank you,” she said. She nodded. “I’d love to. That sounds like it’d be cool.”

   “Great,” he replied with a smile on his face. “I guess I will see you around and send you a text sometime.”

“No problem,” she told him. “I don’t blame you for picking those as your favorites, they’re wonderful.” Jensen liked seeing the smile it brought to his face. “Thank you. I definitely will,” she replied. Jensen put her number into his phone and smiled. “Just shoot me a text and I’ll save your number in mine,” she said.

   Alexander text the number and smiled. “There you go,” he replied back still smiling. “Maybe you should check out my studio sometime. I have been meaning to find new people to give me feedback.” 

A sharp inhale—his brain feels like it is rioting in his skull and the pounding against his temples was getting worse by the second. The jog he was currently trying to attempt is stopped short, clearly because the headache that stemmed from the night before has come back with a vengeance. Being a bouncer pays surprisingly well, but right now Cullen wonders if it is even worth it since being tackled apparently meant death 12 hours later. While sitting hunched over a park bench, he notices a figure going past him. Swallowing his pride, he spoke with a tone that clearly masked irritation,“Hey, mate, I know this is weird, and please don’t pepper spray me, but tell me you’ve got a Tylenol on you.”

   Alex was coming back from his studio and decided to take a walk through the park because after all, the weather was nice and it had been awhile since he had time to just enjoy the nice weather. He was surprised for a moment when he heard the others voice. “Do you really think I will carry pepper spray on me Cullen?” he asked with a grin on his face as he looked into his backpack and took out some Tylenol. “I always carry it with me when I am painting and here you go.” he added as he extended his hand. 

“Oh yeah, and it served me well, too. I really wouldn’t have thought of going any further if it hadn’t come into my mind to teach autoshop. You need a bachelor’s degree for that for some reason. Although you’d think an associate’s and years of experience would be enough.” He chuckled. “As long as you avoid being punny, I think. Either that or really embrace the pun, make it epically corny.”

   “I know a lot of people hate puns and I somewhat love and like it,” he replied with a chuckle. “I still have to look for a location and then design it and all that fun stuff which seems like it’s going to be a lot of work.”

“I guess it’s an equal trade.” Alexandria replied, glad that her and Alex were able to be completely honest with each other. They’d been friends for so long now that she was just used to being herself around him, and they’d gotten through all the awkward introduction stuff before they were into each other. “If you play your cards right, I just might. So now for the real question, what’s on the menu?”

   “You’re very right,” he replied with a grin on his face as he kept walking. Alexander walked into the building, climbing up the stairs that lead to the roof which was all romantically set up and looking out the city. “It’s your favorite. What do you think?” 

Jensen peered at the phone screen after Alex pulled up his art. “Wow,” she said, nodding her head slowly as she looked at the pictures. “You’re definitely one talented guy,” she said. “I’m super impressed.” She looked up at him and smiled. “Yeah? That would be cool.”

   “Thank you,” he replied with a smile on his face. “These are some of my favorite projects,” he added still smiling. “Great. Just let me know when ever you are free and want to learn.” he said as he open the contact list on his phone. “You can put your number in.”

Cal smiled at him. “You’re welcome,” he said. He chuckled. “I only got my associates degree before, so it was just two years. I mean, not that it’s any less of an accomplishment, mind you, just certainly less time than a bachelor’s.” He laughed. “I dunno, what would you think of naming your bar?”

    Alexander smiled wildly as he listened to his friend. “There is nothing going for a associates degree,” he replied. “Most people get that first before going for a bachelor’s or not and it’s cheaper.” he added nodding his head. “I have no clue yet. I am terrible at coming up with names. It’s something my artistic and creative talents fails me at.”

“The greatest part of this whole thing is that you already know all my weird secrets, but you still like me.” Alexandria replied with a smile. As he pulled away from her, she started to walk towards the building. “Lucky for you, I enjoy kissing you.”

   “You also know my secrets and like me. So, we are even,” he replied with a smile and grin on his face as he walked into the building, his pace was not too fast nor slow. “Well....you can kiss me all night.”

“Damn right you’re not.” She grinned, bringing her glass up to her lips and downing the liquid with ease. “You’d be here even if you did have to work tomorrow and you know it.” She nudged him gently with a laugh, signaling to the bartender that she wanted another beer. “How’d you manage to get the day off, hm? Isn’t Friday a super busy day for y’all?”

   “Well, the boss likes me and I have put in a lot of hours and worked so many closing that, the boss agreed to give me the weekend off,” he answered as he ordered two beers. “Friday is and weekends are always insane,” he answered. “So tell me, what’s new with you?” 

“Really, that’s amazing.” Alexandria replied, looking at the building excitedly. She had fallen in love with North Carolina since moving there, and she always loved finding new places to sight see.  “I guess you really do know me. People watching is my favorite.” She added, leaning over and giving Alex a small kiss.

   “Same here and of course. Have fight because I did read our contact,” he teased as he returned this kiss but this time holding it longer as he placed his hands on Alix neck before pulling away. “I can get use to this,” he whispered smiling. 

“You deserve it, mate, you’re very talented,” Cal said, smiling at him. He chuckled. “I never thought about going back, and then once I caught the idea of teaching shop, it really just didn’t let me go. So here I am.” He laughed. “We could have our on TV show.”

    “Thank you so much,” he replied with a smile on his face as he looked at his friend. “I have had enough of school. After undergrad and grad school, am done.” he added as he let out a sigh finishing his coffee. “That will be fun. What should we name out TV show?” 

“Well, I guess I will be the judge of that.” Alexandria replied winking at the boy. She couldn’t help but blush at his next words, glad that she wasn’t the only one who tended to talk about the other a lot in conversation. “I must be pretty great if I am worth talking about that much.” Alexandria replied, getting more excited as they got to their location. “Great, let’s go.”

   Alex got out of the car and smiled at his best friend. “You see that building over there?” he asked as he pointed the building, “The top of the building has the most amazing view and so, I decided why not have a date and dinner where we can see and watch the whole town.”