Kat and I both love The Simpsons, so she got it right away, and gave me a snickering laugh with a slap on the shoulder. “You’re right, Mac. Damn big coincidence, which makes that cheatin’ drug in the water sound even more plausible!”
“You and your conspiracy theories.” I rolled my eyes, giving her a mirthful smile.
“Hey, the Truth is Out There!” Kat gave me a spooky look.
When we’d finished cleaning up and loading her dishwasher, she handed me a key to her place. “It was going to go to Darius, but I think you’re gonna need it more than he will.” She smiled.
“Thanks, Kat.” I smiled, kissing her cheek again and hugging her tight. “Don’t worry, though. I’ll find my own place in a few days, and I’ll be out of your hair.”
“No rush, Mac.” She assured me. “Trust me, hon. I’d rather have you around where I can keep an eye on you, than have you on your own where only God knows what you would do by yourself. My parents went through a Divorce, so I KNOW how my daddy took it when momma left him. I’m not letting you outta my sight.”
“Ok, mom.” I smirked, and she swatted my shoulder with a cheeky smirk of her own. I’d heard about what had happened, and how her mom was mentally off balance. She hadn’t cheated on Kat’s dad, but there were other issues with her personality and mental health that led her to alcohol and finally divorcing him. I didn’t know all the details, but it wasn’t as sordid as my own situation. However, her dad had taken it hard.
For some background on our relationship, Kat and I had known each other for 20 years now. She’s 2 years older than me, but kind of kept an eye on me in school when we were kids. Back then, I was smaller than all the other boys, so I got picked on a lot. Kat was taller than most of the boys and girls already, and was well on her way to Amazon status. She stood up for me, and nobody wanted to test her.
But she wasn’t just reactive in that regard. She taught me how to stand up for myself. She taught me how to fight dirty, since my own folks wouldn’t do it. She’d learned young how to take care of herself.
By the time we were teenagers, I had finally grown up enough that I was an inch taller than her. Barely. I hit my last growth spurt during my Sophomore year of HS, and Kat had stopped growing by then. She’s 6′, and I’m 6’1″, and that was where we’ve been ever since. We’ve both filled out since our beanpole days, but we’re still in good shape. She was a hurdler on the Track team, and I played Baseball. But while Kat was good enough for a scholarship to USC, I wasn’t quite good enough at Baseball to warrant a scholarship.
So instead I’d joined the Army, and then used my G.I. Bill to go to school afterward.
When I’d started the chocolate shop just before marrying Maggie, Kat had applied for the job as Manager. She had an MBA, so I snatched her up quickly. Our first year, I couldn’t pay her very much, but once word of mouth spread, we had almost more business than we could handle. I managed to get some great people working for me, and Kat was, and is, the best of them.