“Well, I haven’t said anything explicit yet,” he said. “But that’s the great thing about our marriage. I can just—” Lisa rolled her eyes as she picked up the phone on the counter and started dialing. “Who are you calling?” he asked.

“I’m calling Sarah to say goodbye since—”

Jim lunged forward and slammed his hand down on the receiver. “Are you crazy?” he asked. “Sarah would kill me.”

“What’s the matter? I thought you could do whatever you wanted.”

“Oh you’re a riot,” he said. “Look, if I decide to take that job, I’ll tell her in my own special way.”

“Which is?”

“From the plane as I’m taking off.”

“Exactly. Why don’t you just forget about that stupid job and go full time here?” He’d seen the posting on the internal company website for full-time position at his dispatch office but hadn’t bothered applying. While it meant a raise in pay and being eligible for company benefits, it also meant signing a minimum one-year contract, which the company had implemented to prevent new hires from getting thousands of dollars of training and then jumping to another company.

“I’m not sticking around here another year. And it’s what, ten grand if I quit before my contract is up?”

“You’re exaggerating,” she said. “It’s only 7500.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” he said as he looked over the work orders. “I’ll find something back in sales. Hey, this Paul Nelson guy in Villanova. Doesn’t Derek play poker with a Paul Nelson?”

“Yeah, that’s the same guy,” she said as she went back to her seat.

“But it’s a disconnect?”