Free A Pact For Life by Graham Elliot Page B

full of gin and tonic. He was burning up despite urges to pace himself.
“Overall darlin', I would have to say this song, Baby We'll Be Fine , is my favorite song of The National. It makes me feel damn near invincible as soon as it comes on. It's sadness sung in a way that lifts a person up.”
Diana listened for a moment, focusing on the lyrics. “ All we gotta do is be brave and be kind? I'm positive you've said that to me before.”
Cale laughed, creating a plume of visible breath in the icy air. “You're probably right. I guess I do that a lot. This lyric is just so perfectly them. Sad and depressing, but never losing a smile.”
“Sounds familiar,” Diana joked and leaned over for a kiss. “Ugh, you reek of gin.”
Cale didn't say anything. His face was turned up toward the sky as the first few snowflakes of the season came down. Diana, waiting for an answer to her insult, hadn't noticed the snow. As the silence lingered, her last words repeated in her head. It wasn't the words she was thinking of per se, but the tone she said it in. She looked over at Cale smiling up in the air and thought he looked stoned at best, and at worst, mentally retarded. A snowflake landed on her face that made her realize why he was staring up in silence. Why was she so hard on Cale, and even more so, why was he so nice to her in spite of it?
Not one to hold back what's on her mind, she asked, “Why do you like me?”
While she posed this question, Cale was taking a gulp from the water bottle and couldn't respond with actual English. Instead, a muffled “Eh?” came out while his lips were still around the bottle.
“I'm constantly demanding and extremely hard on you.”
“Oh you don't have to remind me, I'll never forget the time you broke up with me because I was five minutes late to dinner.”
The snow was falling at a fast enough rate that a few random flakes had turned into big, wet clumps. Brushing off everything that clung to the front of her coat, Diana said, “It wasn't one time you were late, but every time. It drove me nuts.” 9
Cale took one more swig and said, “Well, I guess you could say that I like you because you keep me straight.”
“Straight?”
“You know what I mean. It's because you are so hard on me that I don't screw up...as much.”
She didn't feel justified by this answer. Cale liked her because she was bossy? Before she got the chance to whine about the problem with his response, he spoke first.
“Also, I wouldn't say you are always bitchy to me.”
“I didn't say bitchy.”
“One and the same, darlin'. You're a very strong person. More than most people by far. It's natural you'd expect that same level of strength from everyone else.”
Alright, this was a better answer. One that made her relieved, possibly even grateful she was the way she was.
They reached an intersection where they could walk back to Diana's condo or keep going on without a destination. It was decision time, and the weather was the main persuader.
“Let's go home. It's getting nasty out and tomorrow is an important day at work.” Diana said as the snow picked up its pace.
“I have this thing too, but will probably skip it. It's some meeting with a city commission from Aspen. They want to go over material and size restrictions for some piece I'm creating for them.”
Forgetting who she was talking to, Diana said, “You need to go to that. It's important for your career.”
Cale tried to light a cigarette in the snow. It briefly lit until the snow put it out. Keeping the extinguished cigarette in his mouth, he said, “You should know by now that a career doesn't pertain to people like me. I've never had a resume, ditched a portfolio a long time ago, don't even know what a 401(k)is except it has something to do with retirement. For people like me, there is no such thing as retirement. We create until we die.”
Diana didn't say anything as Cale continued, “Our worlds are completely different, darlin’. It might sound like an