“I’m glad to hear it,” said Matt. “I’m apparently a little behind on the whole saga, and I haven’t seen the first movie, but Will assures me that I will be able to keep up with the story line anyway.” He and I shared a laugh, then I looked at my phone.
“I better get going,” I said. “Gina is being talked up by some old guy she really doesn’t want to be chatting with so I have to go save her. But you two have a good night. I’ll see you when I get back maybe?”
Matt smiled. “I might be up.”
“I might be up too!” Will joked. Matt gave his son a look and he relented. “Alright, never mind, I won’t be up.” He hopped off the stool and came over to give me a hug. I ruffled his hair a little, told him to be good, and then left, feeling like I was going to be missing out on a fun night at home with the boys.
* * *
The bar was crowded, so I had to sort of elbow my way up to where Gina was sitting. The older gentleman sitting next to her was right in the middle of telling her about the market crash of ‘87 when Gina spotted me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to cut you short,” she said to the guy. “But my friend just got here so she and I are going to go try to find a table.” She stood up and ignored the man as he tried to ask for her number. Then she grabbed my arm and pulled me through the crowd and to a little booth in the back. There were some empty glasses and used straws sitting on it, but she clearly didn’t care.
“ThankGodyou are here. I don’t know how much more of that I could’ve dealt with. I was this close to telling that guy to fuck off, but now you’re here, and he’s not, so everything is good.” She huffed, pushed some of her short, curly hair out of her face and sat down. “Don’t worry, they come around here to take drink orders too.”
“I’m not worried,” I told her. “I’m just glad I was able to save you in time.”
“You and me both.”
She slid into one side of the booth and I sat across from her, careful not to put my arms down on the sticky surface. “Do they also come around and clean up?”
“I hope so,” said Gina. “If not, we can move. Let’s just wait until that guy either starts talking to someone else or leaves.”
“Deal.”
“So,” she said. “You look cute. Are you getting any more excited for this date?”
“Sure,” I said.
She frowned at me. “Sure? That’s all I get? Sure!”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what you want from me! I’m here, aren’t I? I got dressed up and I came out, which is a lot more than I usually do, yeah?”
“I know,” she said. “I know. You get points for showing up at all.”
“Thank you,” I said. A moment later, a waiter came around and cleared the old glasses and took our drink orders. She didn’t have a rag to wipe the table down with, but I asked her to bring me a water and some napkins as well, that way I could get the job done myself. After she left, I leaned back against the booth and sighed.
“How’s work?” Gina asked. “Keeping you busy it seems.”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s a full-time job and then some, but I like it. Will is a really good kid.” I laughed. “I could tell he wanted me to stay home tonight and watch this movie with him and his dad. They have a tradition, every Friday night, and Will has sort of adopted me into the ritual. It’s pretty cute.”
“You watch a movie with him and Matt every Friday night?”
“Yeah… Why do you say it like it’s so weird?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “It just sounds a little… intimate. Like something that’s reserved for family.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s not. You’re thinking about it all wrong. Will and I just get along really well, that’s all.”
“Right, but this is something he does with his dad, correct?” she asked. “Something he’s been doing with his dad for a long time? As in, long before you came into the picture?” I nodded. “So it’s just surprising, that’s all, that he would want you to join in after you’ve only been working there for a couple of weeks.”
“Actually… he asked me to watch the movie with them the first week I worked there.”
Gina balked. “Dang. This kid must really like you. Or he wants you to be his new mommy.”
“It’s not like that,” I said. “Not really.”
She looked as if she was waiting for me to go on, but I didn’t know what else to say. I avoided making direct eye contact with her, and this was apparently the wrong move. “Oh my God,” she said. “Something happened between you and Matt, didn’t it?”