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"Honey, you missed dinner," Jamie said as Nyeusi came down into the basement.

"I saved you a plate," a Border Collie who was sitting in one of the lounge chairs, said.

Nyeusi glanced over to the border collie and nodded. "Thanks Kes, I appreciate that." He then made his way over to the couch, where Jamie was sitting and settled down next to her. "I got tied up at the apartment," he said before kissing Jamie on the lips. "Sorry I didn't let you know I would be late."

Jamie smiled and snuggled up against Nyeusi. "I figured that was where you were. How did all that go?"

"Well, David took the unit, despite my warnings. Him taking that unit allowed me to get that furniture out of the storage unit, so he is saving me money, though."

"David?" a Black Lab asked. "Do we know a David?"

Nyeusi looked over at the Black Lab and inwardly sighed. "David is...well I guess he is my new psychologist. Called him this morning, and he was in the area so he dropped by. Talked for about an hour and then took him up to the apartment so he could take a look at it."

"You didn't tell me someone was dropping by," the Black Lab said as he turned his full attention to Nyeusi. "Is there a reason you didn't?"

"Dylan, it was short notice. I called him, and he said he would be over in an hour. Jamie and I barely had time to get a shower and get dressed before he showed up. It was fine. He was down here with both Jamie and I, and he is a doctor."

"Could have messaged me," Dylan responded. "Would have taken you all of a minute. I like to know who is in my house."

"Dylan," Kes said as he looked over at Dylan. "Don't start this. Shouldn't you be more concerned about your brother needing to talk to a psychologist than the fact that someone was in the house?"

"Kes, it's fine. This discussion has been needed for a long time." Nyeusi said as he lit a cigarette. He looked over to Dylan and cleared his throat. "Look, Dylan, I care as much about everyone here as you do. If you cannot believe that, or believe I would put anyone here in harm's way, just tell me. I am forty-eight fucking years old, for Christ's sake. Do you think I am so stupid that I cannot judge someone's character? Or, is this payback for the past? Yes, I left without telling you. Yes, I didn't come talk to you until I came back. Yes, I ended up dealing with less than great people. How many fucking times do I have to apologize before you let it all fucking rest?"

Jamie rubbed Nyeusi's back. "Calm down and take a breath." She looked over at Dylan. "I told him to have David come here."

Dylan was about to say something to Nyeusi before Jamie chimed in. The anger on Dylan's face softened, and he looked over at Jamie. "Why would you do that? I would expect it from the cat, but you?"

"Not only does it stress you out, Dylan, but it makes things damn near impossible. The planners for the store, the plumbers for our room, electricians, hell even the roof company all had to be approved by you. Doesn't it get tiring? Look, I understand, I really do. You took care of this place for a long time. But, as Nyeusi said, none of us want anything to happen to the house, or the family. Why not take a break from being the watchdog of the family?" Jamie moved her paw up and rubbed the back of Nyeusi's neck. "And if you want to know why I did it? Because Nyeusi called eighteen counselors, and only one agreed to speak with him. Now, if Nyeusi needs to talk to someone, I want him to. That's why I told him to have David come here."

Dylan took a breath and sighed. He looked over at Nyeusi, "Can we talk? I mean can we talk calmly?"

Nyeusi nodded and took a drag off his cigarette. "Yea, I think so."

"Why didn't you say something about this before?"

Nyeusi clicked his tongue and sighed. "I didn't want to start a fight. We have had too many fights in our lives to start a fight over something like this. Then it comes up and what do I do? I act like an ass. I planned on coming home and talking to you about something different and we end up right here."

"Do you agree with them, Kes?" Dylan asked glancing over at Kes.

"I do," Kes said as he looked over at Nyeusi for a moment and then turned back to Dylan. "I have tried to bring this up before, but maybe you didn't get what I was saying, or I wasn't saying it right. But, I agree with Jamie. Why not take a break?"

"All right, I will. On one condition: I get to talk to the doctor."

"What, give him the twenty questions routine?" Nyeusi asked as he put out his cigarette.

"No, just talk to him," Dylan said before he chuckled. "Might be nice, you know? We've all been through a lot of shit, and it might be nice to just get it off our chest."

"If he is okay with that, I see no reason you couldn't," Nyeusi said before he cleared his throat. "Now, why don't we get off this topic? I have a question for you, Dylan."

"All right, what is it, you mangy tom?"

"I am not a tom, you stupid dog," Nyeusi replied, laughing. "I am a leopard, and I would appreciate you respecting that. Well, with Kes having taken over the store I was thinking about something. You know I have been planning on building out two shops in the apartment. Shops that people have been complaining about not having. One of those, as you know, is a store like what you used to have before the new store opened. I was wondering if would like to run the store in the apartment? The apartment would pay you a salary, and you could hire on help if you wanted it. I would not involve myself in any way. It would be on you to run it."

"What, like another D and K?"

"However you wanted to run it. It could be another D and K, or it could be something different. You wouldn't have to work the insane hours you were working, and you would have a budget to hire help. Oh, and I would come by and say hi now and then, unlike last time."

Dylan laughed, as he got up and got himself a beer from the fridge. "Who says I want your mangy ass in my store?" He paused, and grabbed another beer, which he set in front of Nyeusi. "Would I have any say in how it is designed?"

"I could give you control over that, sure. You cannot change dimensions, as that is fixed, but otherwise you could have control over everything else. There would be no counter, though, because I am going to set up a payment grid as the only payment method."

"So it could run twenty-four seven?" Dylan asked, as he used the nail on his index finger and popped the top off his beer.

"That's the goal," Nyeusi said as he popped the top of his beer with one of his front teeth.

"What do you think," Dylan asked, as he glanced over to Kes.

"Go for it. You started up D & K because it was needed by people, why not do it again?"

"All right you mangy cat, we can talk more about this." Dylan ran his finger around the rim of his beer bottle. "Hey, look, I'm sorry about the argument. I shouldn't have started in on you, especially when you mentioned seeing a psychologist. Which, speaking of, what's going on?"

"Nah, I was the ass in that. I jumped down your throat when I should have been more tactful." Nyeusi took a swig of beer before he shrugged. "I don't know what's going on. Something just feels off and has felt off since I came back here. I'm just tired of that feeling."

"Well, I hope this guy can help you."

"So do I," Nyeusi said.