Darius’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Is she fine?” He stroked his chin. “We might have to make another visit soon.”

Gabriel recalled Serenity’s beautiful face and sexy body. “Yeah. So are her three friends who were there. Anyway, let’s get down to business.” He decided to hold off on telling them about the grocery store encounter or the mixed vibes she’d given him at dinner. “The new recruiting company needs a system to scan résumés, track applicants…” he said, reading the notes he’d taken during the initial meeting.

Brent nodded. “Right now they’re doing everything old-school—by fax or mail—and if an applicant wants to know where they are in the process, it’s a phone call, which is taking up a lot of the employees’ time. Is this something you and Darius can fit in with building the Luxura Jewels online store?” Brent handled the business side of their business, along with their administrative assistant, while Gabriel and Darius did the actual development of the various systems.

“I think we can get it done,” Darius said. “I’m just about finished with the mobile app, so that’ll free up some time. Gabe and I will get together to work out the details and timeline.”

“Sounds good.”

They discussed the next things on their list. Gabriel worried it would be difficult to maintain the workflow long distance and already missed being able to just walk twenty feet to Darius’s or Brent’s office. However, by the end of the meeting, he felt confident they would be able to continue their weekly staff meetings without any interruptions.

Darius held up a finger. “Gabe, I’ll text you later to set up a time to talk.”

He nodded. The three men talked a few minutes longer, made plans for next week’s meeting, and ended the call.

For the next several hours, Gabriel got lost in coding. When he looked up again, the sun had begun to set. He was tempted to just grab a protein bar and water to stave off the hunger and continue working, but he was supposed to be learning balance. Reluctantly, he shut down everything and went to heat up his dinner.

The weather had cooled some, but it was still warm enough to enjoy his meal outside on the patio in the backyard with his favorite jazz playlist and the mystery thriller his sister had left for him. The patio was much smaller than his next-door neighbor’s, and large enough only for a table and four cushioned chairs, but it would fit his needs just fine. Maybe the temporary change in locale would turn out to be what he needed to reduce his stress level. If he could just straighten things out with his new neighbor.

*  *  *

Serenity rushed into Ms. Ida’s and searched for Natasha.

“Hey, Serenity.”

“Hi, Ms. Bernice.”