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Having the elegant, expensive car waiting for hi he and I did to each other all the time We’d been friends most of our lives, since well before I’d built up the co ot to uys who didn’t kno to do anything for himself He knew that wasn’t the case, but itone of the co hi tiet back to the usual routine

I was fully expecting soht, and I looked forward to catching up with him Cole’s situation was one of the reasons I felt so much co I could to help hih a divorce It was pretty brutal, and by the time it was over, he was a shell of his for I could think of to help hiet back to the person he used to be, but that was so he had to do on his own It was only a feeeks after the divorce was finalized when he ca to Tibet for six months

Of course, the first thing I did was ask hi like that He told et himself back Those were his exact words I proot hi else In retrospect, that probably wasn’t the best thing for h, say that wasn’t too far from the truth, and admit he felt like he just needed soain He and his ere high school sweethearts, and it was easy to see he didn’t really knoho he was as a person without her alongside him

As soon as I opened h, I could see he was back There was a sparkle in his eyes that hadn’t been there in a long time, even well before they filed for divorce He was skinnier, but he looked happier and rin, and he reached out to pullme on the back a few times

“I ood to see you man”

“It’s so good to see you, too,” he told ht I told hie a five-hundred-dollar tip to whatever payment method you used”

I laughed

“Fair enough Cory?” I asked

He followed me inside and let out an exasperated sound

“Everybody is asking , and the first thing she said was ‘are you hungry?’ Then I stopped by ry Is that so that’s spread around the country and I one?”

“No, it’s just your skinny ass looks like it needs a burger or two,” I told him

“Yeah, probably,” he said “Turns out Tibet is not all that big on fast-food restaurants Not a whole lot of pizza joints, either”

I laughed again “Good to know you did thorough research before going on your spirit quest”

He sat down on one of the tall stools at e I liked to keep in the refrigerator to snack on Adding a box of crackers, I leaned on the other side of the counter and we dug in

“So, what are we doing tonight?” he asked after we spent a while catching up and swapping stories about the six months we’d been apart

“Actually, I did have an idea How do you feel about going to a bar for a couple of drinks?” I asked

“Sounds good Are youthe crew up there?”

“Not exactly,” I told him “Actually, ere invited by a new eot hired in to, so she wanted to celebrate She’s bringing a couple of people, and I told her we ht stop by But we don’t have to if it doesn’t sound like so you want to do”