The two of them exchanged wicked grins, and then Aaron let him go and moved to me.
“I’ll see you tonight.” He kissed me, letting it linger a second or two longer than usual. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
One more quick smile, and then he left. A few heads might have turned while he’d kissed us both goodbye, but this was a queer-friendly coffee shop run by a poly triad. We weren’t exactly going to weird out many of the regulars. If anyone was bothered by it, they were probably in the wrong place, and for the billionth time since we’d moved here, I was grateful we’d found a place where two men—or three, these days—could exchange chaste PDAs without worrying about being bashed. I loved this town and this coffee shop.
Kelly returned his chair to the other table, then took the one Aaron had been occupying. He rested his arm on the back of the chair and sipped his drink. “So what are you working on when you get home?”
I blew out a breath. “Oh my God, what am I not working on? I’ve got student projects to review. I need to get drafts of animations to a couple of clients. And I’m wrapping up some advertisement and logo designs for others.”
“Wow. I still can’t get my head around just…doing art all day. And getting paid.”
I chuckled. “It’s a living.”
“Doesn’t it kind of take the fun out of it, though?” He wrinkled his nose. “When you have to make what someone else wants you to?”
“Oh, it can. But I’ve always got pieces of my own in the works that I have total control over. And the worst day as an artist still beats the best day I ever had working in a cubicle.”
“Ugh.” He stuck out his tongue. “I can imagine. It probably beats the fuck out of retail too.”
“Don’t most things?” I asked dryly.
“True. Which makes the whole job-hunting thing…daunting.”
“Yeah? You’re looking for a job?”
Avoiding my gaze, he nodded. “I can’t live off my inheritance forever. A while, yeah, but… Anyway, I also need to get out of the house and do something. Otherwise I’m just going to hole up and be a hermit.”
“What kinds of jobs have you been looking at?”
“Whatever’s available, honestly?” He sighed. “I seriously have no idea what I want to do. After I dropped out of med school, I just kind of floundered around at dead-end jobs. I don’t want to do anything that my pre-med degree qualifies me for, and the jobs that require a four-year degree in something before they’ll give me the time of day… I mean, the pay is decent, but I just feel like I have a job, not a career.”
“Maybe that’s all you need.”
He blinked. “Huh?”
I shrugged. “Maybe you’re not the type of person who’s wired for a career that’s also your identity.” From his expression, he didn’t quite follow, so I continued, “Take Aaron. He lives and breathes his job. He doesn’t do it 24/7, but he’s a lawyer. That’s his identity.”
“And you’re an artist.”
“Yep. But that works for us. Maybe you just need a job that pays enough for you to live. You go to work, you do your job, and then you leave it at work, come home, and be who you really are. Maybe instead of your job being your life and your identity, it’s just there to fund what really makes up your life and your identity.”
Kelly stiffened. “I…never thought about that.”
I smiled. “Something tells me you weren’t allowed to.”
“You don’t say.”
“I figured.” I sighed, shaking my head. “From what you’ve said about your dad, you and your siblings were expected to grow up to be professionals in prestigious fields. Somehow I doubt anyone ever floated the idea of just getting a job for stability and then spending the rest of your time and energy pursuing what you really want.” I sighed. “Everyone has this idea these days that you should find your passion and do it for a living. But that doesn’t work for everyone, you know? Not every passion is something that will earn a living, and sometimes doing what you’re passionate about for a living will suck the joy right out of it.”
Kelly pursed his lips. “So what if art is my passion? It’s what I really want to do with my time, but I’m not good enough to make money at it, and I’m not sure I want to depend on it for money.”
I smiled. “First, don’t sell yourself short.