15
TEDDY
PRESENT DAY
If you ever want to determine whether or not someone truly trusts you, I recommend leading them through the streets of a strange city late at night.
Sutton passes the test. She doesn’t say a single word that expresses any hint of uncertainty about my ability to navigate as we walk through Amsterdam toward the supermarket I spotted when returning to the hotel with Amelia last night.
There are a few second glances cast Sutton’s way when we walk inside the grocery store. Most of them shake their head afterward, as if thinking,There’s no way that’s actually her. I use it to my advantage, hustling her deeper into the store until I find the aisle that I’m looking for.
“If you’re hungry, we could have just gone…” Sutton stops talking when she sees the rows of cereal on the shelves. She literally bites her bottom lip, forcibly stopping the flow of words as she glances between me and the boxes.
“I thought we could try this again,” I tell her. “Since it didn’t end the way we wanted last time.”
“We, huh?” she asks. “Maybe I wanted you to go stack boxes or whatever you went and did.”
“Then tell me to get lost this time.”
“I can’t. You’re my walk home. I have no idea where we are.”
I smirk and nod toward the shelves. “Go on. Glare at it.”
Sutton fights the smile, but it peeks through. She rolls her eyes before focusing her gaze on the boxes of cereal, then glancing at me. “What do you recommend eating for breakfast on the worst day of your life?”
I scan the shelf until I spot the Pop-Tarts. “I’d go with those.” I point.
“Why?”
“They’re tasty. And bad days can taste good.”
“You said ‘delicious’ before,” Sutton informs me. “Not tasty.”
“Stay in character, June,” I chastise. “There’s no fucking script.”
She laughs. “You should go into advertising.”
“Yeah, I’m seriously considering it,” I reply.
Sutton falters. “Is this when I tell you I’m single?”
“I’m supposed to compliment your shirt first.”
She plucks at the tight cotton clinging to her stomach and…yeah, I’m definitely focused a little higher. “If I’d known you were taking me to asupermarket, I would have left my sequined dress on, obviously.”
I chuckle and grab her hand to lead her back outside. “Come on. It’s only a couple of blocks back to the hotel.”
The crowds thin as we move farther away from central downtown. We wander along the gravel paths of Vondelpark. Aside from the occasional passerby, we’re alone.
“What did you think of the show?” she asks as we walk.
“The show or the encore?”
“The encore.”
“It was…it felt like the first time I’d heard the song.”
She chews on that response for a minute. “I hate the ending.”