It sort of feels like we haven’t missed a beat after all these years, falling into our old easy rapport, and before I know it, he’s got me laughing so hard it hurts.
We talk so much, we both kind of forget the show still running on the stage, and when the server comes around to ask if we need anything else because the café is closing in ten minutes, the announcement catches us both off-guard.
“Oh, wow, I had no idea it was this late,” Todd says apologetically, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you so long.”
I shake my head. “You didn’t, this has been great.”
“It really has,” he says, “Come on, let me walk you to your car.”
As we’re heading out, he suddenly seems a little fidgety, and I wonder if I’m the one that’s been keeping him. But then he surprises me. “Um, hey, listen, Marlene, would you, uh, want to do this again sometime? I mean, not this exactly, but-”
He cuts himself off and lets out a frustrated sound, like he’s shaking off being flustered. “Can I take you on a date sometime?” he asks, this time steady.
Guilt smashes down on me like a cartoon anvil, and suddenly I remember everything I’ve been trying to forget tonight. Andrei and Corey’s faces are plastered all over my mind’s eye, and for a moment I feel traitorous for even looking at another man.
But I remind myself that they’re the ones who are together. I’m a free agent. Just because I’ve been sleeping with them doesn’t mean I’m not still free to see whoever I want, right?
They’ve got their life, I’ve got mine, and denying myself the opportunity for some happiness over some unrequited feelings seems silly. They’ll never be mine, so why shouldn’t I move on?
“Yeah, Todd, I’d like that.”
“Are you free tomorrow?” he asks hopefully.
I nod. “Yeah, tomorrow sounds great.”
“You still living on Sycamore?” he asks.
I’m a little bit touched that he remembers. He’d given me rides home a couple times, and I’m surprised that it was enough for him to memorize it.
“Not anymore, I moved a couple of years ago,” I tell him, “I can text you the new address if you give me your number.”
He rattles it off and I text it to him. I hear a little whistling notification sound and he smiles. “Guess we’re all set. I’ll pick you up at six?”
“Sounds perfect,” I tell him with a smile.
“Great. Well, I will see you tomorrow,” he says cheerfully before bidding me goodnight.
I watch him walk away with a spring in his step and can’t help but smile. I put my keys in the ignition, but before I start the car, I hear my phone start ringing in the bottom of my purse.
I dig it out and see Cassidy’s name on the caller ID. “Hello?”
“I swear to God, if I have to sit through one more meeting where they dump some motivational speaker on us in some misguided attempt to ‘improve productivity,’ I’m going to lose my shit,” she says without preamble.
I laugh. “So you’re clearly having a blast on that business trip,” I reply.
“The only blast here is me wanting to blast my brains out,” she groans.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her apologetically, “That sucks.”
“Please, tell me you did something interesting today, let me live vicariously through you,” she begs.
“Well, you’re actually in luck. I went out to this open mic at Blue Orchid tonight and ran into someone unexpected.”
“Oh, yeah? Who?”
“You remember my old boss, Todd, from Yelloworks?”
“I think so, yeah, he was the one you told me about that moved away, right?”