The soft glow of morning light could be seen around the edges of the curtains, and Mitch still hadn’t really slept. Hell, he wasn’t even tired, just numb in general. Maybe he’d be OK, maybe he’d already accepted this foregone conclusion so long ago that now that the shockwaves had passed, he’d take some time to decompress and then everything would be fine. There were a lot of positives to take away from this, he was sure of it.

“Hey stud,” Jodie croaked, interrupting his thoughts.

“Morning,” Mitch replied.

“Can you hand me my meds? They’re on the nightstand.” She gestured in their general direction, and he obliged, handing her a blister package of estrogen tablets and a pill vial of anti-depressants. “Thanks.”

“Do you need water?” he asked.

“Hell no, I ain’t no bitch,” Jodie asserted before tapped out one of each and swallowed them. The containers were handed back over, and she asked, “Dumb question, but how are you doing right now?”

“I’m alright,” he absently nodded. Everything was static and nothing felt real. Jodie probably got that, though.

“Great. I need to head over to the school today. You wanna tag along? Like, get out of my dead grandma’s place?” Unsurprisingly, she was already up and getting dressed, constantly in a state of motion. A fistful of hair was pulled into a ponytail while she simultaneously slipped on a pair of Vans shoes. “I think everyone might wanna see that you’re not, y’know. Dead.”

“Yeah, actually that might be nice.” He was not nearly as hurried, languidly stretching his good arm above his head.

“Things are like, super busy right now. Dad hired a new trainer, and I think he’s onboard with being in Grindhouse? I’m meeting with him later.” Jeans were tossed in Mitch’s direction, but they landed on the floor a few feet in front of him. “Hurry up, dude.”

“Who is it? Do I know him?” With one foot, he dragged the crumpled pile of jeans towards himself, then maneuvered pulling them up and buttoning them with one hand. Beaming with pride, he declared, “Hey, I think I’m getting good at this!”

“That’s super neat,” Jodie deadpanned, then continued in a much more excited tone. “So, obviously don’t tell anyone yet, but it’s Avi.”

“Wait, Avi? As in Avi Sher?” Mitch asked incredulously, only to realize just how stupid he sounded. There was only one Avi in their sphere that she could have been talking about, but it seemed like an impossibility. Avi was a well-seasoned vet of nearly 20 years, seeming to be everywhere all at once, but definitely never in Monument, Massachusetts. The idea of working with him was something on Mitch’s bucket list, sure, filed specifically under being nothing more than a pipe dream. “Hasn’t he been in Mexico, or…maybe somewhere else in Central America?”

“That was a while ago, his most recent tour was in the Caribbean. Dad had a match against him last time he was back in Santo Domingo.” She continued to explain as the pair made their way down to her car, head whipping back and forth while they were in the house to make sure that no one was around that could overhear. The transition from indoors to the outdoors was blinding, and Mitch instinctively shielded his eyes. “At some point, they talked and Avi mentioned possibly moving back to the States, so Dad offered him a job at the school. And like, you know Dad. He’s a persuasive sonuvabitch when he wants something.“

“Yeah, but-” Mitch was at a momentary loss for words, opening his mouth a few times only to close it again. Until, “Damn. That’s…”

“I know.” There was giddiness in Jodie’s voice, her demeanor completely absent of its usual cynicism; it was as though she’d been swapped out for an alternate dimension version of herself. This was obviously good news for the school, but for Grindhouse it was especially important. He’d only gotten glimpses of it, but behind the scenes they’d encroached upon an uncomfortable set of crossroads about what direction to take the promotion next. If Avi could fulfill this much-needed role in that, they’d have a big name draw and cohesiveness at last.

And for Jodie to be so impacted by anything, it was downright infectious. For a moment, whatever issues Mitch was struggling with melted away on her behalf. He matched her nervous smile, which only made her break out into a wider grin. “I know,” she repeated.