After they finished eating, Marty went back to stocking the new comics while Rick stayed seated on the stool behind the counter. He offered to help with the books, but Marty pointed out that he didn’t know the inventory. “It’ll take longer for me to explain to you where everything goes,” Marty said, “than for me to just do it myself. So just hang out here for a bit with me, keep me company. Maybe you can work on my website instead?”
“What do you think I’ve been doing all day?” Rick asked.
But he had his MacBook with him, and Marty’s shop had wi-fi, so as long as he was just sitting here, he could make a few tweaks to it.
The evening passed in a pleasant blur, the two of them working on their separate projects, chatting amicably across the expanse of the empty comic shop. At one point Ma
